World Water Council co-founder Ali Shady passes away

Aly M. Shady. Photo: ICID.

Mr. Aly M. Shady P.Eng., co-founder of the World Water Council (WWC) and the Arab Water Council (AWC), passed away on 27 December 2012, in Ottawa, Canada. Born in the Nile Delta of Egypt in 1942, Mr Shady lived in Canada for the past 35 years, where he completed his MSc at McGill University. In 1979 he joined the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). He created and eventually lead the Agency’s Irrigation Sector before being appointed its Senior Water Advisor.

One of Mr. Shady’s last assignments was for one of Canada’s three “signature projects” in Afghanistan, the controversial CA$ 50 million Dhala Dam. Canadian newspaper The Star criticised the project for its failure “to provide enough water in the driest months”.

Besides the WWC and AWC, Mr Shady also helped set up the International Drainage Workshops and the International Program for Technology Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID). He served as Treasurer, Vice President and Governor of the WWC. Mr Shady was elected President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) in 1996 and became Honorary President in 1999. In 2004 he was elected President of the International International Water Resources Association (IWRA).

Source: ICID – Obituary and Tribute ; World Water Council

India’s “sanitation crusader” Minister Jairam Ramesh stripped of post

Minister Jairam Ramesh and Bollywood actress and sanitation ambassador Vidya Balan at the launch of the Nirmal Bharat Yatra sanitation campaign. Photo: UNI

In a cabinet reshuffle Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has been stripped of his additional post as Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation [1]. His successor is Bharatsin Madhavsinh Solanki, a former railway minister and a Member of Parliament representing Gujarat’s Anand district.

News agency PTI reported that sources in Ramesh’s office were disappointed that their Minister was being replaced [2].

The Minister has been passionate about sanitation-related issues which he brought it in the limelight, they said, adding that Ramesh also managed to get additional funds to carry out the projects.

Zimbabwean sanitation and human rights advocate Nomathemba Neseni dies

Nomathemba Neseni in June 2011 at a SuSanA side event. Photo: Flickr/SuSanA

“Sanitation is a passion, not a job,” said Noma Neseni last year at the Global Forum on Sanitation and Hygiene in Mumbai, India. “I became a human rights commissioner because of toilets. What is gender equality or poverty alleviation when we are forced to defecate in the open?”

Ms. Nomathemba (Noma) Neseni, the Director of the Institute of Water and Sanitation Development (IWSD) and Human Rights Commissioner in Zimbabwe passed away on 30 August after a short illness.

She took over the leadership of IWSD in mid-2007, after working for a number of years as Deputy Director. Ms. Neseni had extensive experience in the water and sanitation (WASH) sector, ranging from project planning to gender mainstreaming. She wrote a book [1] on WASH financing, which was published in May this year.

At IWSD, Deputy Director Mr. Lovemore Mujuru has taken up the post of Acting Executive Director.

Ms. Neseni served for many years as the National Coordinator for Zimbabwe for the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), and more recently she was elected as a member of the WSSCC Steering Committee.

IWSD has been an IRC partner for many years, most recently in the ZimWASH project [2]. In 2009 Noma Neseni wrote an article [3] in IRC’s Source Bulletin about how the decline in Zimbabwe’s sanitation services eventually led to the 2008 cholera outbreak, the deadliest in Africa for 15 years.

[1] Neseni, N, 2012. Financing of WASH in a declining economic environment: financing of WASH for sustainability. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.  http://washurl.net/dou0ka>

[2] IRC - ZimWASH

[3] Noma Neseni, Sanitation perspectives in the new Zimbabwe. E-Source, May 2009

Source: WSSCC, 30 Aug 2012 ; The Herald / allAfrica.com, 01 Sep 2012

WSA partnership director Ms Juanita During dies at 41

Juanita During speaking at an MDG summit in the UK in 2010. Photo: Justin Tallis/Bond

Ms Juanita During, the Director of Partnership, Advocacy and Communications at Water and Sanitation for Africa (WSA) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, died on 16 August after a brief illness.

