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11 Dec 2020 SAN JOSE, Costa Rica

Hurricanes Aggravate Economic Crisis In Central America; Migration Expected To Rise; Waterborne Disease Risk

Back-to-back tropical storms in Honduras, Guatemela, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Costa Rica in recent weeks, have caused widespread destruction of crops and homes, precipitating the need for urgent humanitarian assistance.Countries are already suffering from food insecurity, economic downturn and the loss of jobs and livelihoods due to COVID-19...

6 Jun 2020 Rome, Italy

$700 Million USD To Advance Environmental Priorities In Developing Countries

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has agreed on $700 Million USD for projects and programmes to help developing countries keep advancing urgent environmental priorities through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic. The new and expanded programming, announced 3 June by the Facility’s governing body, will help developing countries protect marine biodiversity, fight wildlife trafficking, tackle dangerous uses of mercury, and fortify defenses against climate change in the agriculture and fisheries sectors, in basic services such as drinking water, and other areas...

7 Nov 2017 BONN, Germany

COP23 Underway, Syria Signs Up, Fiji Presidency, Water Action Day, Calls for Investment in Climate Adaptation, COPS and Robbers, More…

COP23 Underway, Syria Says "We're in!", US IsolatedAction Day for WaterWorld Water Council Calls for Financing for New Water Infrastructure and MaintenanceOil Majors Named and Shamed for Water Abuse AgainSyria's "In"Syria has announced 7 November that it will sign the Paris climate accord. The move, which comes on the heels of Nicaragua signing the accord last month, leaves the United States of America as the only country that has rejected the global pact (more to follow from OOSKAnews)...

17 Aug 2016 MANAGUA, Nicaragua

450,000 Nicaraguans Still Defecate in the Open

Some 450,000 people in Nicaragua still practice open defecation, and 800,000 still lack access to an improved drinking water source, participants heard this week at the IV Water and Sanitation Forum “Nicaragua Sana.”Speaking at the forum, Joshua Briemberg, regional representative of international NGO WaterAid and president of the National Network for Water and Sanitation in Nicaragua (RASNIC), said the government has not done the calculations to determine whether it can eliminate open defecation by the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target date in 2030...

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8 Jan 2016 OXFORD, United Kingdom

El Niño Puts Unprecedented Strain on Humanitarian Aid System: Oxfam

This year’s unusually strong El Niño will put unprecedented pressure on the global humanitarian system, relief organization Oxfam warned last week. The group said in a statement that according to its estimates, the weather phenomenon could leave tens of millions of people facing hunger, water shortages and disease if action is not taken now to prepare vulnerable people for its effects...

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21 Oct 2014 MANAGUA

Flooding Kills 24 in Nicaragua

Driving rain that has swamped most of Nicaragua for days has killed 24 people, authorities said Sunday, sparking fears of a potential health crisis in some areas. The flooding has left more than 33,000 people homeless and many are cramming into shelters around the Central American nation, government spokeswoman and first lady Rosario Murillo said...

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24 Sep 2014 PANAMA CITY, Panama

More Contamination Found in Panama’s La Villa River

Panama's Ministry of Health had to prohibit consumption of water from the La Villa River in the country’s Azuero region for several days, after high levels of the toxic herbicide atrazine were again found in the river’s water.Atrazine was first detected in the La Villa at the end of June; supply to more than 150,000 people was affected...

3 Sep 2014 BOGOTA

Central American Drought Blamed on Climate Change

Central America’s years of neglect of agriculture, poor water management and lack of planning to help farmers cope with climate change are worsening food shortages caused by a widespread drought, aid agencies say. At least 2.5 million people in four countries -– Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras -- are struggling to feed themselves because a severe drought has shrunk harvests and raised food prices, weakening the fragile food supply, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says...

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25 Jul 2014 SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador

Central America’s Drought Expected to Continue Through October

Climatologists and meteorologists from Central America are predicting that drought conditions in the region will continue through August, September, and October.Following a recent Climate Forum in El Salvador, that country’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources issued a press release saying that after carrying out analyses of weather patterns, historical records of rainfall, ocean surface temperatures, rainfall probability scenarios, and other factors, experts have created a map of expected rainfall in the region over the next three months...

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23 Apr 2014 MANAGUA, Nicaragua

Experts Analyze Water Near Nicaraguan Volcano After Earthquakes

Volcanologists and seismologists from Cuba, the United States, Mexico and Venezuela have been analyzing water samples from wells near Nicaragua's Apoyeque Volcano after an increase in seismic activity was detected there, Nicaraguan authorities said last week. The volcano is located approximately 10 kilometers from the center of the Nicaraguan capital, Managua...

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5 Mar 2014 CHICHIGALPA

Monsanto Herbicide Pollution Causing Kidney Disease in Central America, Sri Lanka, India

The tragic magnitude of the chronic kidney failure epidemic afflicting Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, is nearly impossible to overstate - in the last 10 years, roughly half of all male deaths there were caused by the mysterious illness. It's so bad that the tiny village of La Isla, a community of Chichigalpa sugar cane field workers, is now more commonly called La Isla de Viudas -- The Island of Widows...

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10 Dec 2013 SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador

Central American Integration System Calls for Development of Wastewater Systems

Central America and the Dominican Republic must invest in sanitation systems in order to reduce water contamination, according to a recent study by the San Salvador-based Central American Integration System (SICA)."The current situation of sewage and wastewater in the region requires immediate intervention," to reduce pollution of rivers and coasts, the study warned...

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