>> hello and welcome to global 3000. your weekly check on the global issues that affect us all. today we begin with a look at global water supplies. this week marks un world water day. the good news is that the world is on track to meet its water- related millennium development goal -- it looks like the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water will be halved by 2015. but the overall picture remains gloomy. that's because by 2025 far less people will have access to water in general -- mainly due to climate change and large

quantities being used by industry and agriculture. more on that in just a moment -- here's what else is coming up -- catching the rain -- a project to combat drought in bolivia. building on sand -- we head to lagos where divers risk their lives to get building material. and paradise lost -- why the maldives have the world's highest divorce rate. clean drinking water is a human right under international law. this means that governments have the duty to provide water to their people. but when fresh water sources run dry in entire regions across asia, africa and latin america -- having a right to it is no consolation. and it's mainly the developing countries who suffer the most. bolivia spearheaded the political drive to enshrine the right to water.

the rainy seasions in its highlands are becoming ever shorter and droughts are depleting its arable land. in the area around the city of llallawghua, a german-swedish project is testing large catch basins. these store rain water, which locals can tap into when other sources have run dry. >> this traditional dance in the bolivian andes is called a huayno. but this song is not traditional song, it was written by the chuchini people themselves. it's a hymn of praise to the 'water harvest'. they sing about their new atajados, or rainwater retention basins.

>> this song expresses our joy and gratitude for the new atajados. now we can collect rainwater, and by harvesting water, we can grow more on our fields. >> german and swedish aid helped pay for seven atajados for this village, which sits at an altitude of 4000 meters. at the end of the rainy season the reservoirs hold some 1200 cubic meters of water. the atajado is essential for survival for tomas pillco and his family. >> the dry season is going to begin soon and then the atajado will be our principal source of water. even if it hardly rains after that, i can still grow some vegetables and provide my animals with water.

>> llamas secure the pillco family an income, but they also have oxen to help with the work. the atajado stores just enough water to irrigate a small vegetable and potato patch. climate change has hit the people of chuchini especially hard. the andean glaciers are their main source of drinking water, and many of them are melting away. like many other springs in the andes, this one will dry up in the winter months. hundreds of bolivian highland villages are endangered. >> our grandparents could rely on the weather and the seasons. but that's no longer possible. we no longer know the best time for planting. neither the rainy season nor the

cold periods are like they used to be. climate change is threatening our food supply. >> the biggest problem is that the rainy season is shorter than it used to be. the same amount of precipitation that used to fall over the course of six months now falls in just three. the water from these sudden downpours runs off without soaking into the ground. this is when the water can be 'harvested'. hans-joachim picht is coordinating the construction of 370 rainwater retention basins in the andes. during heavy rainfalls, up to 15 liters of water per second can flow into the reservoirs. >> what we see here is exactly what we want to achieve -- the

water that flows down from the small catchment area you see behind us is collected in this atajado. if it weren't, it'd just run off and collect in the valley far below. there the rivers would swell and that could cause major damage. >> he sees some of this damage on his travels around the country. a sociologist, picht has been working in the highlands of norte potosi for years. it's one of bolivia's poorest regions. the potato harvest is looking good this year, but climate change has led to several crop failures in the past. at times, the potato farmers have actually had to buy potatoes -- a disaster for the many families who barely scrape by as it is.

hans-joachim picht is going to see a farming family who've been having problems with their new atajado. the basin is losing water -- even though it's been sealed a number of times with a special material. the farmer is worried -- he has to be able to rely on the basin for his water supply. >> we're always learning. in the past, we just assumed that you'd dig a hole, and the problem was solved, but that's not the case. we've been systematically collecting data on everything that can go wrong and coming up with proposals on how to avoid these mistakes.

>> a reservoir like this can cost more than 4500 euros. joachim picht hands over the last of his project's atajados with a modest ceremony. from now on, he'll only act as an advisor, providing expertise. the bolivian government will have to pay for the basin's maintenance. >> now we'd like to hand this integral concept for the atajados over to bolivian institutions, and convince them that it makes sense to continue building atajados like these. >> hans-joachim picht is doing everything he can to make sure the message gets across. villagers inaugurate another new basin with music and dancing. it looks like a storm is brewing on the horizon -- a good omen for this year's 'water

harvest' in the bolivian highlands. >> the issue of global water supplies is very complex, and if you would like more facts and figures please check out our website -- www.dw.de and click on globalization. here you will find more special reports on water. now if you are interested in real estate, forget paris or new york, lagos is fast becoming one of the world's most expensive cities. africa's second largest metropolis is booming, fuelled by nigeria' vast oil reserves. but the city is fast running out of space. one response is a major building project on land which was previously open sea. sand divers play their part in the construction boom. they risk their lives every day to claim this valuable building material from the sea bed. we meet both, the labourers and the visionaries involved at opposite ends of this construction frenzy.

