Kenyan wins global award for advancing gender equality
Annabell Waititu gives her acceptance speech after winning the Gender Diversity and Water Award at the International Water Congress and Exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 11.
What you need to know:
- Annabell Waititu is the recipient of the first edition of the Gender Diversity and Water Award 2022.
- The award recognises individuals for their outstanding professional contribution to the advancement of gender diversity, equity and impactful change in the water sector.
Kenya’s Annabell Waititu is the recipient of the first edition of the Gender Diversity and Water Award 2022 presented by International Water Association (IWA).
She was awarded during the opening ceremony of the International Water Congress and Exhibition on September 11, at Copenhagen, Denmark. The award recognises individuals for their outstanding professional contribution to the advancement of gender diversity, equity and impactful change in the water sector.
Ms Waititu is a founding partner and vice president of programs at Bigfive Africa (BFA). She has had a successful 20-year career in the water and environment sectors in East Africa.
She has worked in the areas of policy reforms, gender equality mainstreaming, and climate resilience. Additionally, she has offered her expertise on leading sector initiatives including Water for African Cities, the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation program and the Nile Basin Initiative among others.
She is a Fellow at the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and an associate of Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural resource management (WOCAN).
Water tanks
Another Kenyan organisation, Africa Sand Dam Foundation, won the Water and Development Award for Practice.
The non-governmental organisation operates in the South Eastern region focusing on Machakos, Makueni and Kitui counties. They construct sand dams, rock catchments, school water tanks and solar powered pipeline systems in an effort to transform the lives of communities in arid and semi-arid areas.
IWA’s most prestigious Global Water Award 2022, was won by Nisha Mandani of Our Aim Foundation based in the USA. Her foundation has constructed more than 2,000 water and sanitation facilities across the globe, which has impacted more than 4 million marginalised individuals.
It was also recently received the Most Empowering Remote Community Support Organisation 2022-East Africa award by the UK Acquisition International for enabling rural communities to access boreholes, solar hand pumps, toilets and showers for women.
Other winners were Canada’s Celine Vaneeckhaute, who won the Young Leadership award and Prof Damir Brdjanovic of Netherlands who bagged the Water and Development Award for Research.
