DENVER – April 29, 2010 – Water For People and the Water Environment Research Foundation have announced a partnership to support research in water resource management in Rwanda. Under this new partnership, Water For People will study the uses, development and stewardship of water in the tiny east-African nation, while WERF’s advisory group will help guide the process, ensuring that lessons learned for the local context have validity for the international effort to meet the growing crisis of water scarcity.
Water For People creates community-based solutions to solve the world-wide water crisis; a crisis that means over 884 million people don’t have access to safe water. Their vision is a world where no one suffers or dies from a water- or sanitation-related illness.
One step towards achieving this goal is to better understand the complexities of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and how it might contribute to solutions in the field. This is why Water For People has focused its 2010 Fellowship in Innovation and Sustainability on IWRM.
Nina Miller, Senior Manager of Thought Leadership at Water For People, said, “As a sector leader in sustainability, Water For People seeks constantly to expand its capacity to innovate and field-test its innovations, with the ultimate aim of improving the way we and the sector accomplish our work. Our newly-created Fellowship in Innovation and Sustainability identifies and supports an outstanding scholar in the pursuit of original research. We support that scholar’s work because it promises to contribute directly to the knowledge base of Water For People program staff and the sector as a whole.”
The Fellow, Steph Ogden, is focusing her research on a case study of IWRM in the Water For People–Rwanda country program. In support of this work, WERF has provided an advisory group, or Project Subcommittee (PSC). This group of international, cross-disciplinary experts ensures an objective, balanced and well-grounded research approach to the work of the Fellow.
PSC members are highly respected in their fields. They include: Lindsay F. Wiley, JD, MPH (Georgetown University law Center), Victor Chipofya, PhD (University of Malawi - The Polytechnic), Michael E. Campana, PhD (Oregon State University), Lewis Jonker, PhD (University of the Western Cape), and Keith G. Kennedy, PhD (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa).
WERF Executive Director Glenn Reinhardt said, “WERF is proud to support Water For People in conducting key research to address the growing crisis of water scarcity. WERF commends Water For People’s dedication to getting solid, actionable data and working to find solutions on water quality issues.”
Water For People is an international nonprofit organization, working in 11 countries and dedicated to the development of sustainable access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation. WERF is a nonprofit organization, established in 1989 to advance the science and technology of a broad spectrum of wastewater and water quality issues.
About Water For People
Founded in 1991, Water For People is an international, nonprofit humanitarian organization that focuses on long-lasting, safe drinking water resources and improved sanitation facilities in the developing world. Now in its 20th year, Water For People works in 11 countries and strives to avoid creating dependence on charity among beneficiaries. Instead, they focus on empowering local communities to plan, build, finance, maintain and operate their own systems. The organization works in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America to show that its successful programs are adaptable around the world and can be replicated anywhere. In 2009 it served over 325,000 beneficiaries. Water for People is a charity of choice of the American water and wastewater community. For more information, visit www.waterforpeople.org.
About the Water Environment Research Foundation
The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), a nonprofit organization, manages independent scientific research that leads to cost-effective responses to water quality concerns affecting the environment and human health. Since 1989, WERF has addressed issues in wastewater treatment, water reclamation and reuse, biosolids and sludge, stormwater management, water quality and, more recently, climate change. For more information, visit www.werf.org