A Nigerian national, Ms During was head of governance at WaterAid in Nigeria before she was posted to WSA (formerly known as CREPA). Before that, she worked for UNICEF Nigeria for seven years.

Ms During served on the Nigerian government’s high level inter-ministerial committee on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This body was responsible for leading and co-ordinating the preparation of the country’s 2010 report for the UN MDG summit.

Between 1995 and 1999, she worked with consulting firm Afri-Projects Consortium, which at that time managed the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) programme. This multisectoral programme included the national rural and urban water supply programmes.

Ms During has contributed to the Guardian’s Poverty Development Blog. Her last post was “Just building a million latrines won’t solve Africa’s sanitation crisis“. In March 2012, she and Head of Communications Yacine Traoré gave a presentation on WSA at the introduction ceremony of the new organisation at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseilles.

Junita During is survived by two brothers and two sisters. Her funeral will be held in Lagos, Nigeria, during the coming week.

Source: Leadership / allAfrica.com, 17 Aug 2012

GPOBA appoints new Program Manager

Photo: GPOBA

The Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) has appointed Carmen Nonay as Program Manager in July 2012. She has been Acting Program Manager for GPOBA since mid-February, 2012.

Ms. Nonay joined the World Bank Group in 1997, where she has held various positions including Senior Investment Officer for the Global Financial Markets Group in the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Senior Infrastructure Specialist in GPOBA.

GPOBA is a partnership of IFC/World Bank and bilateral donors from Australia, the UK and The Netherlands working together to support output-based aid (OBA) approaches in several sectors including water and sanitation. GBOPA is administered by the World Bank.

Related web site: GBOPA

Source: GPOBA, 16 Jul 2012

UNDP to establish Global Centre for Public Service Excellence in Singapore

UNDP Chief Helen Clark launches Global Centre for Public Service Excellence with Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew. Photo: UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Singapore government have agreed to set up a global centre to help developing countries strengthen their public services. The Global Centre for Public Service Excellence will be based in Singapore by the end of 2012.

UNDP administrator Helen Clark said the new centre would be a leading research hub, drawing information from think-tanks, universities and on-going policy practice in Singapore and other countries.

The initiative was announced at the World Cities Summit in Singapore on 2 July.

The provision of clean water and sanitation in developing countries were mentioned as two critical focus areas. Helen Clark said it was unfortunate that sanitation has had a very low priority in many places. “It’s appalling to think that a significant proportion of human kind still faces open defecation and no access to a proper toilet at all”.

Related organisations and programmes:

• IRC – Water Services that Last
• Municipal Service Project (MSP)
• Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU)
• Public Utility Research Center (PURC) at the University of Florida

Source: Wayne Chan, Channel News Asia, 02 Jul 2012 ; UNDP, 02 Jul 2012

Torgny Holmgren new Executive Director of Stockholm International Water Institute

Torgny Holmgren. Photo: SIWI

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has appointed Mr. Torgny Holmgren as its new Executive Director as of 15 September 2012. He replaces Mr. Anders Berntell who left SIWI in March 2012 to begin as the new Executive Director of 2030 Water Resources Group at the International Finance Corporation within the World Bank Group.

Mr. Holmgren is currently Ambassador and Head of the Department for Development Policy at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where he is responsible for Swedish policy on global development and has recently served at the United Nations Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability. An economist by training, Mr. Holmgren has also previously served at the Swedish Ministry of Finance, the World Bank, and the Swedish Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mr. Per Bertilsson will serve as Acting Executive Director until 15 September 2012, after which he will resume his previous position as SIWI’s Deputy Director.

Founded in 1991, SIWI is a Stockholm-based international water policy institute, most well-known for organising the annual World Water Week in Stockholm. SIWI is the recipient of the 2012 Prince Albert II of Monaco Water Award. Over the past decade, SIWI has grown from a staff of 10 to over 50 employees.

Source: SIWI, 04 Jul 2012