Former Executive Director Of Un-habitat, Professor Anna Tibaijuka, To Chair The Water Supply And San

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16th October 2010, 01:48am - Views: 970





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MEDIA RELEASE PR41763


Former Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Professor Anna Tibaijuka, to Chair the Water Supply and

Sanitation Collaborative Council


GENEVA, Oct. 15/PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --


    The Steering Committee of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative

Council (WSSCC) today elected Professor Anna Tibaijuka, Former Executive


alliance of members from a range of sectors who are committed to improving

the lives of poor people around the world by improving access to basic

sanitation, good hygiene practices, and safe drinking water. Prof. Tibaijuka

will succeed Dr Roberto Lenton, whose second and final term of office comes

to an end in March 2011.




    "We live in a world of unacceptable inequality," said Prof. Tibaijuka.

"Two-thirds of the world's population takes access to a toilet for granted.

Yet a third of the people alive today - 2.6 billion individuals, most of them

in Africa and South Asia - do not have access to basic sanitation, and 0.9

billion lack safe drinking water. I want to address this inequality."


    Prof. Tibaijuka grew up in rural Tanzania, and knows first-hand the

impact of poor sanitation and hygiene on the health and economic well-being

of a community. She has seen the benefits that small changes can make:

installing a separate toilet in a school can improve girls' attendance;

providing soap and water for handwashing can reduce the spread of diarrhoea,

the second leading cause of death among children under five years old; and

ensuring clean drinking water can help reduce outbreaks of water-borne

diseases such as cholera.


    Recent analyses of progress towards achievement of the Millennium

Development Goals have revealed that sanitation is by far the most off-track

MDG in sub-Saharan Africa, and second globally, after nutrition. "We are

delighted that Prof. Tibaijuka has accepted the challenge of leading WSSCC to

address the neglected topics of sanitation and hygiene," said outgoing Chair,

Dr Roberto Lenton. "These issues need champions, and she has already proved

herself to be a strong leader - respected in her home country, throughout

Africa, and on the world stage."


    In her role as Chair of WSSCC, Prof. Tibaijuka plans to draw on her

experience and network of contacts in politics, business, academia and within

the UN system, to raise awareness about the need for concerted action. Under

her leadership, WSSCC intends to continue its current growth, notably in the

Global Sanitation Fund, a programme of WSSCC, which supports sanitation work

in many of the world's poorest countries.

  

    WSSCC Media Contacts

    Amanda Marlin, +41-22-560-8175/+41-79-650-2629

    amanda.marlin@wsscc.org


    David Trouba, +41-22-560-81-78/+41-79-261-54-00

    david.trouba@wsscc.org

    SOURCE: Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative (WSSCC)   

To view this and other AsiaNet releases please visit http://www.asianetnews.net






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