The IWA Development Award recognises excellence, leadership and innovation in the water sector, and aims to encourage the continued contribution to the sustainable management of water in low- and middle-income countries. The IWA Development Award is awarded by a panel of experts, and recognises outstanding contributions to research or practice that has led to demonstrable impact in low- and middle-income countries. It is awarded every two years at the IWA Water and Development Congress & Exhibition. However, due to challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the IWA Development Congress & Exhibition will not be held in 2021. The current cycle of the IWA Development Award will therefore be presented to the winners in the first week December 2021.
The award is open to an individual (IWA member or non-member), or representative of an organisation 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 award, one for practice and one for research:
- The IWA 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 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 open through the following link: IWA WDA Call for Nominations.
1. Qualified Nominators
The right to submit a nomination for the Development Award is granted to Members of the International Water Association (IWA). The only exception is for previous Development awardees (whether IWA members or not).
Important: self-nominations will not be accepted.
2. Award Criteria
The IWA 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 (LAMIC). |
| 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. |
The Awarding Process
The International Water Association is responsible for the selection of the Development 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.
