Ivan Pictet, speaking at the award ceremony, announced that Munem Wasif, one of the photographers shortlisted for the Prix Pictet, will be awarded the commission to document WaterAid’s Chittagong Hill Tracts Project in Bangladesh which is supported by Pictet & Cie.
The partners of Pictet & Cie have agreed to commission Munem Wasif to record the evolution of WaterAid’s project that aims to bring clean tap water to village communities in Bangladesh.
Not a prize winner, but also shortlisted for the Prix Picter, was photographer Malcolm Hutcheson for his series on Lahore’s Waste Water Problem. 90% of Lahore’s sewage, domestic and industrial, pours untreated into the local aquatic environment. It flows mainly into the Ravi River which lies on the edge of the city. Because toxins leach (as deep as 100 m) into the groundwater, the municipal wells have to be sunk deeper each year. Hutcheson’s photographs show the people who have to work with waste water, either maintaining the system or making money from using it.
The Prix Pictet is a global prize in photography that focuses on sustainability. The award is sponsored by Pictet & Cie, in association with the Financial Times. The theme for 2008 was water.
During a United States citizenship ceremony held at George Mason University (GMU), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting Director Jonathan Scharfen presented Professor Abul Hussam of GMU with an Outstanding American by Choice certificate.
The award is handed out to naturalized US citizens who have made significant contributions to their community and the United States as a whole.
Hussam, born in Bangladesh, developed a household water treatment system that removes arsenic from groundwater. Over 100,000 of his [SONO] arsenic filters have been distributed to countries such as Nepal, India, and his native Bangladesh.
Hussam was awarded the certificate during the ceremony which welcomed over 50 new citizens at the Fairfax, Virginia university.
The 2008 Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA) were were awarded by the Asian Tokyo-based Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) on 14 November 2008.
Several of the prize winning journalists had submitted water-related stories:
Young Development Journalist of the Year: Mallika Aryal, Nepal Revisiting a multi-purpose Melamchi
Due to water shortages, experts have proposed adding a hydropower and irrigation component to a 30-year water project in the Kathmandu Valley.
Environment Category winner: Yamani Zaky, Indonesia Water hunters: The causes and impact of privatization in Bandung, Indonesia
The failings of the privatization system have resulted in a lack of clean water, forcing local residents to hunt for precious commodity
Infrastructure Category winner: Sahana Singh, India Can Gwalior Show the Way to Asian Cities?
Women are at the forefront of educating slums on water and sanitation projects, raising awareness through advocacy, information and education.
In March 2008, the Human Rights Council, by its resolution 7/22, decided to appoint an Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. At its September 2008 session, the Human Rights Council appointed Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque as Independent Expert, for a period of three years. Ms. de Albuquerque [took up] her functions on 1 November 2008.
Read more: OHCHR
The Republican brand may have stunk on Election Night, but not enough for San Francisco voters to rename a sewage treatment plant after President George W. Bush. [Voters rejected a proposition to change] the city’s Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant. Apparently they did not think the prank on the unpopular president was worth the [estimated] $50,000 [...] it would cost to not only change the name on the facilities, but also the lettering on materials and publications.
Ashok Khosla is Chairman of Delhi-based Development Alternatives, a social enterprise devoted to promoting commercially-viable, environmentally-friendly technologies for rural communities in the global South. He was earlier a director in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