everywhere in the nigerian capital lagos -- whether in the business district or the slums -- too many people seem to be crowded into too little space. many of those people are hoping to make money from the ongoing construction boom. the sand used in construction is dredged from the lagoon, a few kilometers from the city center. day laborers spend the night on the boats, and as soon as the sun's up, they start hauling buckets of sand up from the sea floor three to four meters below. jonas james has been doing this for twenty years. it's grueling work. he has to stay underwater for up to four minutes to fill his bucket with sand from the seabed.

the work is dangerous and hard on the health. but as a guest worker from neighboring benin, james can't pick and choose his jobs. >> i try to save a little. lagos is very expensive, and thirty euros is not much pay, so i can only go see my family in benin once a year. i stay there for two weeks, and then i have to come back. >> the sand divers have formed a kind of brotherhood, but they don't all earn an equal wage for their work. a boat owner points out the danger involved. >> i have two boat. the other boat belongs to our people, where we come from. we have a leader, who has the boat and employs the workers to bring up the sand.

at times, if they're working hard, somebody can go deep down without coming back. >> lagos' center is wedged between the atlantic and the lagoon. the only land available for building has to be dredged up from the sea, and that takes sand -- lots of it. and that's the foundation of the colossal eko atlantic city project. envisioned is a futuristic city of high-rises and shopping malls with their own water and power supplies. it's the vision of a lebanese billionaire -- nigerian banks are financing the project which will be planned and executed by englishman david frame. >> for how many people will that be built here? >> well, we project that we'll have 250 thousand permanent residents on the project, and a further 150 thousand which will be commuting on a daily basis. >> and who will be the big business represented here in eko atlantic?

>> well, we expect all the major financial institutions to take plots for development on the project. >> twenty percent of the land has already been sold -- even before completion of the seven- kilometer-long seawall that's to protect the city from the atlantic's pounding waves. the sand divers have set sail for home. they're in luck -- they don't have to row today. a brisk wind fills the sail made of plastic bags stitched together. as long as there's sand in the lagoon, the men from the slums will have work. since they only dredge it on a small scale, the currents are sufficient to replenish the sea bed.

the sand divers of lagos have held a monopoly on construction sand for decades. but major investors like the eko atlantic project need sand on an industrial scale -- and only industrial machines can provide it. >> i've been trying to work at this kind of business -- it's been going on now -- for at least 25 or 30 years now. and it's very easy for us to do. if you try to use machines, it can have bad side effects by tomorrow. >> computer-controlled dredges suck up the sand for the city of the future. critics say the resulting vibrations resemble an earthquake on the sea floor -- and might cause erosion along the coast. project manager david frame sees mainly the benefits -- nine million square meters of land reclaimed from the ocean.

a sea wall several kilometers long that will protect not only the new city from storm tides, but large sections of old lagos, as well. david frame and his co-workers have already built nigeria's only steelworks and its largest hotel. but eko atlantic is meant to outshine them all. the monumental project could become the new face of africa -- an ultra-modern city on the ocean for those able to afford it. the sand divers will have little to do with the new city. they risk their lives to provide material for the streets and single-family houses. as long as the boom lasts,

they're guaranteed an income. the sand divers will eventually go home to the slums. and eko atlantic will be the city of someone else's future. >> and now we take you to the swiss alps. as part of our global living room series we visit the residence of the anthamatten family. most paying guests come here for the views and to experience the traditional swiss lifestyle. so here our reporters took up a very cosy invitation to find out what life is like between alpine peaks and grazing cows.

