Former WSSCC Chair Receives Award For Sustainable Development

GENEVA, September 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Professor Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, former chair of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), a part of the UN focusing on sanitation and hygiene, has received the Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa UN Habitat Award for Sustainable Development.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160923/411320 )

The ceremony was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the side-lines of the 71st UN General Assembly session, under the theme: "The Sustainable Development Goals: A universal push to transform our world".

The prestigious award is presented every two years by the government of Bahrain and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and recognizes the outstanding efforts by individuals or institutions in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and is meant to promote efforts at national, regional and international levels to achieve the award's humanitarian goals.

Professor Tibaijuka is a member of the Tanzanian parliament for Muleba South constituency since 2010, she is a former Minister of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Developments, a former Undersecretary-General of the UN and Executive Director of UN-Habitat. She served as chair for WSSCC from 2011 to 2015.

She is the first woman to receive the award in recognition of her role and contributions, through the posts she has held, to achieving urban and sustainable development, in addition to the efforts she has exerted in consolidating cooperation among various countries across the world, which entitled her to receive awards and appreciation certificates from government and international and academic agencies.

During her term at WSSCC, the council made measurable gains in each of its outcome areas. Her leadership enabled WSSCC to reach some three million people with access to safe sanitation, to advance the cause of equality and non-discrimination through issues like menstrual hygiene management, to increase the number of individuals and organisations involved, to produce new knowledge and vital research, and to prepare the organization well for the post-2015 development period.

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is at the heart of the global movement to improve sanitation and hygiene, so that all people can enjoy healthy and productive lives. Established in 1990, WSSCC is the only United Nations body devoted solely to the sanitation needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized people. In collaboration with members in 150 countries, WSSCC advocates for the billions of people worldwide who lack access to good sanitation, shares solutions that empower communities, and operates the GSF, which since 2008 has committed over $112 million to transform lives in developing countries.

Contact: David Trouba, WSSCC 

SOURCE WSSCC