IWA Award for Outstanding Contribution to Water Management and Science
(Given in honour of Dr Karl Imhoff and Dr Pierre Koch)
The IWA Award for Outstanding Contribution to Water Management and Science is given to an individual member of IWA or official representative of a corporate member who has been responsible for an outstanding and innovatory contribution of international impact, relating to leadership, systems operation, or technical innovation. e.g. a new treatment process or technique, a novel aspect of reticulation systems for water or wastewater, an innovation in the management, administration or financing of water sector activities, a major piece of outstanding research with potential widespread international effect or similar.
Nominations may be made by any IWA member. A nomination should detail the contribution, emphasising the impact of the contribution and providing clear evidence of the international nature of the impact. All nominations should be seconded by at least two other IWA members from different countries to that of the nominator, and reasonably detailed endorsement of the nomination. It will be advantageous to the nomination that the seconds be people of high standing in the water sector. Evaluation will be by the Honours & Awards Committee.
This year we have introduced a new online nominations system on the IWA website to simplify the nominations process. If you wish to submit a nomination for the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Water Management and Science then please click here to begin the nomination process.
The deadline for receipt of nominations is 1 June 2012.
Current Award Holder
Dr. William T. Muhairwe, Uganda
Dr. Muhairwe is being honoured through this award for an outstanding contribution and innovatory contribution of international impact relating to leadership, system operation and technical innovation. Dr Muhairwe is widely recognised for leading a remarkable turnaround at Uganda’s National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) over the past 12 years. Over this period, NWSC was transformed from a fiscally and operationally dysfunctional utility to a financially sustainable and efficient service provider. Strong financial performance has enabled NWSC to expand service coverage, particularly for the urban poor and led to dramatic increases in collection rates.
Behind these results, the story of this transformation lies in Dr. Muhairwe’s leadership capabilities, which he has infused throughout the staff of the whole organisation. The result is a bottom-up and decentralised approach to management, accountability and the pursuit of excellence by the staff. This story is well documented in Dr Muhairwe’s book, Making Public Enterprises Work. Finally, this award also recognises Dr. Muhairwe and NWSC’s contributions to utilities throughout Africa through NWSC’s mentoring activities.
