Summary/Goals: This news service and research source covers global water news, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, in eight languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, Greek, and Farsi), and includes English-language summaries of articles in 14 topic areas from more than 190 countries. The home page presents headlines and summaries of high-profile stories, most with illustrations, as well as a poll on water issues and teacher resources. Over 20,000 news summaries can be searched by any combination of key word, topic, time frame, and geographic area. Also available through a free E-mail subscription service (see G-WADI project).
Activities and outcomes during past year:
Database now exceeds 20,000 articles. Number of subscribers increased modestly after push to include link to NewsWatch on several other environmental sites. Lost Arabic-speaking assistant in 2008 due to funding issues.
Plans for the upcoming year:
Finding new sources of funding will be principal challenge in 2009.
Organization Involvement:
This United Nations program is part of the International Hydrology Program within UNESCO. SAHRA is developing a Web presence and Web-based resources for GWADI water centers.
