Water.Org’s Gary White and Matt Damon in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People List

Gary White (l) and Matt Damon (r). Photo: Time Magazine

Time Magazine has included Gary White and Matt Damon, co-founders of Water.org,  in the 2011 Time 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The two were chosen for their work provide access to clean water and sanitation in developing countries. In Time, actor and ocean activist Ted Danson writes about the two water advocates, “Their message is one of hope; their solutions for providing access to clean water are simple and cost effective. And their work gives us an opportunity to change lives forever.”

Related web sites:

• Water.org
• 2011 Time 100 | Matt Damon and Gary White

Source: Eddie Scher, Skoll Foundation, 29 Apr 2011

Christian Holmes designated as USAID’s Global Water Coordinator

Christian Holmes, USAID’s Global Water Coordinator. Photo: USAID

In March 2011, Administrator Rajiv Shah designated Christian Holmes to serve as the USAID Global Water Coordinator.

This is the first time that USAID has established such a leadership position. The Coordinator is the senior representative within USAID responsible for coordinating the implementation of key water policy initiatives, including USAID’s water strategy [and] USAID efforts to implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act.

Christian Holmes joined USAID in January 2010 as the Senior Advisor for Energy and Environment, in which position he led USAID and interagency discussions on water. Holmes has also served as Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Refugee Programs, and Acting Director of the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.

On 13 April 2011, Holmes met with NGOs to discuss how they could collaborate USAID to develop new models of integrated freshwater supply and water supply, hygiene, and sanitation approaches, as well as ways to effect WASH-Food Security integration. This meeting was a follow-up of a meeting of the “WASH/Environmental Working Group”,  hosted by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), held a month earlier during World Water Week.

Related web site: Water at USAID

Source: John Oldfield, Blogging on Water, 13 Mar 2011 ; Christian Holmes, IMPACTblog, 14 Apr 2011 ; Christian Holmes, IMPACTblog, 28 Mar 2011