14 Friday, <strong>15</strong> March 2018 Daily Tribune
Elmer N. Manuel, Editor Friday, <strong>15</strong> March <strong>2019</strong> Daily Tribune Looking at long term Children pump water from a communal deep well. These are one of the short-term solutions of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to help ease the water shortage problem in Metro Manila. AFP Metro Manila is now facing a huge problem in water supply — an unseen but not improbable situation that put tens of thousands Filipinos raging over the insufficient supply of one of the major resources in the country. The metro has seen a shortage of water as the levels of the La Mesa Dam breached its critical level of 69 meters, dropping to 68.93 meters over the week which left residents of Metro Manila and parts of Rizal affected by water supply interruptions since 7 March. With this, we have seen the insufficient supply resulting to Manila Water implementing water service interruptions in several areas to save more water for the coming months. What the metropolis needs is a long-term solution that can avoid these water supply shortages which was actually proposed in the past administration but was never approved. To augment the water supply crisis, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) devised a plan that will cover half of the deficit in Manila Water Co.’s supply — that is, to provide deep wells throughout the metro. MWSS administrator Reynaldo Velasco, in an interview, said they already identified sources that can help ease the current water problem faced by Manila Water, adding that it can deliver at least 100 million liters of water per day (mld). Maynilad, on the other hand, will also share 50 mld to Manila Water. All in all, water from deep wells and Maynilad will amount to <strong>15</strong>0 mld for Manila Water. The other 50 mld which will complete the 200 mld needed will come from the treatment plant of Manila Water in Cardona, Rizal which they projected to open this March. The activation of deep wells and sharing of water supply by Maynilad, the opening of the Cardona treatment plant may help solve the water crisis in the metro, but the way we see it, it’s only a short-term solution to a problem that can possibly recur in the not so distant future. What the metropolis needs — and the whole country for that matter — is a long-term solution that can avoid these water supply shortages which was actually proposed in the past administration but was never approved. And recently, we have seen that pertinent proposal which may address the problem on shortages. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Tribune recently, Meralco PowerGen president and chief executive officer Rogelio Singson revealed that addressing the problem on water shortage may be done if focus will be on climate change. Singson said that the solution for the unpredictable weather cycle is in impounding water — saving water during severe rains and then release it during the dry season, which can definitely augment any impending water shortages. “The solution is a water impounding system — an ordinance that says all subdivisions, major commercial establishments should be prohibited from spilling their water into drainages. They should have their own impounding system,” said Singson, who was once the secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways. “That’s what we did in Fort Bonifacio. Burgos Circle impounds and regulates the water and this is released based on the capacity of the water creek. The water is absorbed during rains preventing EDSA and Kalayaan from being flooded. So, now there are no complaints,” Singson added. We couldn’t agree more. What the country really needs to look for now are long-term solutions that will provide better services to the Filipino people. Singson’s proposal may be worth a shot, and it can’t hurt if the government will take a second look at it. GLOBAL GOALS Women activists urge focus on services A wheelchair-bound Pakistani mother who yearned to visit a park without worrying about ramp access and a young South Sudanese woman who dreams of having affordable health care were among the speakers opening the United Nation’s (UN) largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s rights. Addressing the 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in a joint speech, Muniba Mazari and Mary Fatiya, both asked for basic social protections to be extended to women and girls around the world, based on need and in line with their inalienable human rights. “Being a woman has its challenges. Being in a wheelchair is the cherry on top,” Mazari, who is also the Goodwill Ambassador for UN Pakistan, told several thousand activists, diplomats, and academics gathered in the UN’s General Assembly Hall. Fatiya, who described going long distances to a school where only two toilets were available for around 600 children, said her ideal world centered around a peace existence, access to healthcare and good infrastructure: “I’m not asking for a luxurious A new United Nations-led plan has been unveiled to tackle the estimated one billion cases of influenza which occur each year, and protect against the “real” threat of a global pandemic, the head of the organization’s health agency said. Announcing the revised Global Influenza Strategy for <strong>2019</strong>-2030, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, warned that the “question is not if we will have another pandemic, but when.” “The threat of pandemic influenza is ever-present,” he said, noting that the risk of a new influenza virus transmitting from animals to humans and potentially leading to a pandemic is “real.” Influenza remains one of the world’s greatest public health challenges, according to the WHO, which says that the viral respiratory disease is responsible for between 290,000 and 650,000 related deaths a year. Globalization, urbanization and mobility will Education still migrants’ ‘impossible dream’ The older refugee and migrant children get the less likely it is that they will get a quality education: Less than a quarter of the world’s refugees make it to secondary school, and just one percent progress to higher education. Even for migrants who settle in wealthy, developed host countries, accessing university is an uphill struggle. For many young migrants in the UK, even those who have the legal right to remain in a new country, the idea of going to university is almost an impossible dream: not only are they are charged “overseas student” fees, which can be around double those of “home” students but, until recently, they were denied access to student loans, which puts up another barrier to entry. However, a ray of hope has been provided by Chrisann Jarrett, who is herself a young migrant (she was born in Jamaica and moved to the UK at the age of 8). While still a teenager, Chrisann set up Let Us Learn, a campaign for equal and fair