IWA Water and Development Awards
The Awards
The IWA Water and Development Awards recognise excellence, leadership and innovation in the water sector, with a particular focus on encouraging contributions to the sustainable management of water in low- and middle-income countries. The awards are judged by a panel of experts and are awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to research or practice that have led to demonstrable impact in low- and middle-income countries. The awards are presented every two years at the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition, although the previous awards were presented at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition held in Copenhagen in 2022. The 2023 winners were announced at the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition, 10-14 December, Kigali, Rwanda. The next round of the awards will be presented at the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition that is due to take place in 2025.
The awards are open to individuals (IWA member or non-member) or organisations active in the sector. Eligible individuals/organisations can be drawn from practice, academia/science, consultancy, equipment manufacturers, NGOs and civil society, international organizations or government.
There are two categories of the awards, covering practice and research:
- The IWA Water and Development Award for Practice celebrates outstanding accomplishments in the practice of forward-thinking applications and solutions to advance clean and safe water and sanitation in low and middle-income countries. These solutions can range from specific technologies and infrastructure to innovative approaches that improve performance, efficiency and sustainability in operations and maintenance. The award also recognises social innovation, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship.
- The IWA Water and Development Award for Research recognises and promotes high-quality, impactful research. Research is the powerhouse of disruptive and breakthrough innovation. This award celebrates research that is challenging existing methods and approaches to create new opportunities in the area of sustainable water and sanitation in low- and middle-income countries. It is also open to early-stage business projects that are not yet market ready.
Process of Nomination and Selection
The call for nominations is now closed.
1. Qualified Nominators
The right to submit a nomination for the Water and Development Award is granted to Members of the International Water Association (IWA). The only exception is for previous Water and Development awardees (whether IWA members or not).
Important: self-nominations will not be accepted.
2. Award Criteria
The IWA Water and Development Award is in recognition of an outstanding innovation or contribution to science or practice which has led to demonstrable uptake/impact/influence at national, regional or international levels in low- and middle-income countries.
The nomination should therefore meet the following criteria:
| Innovative | The nomination should be creative and show that it brings unique or new solutions in the water and sanitation sector. It should feature new ideas that introduce change or improvement in existing practices. |
| Impactful | The nomination should have demonstrable uptake, and show powerful effect and/or influence in the water and sanitation sector. |
| LMIC-Focused | The nomination should be focused explicitly on, or have clear relevance for communities in low- and middle income countries. |
| Topical | The nomination should relates to one or more of the following sub-topics: water supply and treatment (drinking water, wastewater), (on-site) sanitation, hygiene and health interventions, water resource management, financing, community engagement, community education, planning, capacity building, regulation/standards, institutional development operation & maintenance, management etc. |
2023 Judging Panels
| Practice | Research |
| Mara Ramos | Damir Brdjanovic |
| Leonardo Sanabria | Luiza Campos |
| Sandhya Haribal | Raziyeh Farmani |
| Arun Kumar Suryakumar | Xia Huang |
| Rianna Gonzales | Norhayati Abdullah |
| Perry Rivera | Tanvir Ahmed |
| Akissa Bahri | Grace Oluwasanya |
| Bécaye Sidy Diop | Iván Moreno Andrade |
| Pradip P. Kalbar | |
| Kiwanuka N. Sonko |
The awarding process
The International Water Association is responsible for the selection of the Water and Development Award awardees. The IWA Secretariat will advertise the beginning of the award process and receive nominations. IWA will also appoint a Jury consisting of six voting members who will evaluate the received nominations. After the judging process, the jury will present a proposal for final candidates to the Governance & Nomination Committee (GNC) of the IWA Board of Directors. The GNC will audit the nomination and judging process then endorse the winners once the process is proved satisfactory.
Note: The IWA will not make the nominations public. The restriction concerns the nominees and nominators, as well as investigations and opinions related to the award.
What language can nominations be made in?
Unfortunately we are only able to consider nominations made in English. Please do not submit your nomination in another language as these nominations will not be considered.
IWA is committed to recognising the special contributions and achievements of its members and water sector professionals, and the invaluable contribution they make to key innovations in water science and management.
2023 Winners
IWA Water and Development Award: Research
This award recognises an outstanding contribution to science which has led to demonstrable impact in low and middle income countries.
Dr Veena Srinivasan is a water expert with 20 years of experience. She specialises in inter-sectoral water allocation, impacts of multiple stressors on water resources and sustainable water management policy and practice. In 2023, she set up Water, Environment, Land and Livelihoods (WELL) Labs, a research and innovation centre. It works with governments, businesses, multilateral institutions and civil society groups to co-create science-backed solutions that simultaneously create livelihoods and conserve the environment. Veena received her PhD from Stanford University and is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. She has won several awards for her work. including the 2015 Jim Dooge Award from the European Geophysical Union, the 2012 Water Resources Research Editor’s Choice Award from the American Geophysical Union. She chairs the Strategic Advisory Group for the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for UN SDG6 and was the Prins Claus Chair at Utrecht University, the Netherlands from 2018 to 2020.
IWA Water and Development Award: Practice
This award recognises an outstanding contribution to best practice in water management which has led to demonstrable impact in low- and middle-income countries.
