Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation Jan -Feb 2014 Vol.10 No1 | Page 35

People
BBC launches award to honour Komla Dumor
The BBC is
launching an
award in honour
of its presenter,
Komla Dumor,
a year after his
unexpected death
aged 41.
Komla Dumor
was an exceptional
Komla Dumor Ghanaian
broadcaster who
in his short life made an extraordinary impact - in Ghana,
in Africa and around the world.
He represented a confident, savvy and entrepreneurial side
of Africa.
Through his tenacious journalism and compelling
storytelling, Komla worked tirelessly to bring a more
nuanced African narrative to the world.
The BBC is committed to continuing Komla’s legacy.
The Corporation is proud to announce the launch of the
BBC World News Komla Dumor Award.
The award will be given to an outstanding individual living
and working in Africa, who combines strong journalism
skills and an exceptional talent in telling African stories,
with the ambition and potential to become a star of the
future.
Through the award, we will invest in the future of African
journalism by offering the winner the chance to come to
the BBC and share Africa’s stories with the world.
The winner will be given an opportunity to gain
recognition and experience, working with teams across
BBC News during a three month placement in London.
The winner will also have the chance to broadcast on TV,
radio and online to the BBC’s audiences of 265 million
across the world.
BRAC enters sanitation Hall of Fame
By Cor Dietvorst
At the 14th World Toilet Summit 2015, BRAC received the
“Hall of Fame Award” for significant contributions to the
sanitation sector in Bangladesh.
On 20 January, BRAC received the “Hall of Fame Award”
for significant contributions to the sanitation sector in
Bangladesh. The award was handed to Dr. Akramul Islam
at the 14th World Toilet Summit 2015 in Delhi by Dr.
Subramanian Swamy MP, Former Minister of India, and

Jack Sim Founder of the World Toilet Organization in
the presence of Minister Devendra Chaudhry, Special
Secretary, Ministry of Power India.
Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in providing
basic sanitation services to its people. It is now estimated
that throughout Bangladesh, 57% use sanitary latrines,
while a mere 3% of the people still practise open
defecation.
Over 8 years, the BRAC WASH programme reached more
than 66 million people, about half of the rural population
of Bangladesh. It has successfully worked to improve
household sanitation by creating demand for hygienic
latrines while supporting an extensive supply chain and
local businesses. Current coverage with hygienic and
adequately maintained toilets is 82% in the 152 districts
where BRAC has worked. All these successes have been
underpinned by a strong provision of service to the
poor and ultra-poor and by a unique hygiene promotion
programme focusing on universal use and sustainability of
services in communities, households and schools.
UN-Habitat, signs MOU with Sudan
Khartoum, 22 January
2015 - UN-Habitat, The
United Nations Human
Settlements Programme,
has signed a Memorandum
of Understanding with the
Ministry of Environment,
Forestries and Urbanisation
of Sudan which outlines
their commitment to work
together on sustainable
urban development in
the country. The agreement was signed by the Federal
Minister, Hon. Hassan Abdelgadir Hilal, and UN UnderSecretary-General and UN-Habitat Executive Director,
Dr. Joan Clos at the opening of the Consultative
Workshop on the Spatial Planning Strategy of Darfur
during an official mission of the UN representative to the
Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • January - February 2015

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