treatment for young migrants. In an interview with UN News, Chrisann explained how a 20<strong>15</strong> court victory against the UK Government has made a big difference to many young UK-based SOUKAINA (left) and Mouna work in the marketing department at Label Vie’s corporate headquarters in Rabat. It has 35 supermarkets and 10 “hypermarkets” nationwide, with eight supermarkets in Rabat and one hypermarket in Salé. UN PHOTO road. I just need it and it’s my right to have it.” The annual meeting of the Commission, which dates back to 1947, will bring more than 9,000 representatives from civil society organizations to the UN over the course of the next two weeks. This year’s theme is “social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment <strong>15</strong> CIVIL Society Representatives Mary Fatiya (South Sudan) and Muniba Mazari (Pakistan) address the Commission on the Status of Women held in the General Assembly Hall at United Nations headquarters. UN PHOTO of all women and girls.” Many of the marathon-discussions are expected to also focus on gender equality and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In his opening statement, Secretary General António Guterres said the Commission on the Status of Women could equally be called the “Commission on the Status of Power.” result in the next pandemic moving faster and further, the agency maintains, while also underlining that those infected with the virus can face other health threats, such as heart attacks, strokes and severe pneumonia. The WHO’s 11-year plan focuses on the formulation of robust national programs and has three goals: reducing seasonal influenza, minimizing the risk of transmission from animals to humans and limiting the impact of a pandemic. In addition, WHO is calling for better tools to prevent, detect, control and treat influenza, such as more efficient vaccines and anti-viral drugs. Influenza outbreaks tend to emphasize the pressures faced by health systems in low and middle-income countries in particular, WHO says, insisting that investing in influenza-prevention measures will encourage a rapid response to many other infectious diseases. An outbreak in Madagascar in 2002 had a 2.5 percent fatality ratio, which is very similar to the 1918-1919 pandemic, WHO says, noting that the cost of pandemic preparedness globally is estimated at $4.5 billion a year, which is less than one per cent of the estimated cost needed to respond to a “medium-to-severe” pandemic. “A severe pandemic can result in millions of deaths globally, with widespread social and economic effects, including a loss of national A PUPIL receives a vaccine against influenza at a high school in the western French town of Quimper. France opened centers across the country to offer swine flu vaccinations to some six million people deemed most at risk from the pandemic sweeping the world. AFP students born abroad. “We recognized that over 2,000 students were being stopped from going to university because of their immigration status. So, despite being lawfully resident in the country, they were being told that they couldn’t move forward with their education aspirations. In 20<strong>15</strong>, the Supreme Court agreed that this was discriminatory, and we managed to influence government policy, which means that hundreds, if not thousands of young migrants are able to access a student loan and go to university, which previously wasn’t the case.” Women’s empowerment and gender equality are “essential to global progress,” United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres stressed in his message for International Women’s Day which this year puts “innovation by women and girls, for women and girls,” at the heart of efforts to achieve gender equality. “Last year, for the first time, we achieved gender parity in the UN’s Senior Management Group and among those who lead UN teams around the world,” the UN chief said, adding that the organization is “working to achieve parity across the whole United Nations system within a decade.” The UN began celebrating the International UN health chief vows treatment centers protection Amid a deadly Ebola outbreak, armed militia members on 9 March <strong>2019</strong> brutally attacked an Ebola clinic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) eastern city of Butembo, prompting a call from the UN’s global health agency chief “to protect the treatment centers.” Just hours after the assault, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), toured the center, which was also attacked last week, thanking personnel for their steadfast dedication. “It breaks my heart to think of the health workers injured and police officer who died in today’s attack, as we continue to mourn those who died in previous attacks, while defending the right to health,” he said. “But we have no choice except to continue serving the people here, who are among the most vulnerable in the world.” The visit came as he concluded a three-day mission to the country, along with other WHO Being a woman has its challenges. Being in a wheelchair is the cherry on top New strategy vs ‘real’ flu threat Globalization, urbanization and mobility will result in the next pandemic moving faster and further Day in 1975, which was designated International Women’s Year. Over the decades it has morphed from recognizing the achievements of women to becoming a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas. “Gender equality is essential to the effectiveness of our work, and we cannot afford to miss out on the contributions of half of the world’s population,” Deputy Secretary economic productivity and severe economic burdens on affected citizens and communities” WHO says. STUDENTS learning in Makod Primary and Secondary School in Tierkidi Refugee Camp, Gambella Region, Ethiopia. UNICEF Gender empowerment essential to progress leadership and senior United States officials who met with the president, government officials, partner organizations and local responders involved in the outbreak response. He also spoke to a group of partners, officials and staff in Butembo. He stressed that “these are not attacks by the community, they are attacks on the community” conducted by “elements who are exploiting the desperation of the situation for their own purposes.” General Amina J. Mohammed explained. Moreover, “women’s equal participation in the labor force would unlock trillions of dollars for global development” she continued. “Let us be clear,” she spelled out: “We cannot build the future we want and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals without the full participation of women.” AN injured suspected Mai-Mai rebel fighter is thrown into the back of a truck outside an Ebola Treatment Center in Butembo, the epicenter of DR Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak, after an attack on 9 March. AFP
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