Published on: 12/11/2012
IRC and The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill have announced a new collaboration, which will advance both organisations’ goal – to enhance the well-being of people in developing countries through improved water, sanitation and hygiene.
Jamie Bartram, Water Institute director, earlier this month signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with IRC director Nico Terra to establish plans for the partnership.
Water Institute Director's Jamie Bartram (left) and IRC's Nico Terra (right) signing the MoU
Through the agreement, The Water Institute aims in the coming year to analyse several data sets collected by IRC, including data generated by their WASHCost project (which describes costs related to water and sanitation) and data related to hygiene cost-effectiveness in Mozambique. Bartram and Terra plan to publish the findings in peer-reviewed journals and present them at key events. Both organisations intend, through the agreement, to engage in and support each other’s conferences, symposia and outreach programmes.
“This cooperative endeavour will allow UNC researchers to explore the rich data sets collected by the IRC,” Bartram said. “We are eager to generate new insights about the effectiveness of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions and ways to maximize the impact of those interventions with a minimum of expense.”
The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill brings together individuals and institutions from diverse disciplines and sectors, empowering them to collaborate to solve the most critical global issues in water and health. More information is available on The Water Institute website.
IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre is a knowledge-focused NGO that works with a world-wide network of partner organisations to achieve equitable and sustainable WASH services through advocacy, knowledge management and capacity building.