WHO public health engineer Yves Chartier dies

Yves Chartier, who worked for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WSH) at the World Health Organization, died in a tragic accident in the Jura mountains on 8 January 2012. Mr. Chartier was WHO’s face for matters of medical waste management, and for water and sanitation in health care centres and schools. He worked previously with  Médecins sans Frontières and continued to work in emergency situations, most notably in the ground in the wake of the Haiti earthquake.

Yves was 53 and leaves behind his wife and two children.

Source: Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health, Newsletter, 10 Jan 2012

Kebreab Ghebremichael joins Patel School of Global Sustainability

Dr. Kebreab Ghebremichael has joined the Patel School of Global Sustainability at the University of South Florida as a senior research fellow. Until June 2011, he was a senior lecturer at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in The Netherlands.

At the Patel School, Dr. Ghebremichael’s main research area will be on Integrated Urban Water Management and aspects of sustainable urban water systems. He is also partly involved in the MA programme on Global Sustainability.

Dr. Ghebremichael is a civil engineer with a focus on sustainable and low cost water treatment systems (indigenous and bio-processes). He is especially known for his work on the use of Moringa oleifera seeds as a low-cost locally available alternative to expensive commercial coagulants used in water treatment plants in developing countries.

Related news:

• Natural coagulants: simple method to extract protein from Moringa oleifera seeds, E-Source, 13 Jul 2005
• Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy: water expert leads School of Global Sustainability at University of South Florida, E-Source, 10 Sep 2010

Source: Kebreab Ghebremichael, personal communication

New Chair and Vice-Chair for UN-Water

Michel Jarraud. Photo: UN-Water

World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Mr Michel Jarraud and Mr Albert Diphoorn, UN-Habitat Urban Basic Services Branch Coordinator, take up positions as Chair and Vice-Chair respectively of UN-Water for a customary two-year term. Both were elected by consensus during UN-Water’s 15th meeting in Stockholm in August 2011.

UN-Water was established in 2003 to coordinate and strengthen the work of 29 United Nations agencies and bodies on all issues relating to freshwater.

Bert Diphoorn. Photo: UN-Water

UN-Water has upgraded the rotating Chair to Executive Head level “to further elevate the water agenda within the UN and to strengthen the position of the UN family in the global policy arena”.

Outgoing UN-Water Chair, Dr Zafar Adeel, United Nations University, and Mr Thomas Chiramba, Interim Vice-Chair replacing Mr Tim Kasten, UNEP, handed over their duties at UN-Water’s 16th meeting in Zaragoza, Spain on 8 February 2012.

Source: UN-Water, 08 Feb 2012