Professor Akissa Bahri wins the IWA Women in Water Award for her work on agricultural waters

The Hague, Netherlands, 05 September 2018. The International Water Association awards the 2018 IWA Women in Water Award to Professor Akissa Bahri for her outstanding life-time professional contribution to the international water sector in work, projects and research.

Professor Akissa Bahri, an agricultural engineer by training, has worked in water research in the fields of water resources development and management, agricultural use of marginal waters and biosolids, and their impacts on the environment with a focus on water quality and water use efficiency.

Acting as professor at the National Agricultural Institute of Tunisia Professor Bahri has worked in the fields of water resources management and water reuse in various capacities. Her extensive and intensive professional life includes also rigorous research on use, institutional and partnership building, and policy and legislative issues regarding water reuse and land application of biosolids.

Professor Bahri was responsible for research projects at the National Research Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Water, and Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources in Tunisia, and for setting up and managing a laboratory for research on sustainable management of agricultural water.

Further to her career in academic research, she puts knowledge into action and contributes to institutional and partnership building for example in her role as coordinator of the African Water Facility (AWF) at the African Development Bank, as Director for Africa at IWMI; and as Director of Research at INRGREF in Tunisia.

Professor Bahri is a member of different international scientific committees and has received international honors.

Notes to editors

The IWA Women in Water Award will be presented to Akissa Bahri during the opening ceremony of the IWA World Water Congress, held in Tokyo, Japan, on 15 September 2018.

More about the IWA

The International Water Association is the largest international network of water professionals working towards a water wise world, with members in more than 130 countries. Its work focuses on developing solutions for water and wastewater management. As a knowledge hub for the latest science, technology and best practice in the water sector at large, the IWA works to place water on the global political agenda and to influence best practice in regulation and policy making.

More about the IWA Women in Water Award

The IWA Women in Water Award is awarded by a panel of experts from across the water cycle, and acknowledges and celebrates female leadership in the field of water. Through this award, the IWA recognises those women working in the field of water who, through their demonstrated leadership, have had a significant positive impact on the development of the industry. The IWA Women in Water Award seeks to encourage the greater participation of women in the water sector, and to motivate women to pursue leadership positions within the sector.

Lear more about the IWA Women in Water Award.

Learn more about Akissa Bahri.

It is awarded every two years at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition.

For further information and/or interviews:

Marta Jimenez marta.jimenez@iwahq.org

Ulrike Kelm ulrike.kelm@iwahq.org

Cheikh Tidiane Cheikh.tidiane@iwahq.org

Professor Akissa Bahri, at the IWA Regional Conference on Water Reuse and Salinity Management (IWARESA), 12/06/2018 Murcia Hotel 7 Coronas.