WATERLOO, Ontario – February 1, 2000 – A collaborative international effort to help resolve water use conflicts and improve water quality in Africa was launched today at the University of Waterloo.

Establishment of the United Nations University Chair on African Great Lakes and Rivers involves researchers from the University of Waterloo, Environment Canada's National Water Research Institute and the United Nations University’s International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU/INWEH).

"Located at the University of Waterloo, the chair will undertake graduate education, research and training and contribute to the resolution of African water research and management issues," said UW president David Johnston.

Inaugural chairholder, Prof. Robert Hecky of UW's biology department, said the broad theme pursued will be the integrated management of African lake and river basins, with initial emphasis on the Great Lakes of East Africa.

Hecky is a renowned Canadian limnologist with a distinguished record of research, capacity development and project management in East Africa.

Nations in East Africa’s Rift Valley have a wide array of pressing water management needs, exacerbated by serious underlying economic, environmental and social problems, Dr. Hecky said. Strengthening of scientific and institutional capacity is critical to resolving Africa's water crisis. The chair will serve as a focal point for programs to strengthen the capacity of Africa's Great Lakes nations to understand, monitor and manage shared aquatic resources.

The principal activities of this four-year partnership include:

• research, basic and applied, on the ecosystem of African Great Lakes and Rivers;
• graduate education and training, particularly of African students and professionals;
• leadership of the African capacity-development activities of UNU’s International Network on Water, Environment and Health;
• scientific consultancy services, directed to the sustainable management of African aquatic ecosystems; and
• collaboration with African institutions and professionals through joint research, training programs, scientific exchanges, fellowships and information dissemination.

The three partners will share the costs of the chair. In addition:

• Environment Canada's National Water Research Institute will provide access to its laboratories and the participation of its scientists in chair-related projects;
• UW will provide office, laboratory and support services for the chair and its associated research professionals and graduate students; and
• the UNU International Network on Water, Environment and Health will assist in provision of support staff as well as managerial, administrative, communications and outreach support for collaborative projects.

A support team of research associates and students will be established and key universities in East and South Africa will be approached to associate with the chair.

Initial projects will focus on Lake Victoria and Lake Malawi, including development of regional centers to provide training in river basin management and water toxicology.

The partners will also seek support from international development agencies and foundations that support African-related work.

Hans van Ginkel, UN Under Secretary-General and Rector of UN University, welcomed the creation of the new UNU Chair at Waterloo and said the world needs many such efforts to improve conditions in developing countries. Training workers and strengthening water management practices is "the absolute minimum that the world community must provide to the world's poor without water," Dr. van Ginkel said.

"Canada over many years has invested well in developing its water management expertise and is a recognized international leader in this field," said Paddy Torsney. "The creation of this collaborative effort with UNU and the University of Waterloo creates an excellent opportunity to share Canada’s know-how and technologies with a part of the world where needs are greatest."

Among the Chair’s first initiatives is a project to help predict water quality problems in Lake Malawi (also known as Lake Nyasa), a 500 km long, 48 km wide body which lies between Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique. Lake Malawi has exceptional water quality and fishing is heavy along its banks. Increasing nutrient loadings, however, threaten rapid eutrophication, depleting the lake’s oxygen. To avoid this, it is necessary to evaluate the consequences of changing land-use and water demands.

A model will be created to predict nutrient and sediment inputs, pollutant dispersal, phytoplankton growth and future eutrophication rates. Training in the model’s use will be provided to the staff of national organizations in each of the three countries, together with graduate students who will return to their home agencies, both to use the model and to train others.

With World Bank funding, the project is to be implemented with additional support from Delft Hydraulics of the Netherlands, and from scientists from several universities, government institutes and private firms in Malawi, Canada, the USA and the UK.

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• Prof. Robert Hecky, UW biology, (519) 888-4567, ext. 2820
• Jim Fox, UW News Bureau, (519) 888-4444
• Terry Collins, UN University, media relations, (416) 538-8712
• Norm Naylor, Environment Canada, Communications (819) 953-6901
• Release no. 11 – February 1, 2000

At any given time, an estimated one half of people in developing countries are suffering from diseases caused either directly by infection through the consumption of contaminated water or food, or indirectly by disease-carrying organisms (vectors), such as mosquitoes, that breed in water. These diseases include diarrhea, schistosomiasis, dengue fever, infection by intestinal worms, malaria, river blindness (onchocerciasis) and trachoma (which alone causes almost six million cases of blindness or severe complications annually).

Unless action is stepped up, the number of people without access to safe water will increase to 2.3 billion by 2025, with the number of those affected by unsafe water expected to jump sharply as well. (Unsafe water is currently estimated to cause 3.3 billion illnesses and 5.3 million deaths yearly).

Right now, 20 percent of the world's population in 30 countries face water shortages, a figure that will rise to 30 percent of the world's population, in 50 countries, by 2025, according to UN figures.

In coming decades, accelerating environmental pressures could transform the very foundations of the international political system. There are at least 25 million environmental refugees today, a total to be compared with 22 million refugees of the traditional kind. They are mainly located in sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian sub-continent, China, Mexico and Central America. The total may well double by the year 2010, as increasing numbers of impoverished people press ever harder on already degraded environments, including their water resources.

UN University’s International Network on Water, Environment and Health is a knowledge broker, promoting and strengthening integrated water management practices through capacity building and applied research. UNU/INWEH was created in 1996 with the support of the Canadian Government, the International Development Research Center and McMaster University, Hamilton, where the program is headquartered. UNU/INWEH assembles teams from many disciplines and countries to meet priority needs identified by developing countries. Projects and programs are at various stages of implementation in Mexico, South America, East Africa, and the Middle East.