Dr Doulaye Kone supports the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s effort to provide access to safe sanitation to 2.5 billion people currently without it. He is disrupting the decades long status-quo in the developing world sanitation sector by reinventing the toilet and reimagining faecal sludge management business as a sustainable utility service. He is responsible for the Transformative Technologies, Product Development and Commercialization portfolio, and for shaping the Foundation efforts in birthing a new sanitation industry to equitably serve the majority of poor communities in developing countries. Doulaye has more than 20 years’ experience as a sanitation and water specialist, development professional and lead scientist. Doulaye holds a Ph.D., and MAS in Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, MSc. and BSc in Physics and Chemistry and a certificate in Strategy from the Harvard Business School.
2022 Winners
IWA Water and Development Award: Research
This award recognises an outstanding contribution to science which has led to demonstrable impact in low and middle income countries.
Prof. Dr Ir. Damir Brdjanovic has been selected as the winner of the IWA Water and Development Award for Research because of his undisputed excellence in capacity development through education, research and innovation, particularly focusing on sustainable solutions to the sanitation challenge in urban settlements in LMICs (Low and Middle-Income Countries). He is known for his fearlessness in exploring the unexplored and for his diligence and hard work that leads to getting ever more complex undertakings accomplished. His life-long dedication to safe water and sanitation is significantly improving the quality of and expanding access to clean water and sanitation to all. There are numerous stories of beneficiaries of his work that provide evidence of the impact in the field and how education impacts the lives of people in LMICs, especially disadvantaged groups such as the urban poor, women and children, the elderly and people affected by natural and anthropological disasters. With his extraordinary courage and energy, he is an inspiring person who brings about changes in a sustainable way so that people can live healthy and productive lives.
IWA Water and Development Award: Practice
This award recognises an outstanding contribution to best practice in water management which has led to demonstrable impact in low- and middle-income countries.
Africa SandDam Foundation is the winner of the 2021 IWA Water and Development Award for Practice. Their approach to providing water to communities involves working with registered self-help groups working together towards achieving common objectives i.e., addressing water insecurity in their areas.
ASDF to date has supported the successful implementation of 543 sand dams, 405 shallow wells installed with Afridev pumps at sand dam sites, 244 rainwater harvesting tanks in schools and the installation of 642 hand washing stations,15 rock catchments, 6 solar-powered water distribution project and 1 drift road crossing. Since 2010, when the organization was formed, the organization has enabled a population of 887,536 people to improve access and availability of potable water whilst improving sanitation and hygiene. Out of the total beneficiaries, 64,628 school-going children have had access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene.
2019 Winners
IWA Development Award: Research
This award recognises an outstanding contribution to science which has led to demonstrable impact in low and middle income countries.
Miriam Otoo’s research work in the area of resource recovery and reuse (RRR), with a focus on business models that work for low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), was considered by the Award jury as being crucial to the progress of the sector. Dr Otoo’s work goes beyond addressing the technical challenges of RRR and has influenced policy and adoption in international guidelines in LMIC.
IWA Development Award: Practice
This award recognises an outstanding contribution to best practice in water management which has led to demonstrable impact in low and middle income countries.
IWA Development Award: Practice
This award recognises an outstanding contribution to best practice in water management which has led to demonstrable impact in low and middle income countries.
Sikandar Meeranaik, CEO of the Sankalpa Rural Development Society, started a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that installs rainwater harvesting recharge systems in bore wells in rural India. The low cost technology implemented in extremely vulnerable dry regions was considered to epitomise the spirit of the IWA Development Award – Practice. The business model incentivises the transfer of funds from companies to farmers, having a strong direct impact in the communities served, as well as contributing to maintenance of food production in times of drought.
2017 Winners
IWA Development Award: Research
This award recognises an outstanding contribution to science which has led to demonstrable impact in low and middle income countries.
Barbara Evans’ research has played a key role in developing effective strategies for securing safe access to water and sanitation, with a sustained attention to poor urban and rural communities. She has been awarded the IWA Water and Development Award for Research for increasing our understanding on community-wide approaches to tackle urban and rural water and sanitation challenges.
IWA Development Award: Practice
This award recognises an outstanding contribution to best practice in water management which has led to demonstrable impact in low and middle income countries.
Marco Antonio Cevallos has shown how management vision can lead water utilities in emerging economies to deliver vastly improved services, even to the poorest in society. He is awarded the IWA Water and Development Award for Practice for instigating a new service paradigm that places greater emphasis on community engagement, resource stewardship, and investment decisions that consider the social, economic and environmental costs.
2015 Winners
IWA Development Award: Practice
Mamadou Dia has played a key role in transforming the water sector in Senegal to be a leader in Africa. Amongst his many notable achievements he was awarded the IWA Development Award for Practice for increasing access to water services, particularly amongst poor communities; improving the quality of water services; and contributing to the International Water Association’s work on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation…
IWA Development Award: Research
Pay Drechsel was awarded the IWA Water and Development Award for Research for increasing our knowledge on low-cost safety options along the farm to fork pathway. This work directly supported the World Health Organization’s multi-barrier concept for safe wastewater irrigation. His research has played an important role in developing options for safe wastewater use in countries where treatment capacities are low and informal wastewater use is a common feature of irrigated urban and peri-urban agriculture in support of urban food security.
