African Ministers Council On Water – AMCOW. 8 Apr. 2008. AMCOW site administrators. 2005 <http://www.amcow.org/index1.php>

     AMCOW was formally launched in Abuja, Nigeria on April 30, 2002. It comprises The African Ministers responsible for water; after the launch of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) with the overall objective of encouraging new approaches to Africa’s sustainable development challenges as well as being aware of the challenges posed by the Millennium Declaration and regional intergovernmental responses essential for translating the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Water and Sanitation into reality in Africa; decided to establish the AMCOW. 

     This website provides a comprehensive view on the status of the water problems across the continent of Africa. It also lists the various key initiatives undertaken by AMCOW in partnership with other large governmental, non- governmental and non-profit organizations such as the World Bank, U.N and other international organizations such as the European Union, UNEP, etc. This gives the viewer a good look at what larger programs are being undertaken in order to solve water related issues in Africa as well as provides corporations with various avenues where they may channel their contributions and ‘fit in’ with the larger scheme of initiatives going on. 

The website also provides status reports on the progress of each of these initiatives through newsletters published once every two months.

     This website and this organization is a good source for water problems in Africa as it consists of a Full Council of Ministers (the minister responsible for water from each member country). AMCOW’s major functions are to facilitate regional and international co-operation through the co-ordination of policies and actions amongst African countries regarding water resources issues, and to review and mobilize additional financing for the water sector in Africa. This is an extremely important function as any major decision relating to ground water or digging of wells will go through this organization directly or indirectly since most of the ground water basins are shared across African countries creating water resource sharing problems.

Tiger Initiative: Looking after water in Africa (European Space Authority).  8 Apr. 2008. 2005 <http://www.tiger.esa.int/about.asp>

     The objective of the Tiger Initiative is to use space technology to improve knowledge about the water cycle and to develop sustainable Earth observation services for integrated water resource management in Africa as a special contribution to the NEPAD/AMCOW process and the achievement of WSSD goals. The initiative is supported by the space agencies of Canada, Japan and the United States.

     Recognizing the utility of satellite data for water resource management elsewhere and the urgent need for action in Africa expressed at the WSSD, the European Space Agency in the context of the Committee of Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) WSSD follow-on programme, launched in 2002 the TIGER initiative aimed at: "assisting African countries to overcome problems faced in the collection, analysis and dissemination of water related geo-information by exploiting the advantages of Earth Observation (EO) technology".

The website provides detailed information on this project which will provide a lot of answers in order to resolve water disputes between African nations which share multiple water basins.

     The website gives the most recent brochure with a progress report which shows the various research projects undertaken in different African countries and the information it provides. It also lists all the African and Non-African participating organizations that are part of this project.  The website also provides an Implementation plan which outlines the needs and social relevance of this project and explains how this sheds light for future initiatives related to water development in Africa.

“Water” CARE. 13 Apr. 2008. CARE site administrator. <http://www.care.org/careswork/whatwedo/health/water.asp>

     CARE is a leading humanitarian non-profit organization fighting global poverty. They do a lot of work for Water Scarcity issues around the world and especially in Africa. The website has links to various projects they are doing in Africa as well as the different issues relating to water in various Counties in Africa. The website also leads to a link to Building Partnerships for Water and Sanitation (BPDWS)  which is an organization that  helps establish cross-sectoral partnerships between public, private and civil  sector to solve  water and sanitation problems.

“Lifewater Canada”  April 12, 2008   <http://www.lifewater.ca/ >

     Lifewater Canada is Christian non profit dedicated to bringing water to help villages in Africa by building wells and washrooms and training crews to maintain these facilities.  They work in Liberia, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. 

In addition to providing information on the NPO, this website provides numerous online resources such as an online well construction manual, giving detailed steps on how to construct a well.  The website also provides information on how underground ground water comes to be, and they cycle which it goes through to purify itself.  This website has information based of US Aid and Lifewater International. 

The Water Institute of South Africa Home Page.  April 16^th, 2008  <http://www.wisa.org.za/Home/Home.htm>

WISA provides a forum for exchange of information and views to improve water resource management in Southern Africa.  The Institute keeps its members abreast of the latest developments in water technology and research through its national and international liaison, links and affiliations.  The institute has about 1800 members, drawn from various spheres of employment.  Its contributors range from Siemens to the City of Cape Town.  They also make available and occasionally develop manuals, guidelines, and handbooks. 

“Water for Children in Africa”  April 7, 2008  <http://www.waterforchildrenafrica.org/>

This organization is a charitable nonprofit dedicated to providing safe water for children living in rural Africa.  An interesting part of this organization is that they try to encourage a cultural bridging between children in America and children in Africa.  They have teams of high-achieving and high-risk youth developing leadership and technical skills. 

Water for Children works by planning projects and training teams from America, and sending them to Africa for a project. 

West Africa Water Initiative.  April 4^th, 2008

<http://www.waterforthepoor.org/initiatives/wawi/wawi.htm>

The West Africa Water Initiative was inspired by the vision of the Conrad N. Hilton foundation to provide rural water supply and sanitation as the entry point for community development.  The focus of this initiative is mainly in Ghana, Mali, and Niger.  Their objectives are to provide safe water and sanitation, reduce disease, and to establish proper water management techniques.  They are partnered with the Conrad N Hilton Foundation, UNICEF, USAID, and more. 

H20 Africa.  April 10^th, 2008

<http://www.h2oafrica.org/Projects.html>

The H2O Africa Foundation is focused specifically on clean water initiatives in Africa.  They focus on the projects being two main things.  Sustainable (projects are accompanied by training and maintenance to create a program that will live for the long run) and Integrated (activity will complement other programs in the region, such as education and infrastructure development).  H20 Africa also hopes to create widespread awareness of the water crisis in Africa and to gather support in critical areas. 

Through partnerships, H20 Africa sends 100% of donations, plus more matched contributions.  Initiatives include: indigenous development  for Saharan wells,  a Rwanda initiative, and their Ethopian transformation project.