>> hello. welcome to our home in saas-fee. come in! this is our living room. here our two of our children -- klara, noel -- their papa -- and the two older boys are playing sports." >> hello. welcome! the kids generally aren't here during the week, but on the weekend, after i get home from work, we often sit together and watch a little tv or discuss various things. the kids all have laptops on their knees, and of course, they're busy with their e-mails and facebook. >> this is a williams-pear schnaps from our canton. it's made from a special type of pear, and we usually serve it when we have special guests.

while i'm cooking, i can see what everyone in the family's doing, and that's a lot cozier than if i were off in another room. i don't cook all that much, though, because we've got a hotel. a really nice cheese fondue is something our kids love. it doesn't take long to make -- you don't have to prepare much, and everybody likes it. >> we live in a catholic region. we're devout christians, and we go to church every sunday. you really can't call this typically swiss. we work together in a hotel that has a lot of wood in the interior. so we decided if we ever got our own apartment, we'd like to have as much light and white as possible, and lots of windows, so when we came home in the evening, we could feel comfortable in different surroundings.

thanks for coming by, and ciao, everybody! >> now, divorce is no longer a taboo subject. most societies accept that "til death do us part" often turns out to be wishful thinking. but the reasons for divorce seem to vary -- just as the reasons to get married aren't the same across the globe. now the maledives are a prime choice for many couples on the lookout for a picture perfect honeymoon destination. what few people realise is that the maledives also have the world's highest divorce rates. we sent a reporter to find out why a place that seems like paradise produces such downbeat statistics. meet abdul, a divorcee who is still determined to work things out. >> abdul is getting ready for the day. he devotes plenty of time and care to personal grooming.

after his wife threw him, he moved back in with his father. abdul is a tour guide. he shows visitors how the islanders live. his wife didn't like the fact that he had contact with foreigners. it's his fourth marriage to fail because of it. abdul's family has experienced plenty of marriages and divorces. his sister has been divorced twice, his father's on his fourth marriage -- and now they're living together again. >> life, because it is a big period, it's already done -- it's gone. we cannot bring again these things, so i have to talk about a new life -- the divorce. >> the maldives are a holiday- makers' -- and a honeymooners' paradise.

nowhere else are there more newlyweds per square meter than on these tropical islands. the white sand, palm trees, clear water and sunshine are a vision of heaven on earth to many visitors. every day, abdul shows vacationers around his island. he earns up to 450 euros a month -- and he makes an effort to communicate any way he can. but his guests today don't understand english. >> actually, the chinese, they don't know what is tsunami. they don't listen it. maybe they didn't see the tv or radio or something. but the tsunami of 2004, of course -- everyone, they know

it. >> abdul always takes the group past the house where his wife and children live, hoping to catch a glimpse of them, but so far -- no luck. >> my wife and my baby -- they are living there. ok, this house. but my wife has some problem -- i divorce, i separate. understand? clear? ok! >> the chinese guests listen politely -- but hardly understand a word. the divorce rate in the maldives is rising steadily. the reasons are many. most of the islanders first marry when they are very young, often under pressure from their parents. most couples have known each other since childhood. the family ministry says the small size of the island communities is another factor. the person in charge of divorce policies for the government explains that, when couples fight, there's no space to get away from one another, so they divorce, and one leaves not only the house, but the island.

aishath velezinee herself a divorcee, she says a marriage license in the maldives isn't worth the paper it's printed on. >> same couple very often gets remarried within three months after their th finish of the divorce. so divorce and marriage -- the concepts carry different meanings here. marriage becomes very much a license to share a home, to share a bed. >> the maldivian approach to marriage can lead to some rather surprising family constellations. rasheeda is a doctor in malé, now on her second marriage. she lives with her children, grandchildren -- and her current and ex-husbands under one roof. her current husband, a former patient, is twenty years

younger than she is. >> my new husband is the same age as my children from my first marriage. the neighbors still think he's my son. >> what would be a volatile situation for others seems to work quite well for rasheeda and her young spouse. her ex-husband tolerates the situation. >> yes, she married someone else. so be it. i don't have any problem with it. i see my children, and that's the most important thing to me. we'll see how long it works out. >> it's time for afternoon prayers in the mosque on the tiny indian ocean island of guriadhoo. every day, abdul prays for a chance to return to his family. he'll give the day's earnings to his wife and wait and hope that, one day, she'll take him back again.

>> and we certainly wish him luck with that. next week we'll discover a new kind of fuel being made in cambodia. in a country where the widespread use of wood charcoal leads to illegal logging, this product made from coconut shells is better for the environment in several ways. it prevents waste, as the coconut husks are recycled, saves trees and burns longer and cleaner than wood charcoal. so more on that green alternative next time. but for now from me and the entire global team here in our berlin studios. thanks for watching and bye bye.

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--