H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden presented the prize to Dr Morgan at a Royal Award Ceremony in City Hall, during the World Water Week held in Stockholm, Sweden.

Dr Morgan has spent the last four decades inventing and advancing low-cost practical solutions to provide access to safe sanitation and clean water that are being used by millions of people worldwide.

“Many currently existing solutions to provide clean water and sanitation are unaffordable, impractical and out of reach for the world’s poorest people,” said the Stockholm Water Prize Committee in its citation. “As a result of Dr Morgan’s pioneering work, countless communities now enjoy safer water, a cleaner environment and quality of life.”

On receiving the award, Dr Morgan said: “It is indeed a great honour and privilege to have been presented this unique award. Those of us who work in this vital area are uniquely privileged because we are well placed and have an important role to play in conserving, and yet delivering the most precious resource on Earth – fresh water.

Webcasts from the 2013 Stockholm Water Prize ceremony

Full live

Highlights

Resources

• Link to full press release
• Stockholm Water Prize photos on Flickr
• Stockholm Water Prize videos on SIWI video hub

Text: Mr. Josh Weinberg, Programme Officer, Knowledge Services, SIWI

Dr. Peter Morgan Wins Stockholm Water Prize

Outside of his adopted Zimbabwe and the international community of water and sanitation professionals, Dr. Peter Morgan’s heroism is likely relatively unknown to most. He applied his brilliance not to what most pursue as the forefront of innovation, but instead to the backlog of science – the neglected art of creating technical solutions to better the lives of the least affluent so that they can afford access to the simple necessities of clean water to drink and a functioning latrine so they can safely relieve themselves in dignity. In so doing, Dr. Morgan has developed solutions that protect the health and lives of millions of people and has become the very worthy recipient of the 2013 Stockholm Water Prize, which he will receive on September 5 during the World Water Week in Stockholm. You can read more about his inspiring achievements in this issue.

Also in this edition, Mr. Kerry Schneider, explains why patience is a strategic virtue when setting the stage for cooperation over shared waters. As we hit the midpoint of the “International Year of Water Cooperation”, Mr. Alistair Rieu-Clark reflects on the progress to date and priorities for the coming months to make 2013 a landmark year to strengthen the legal architecture for transboundary watercourses. Water Cooperation will be the focus of the upcoming 2013 World Water Week, which will also include many new features that you can learn about in this issue that we hope will make your trip to Stockholm even more effective and enjoyable.

One important item for this year is the 2013 Stockholm Statement online forum (www.siwi.org/stockholmstatement2013), where you are encouraged to share your views on what message the water community should take to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 68) as it develops a roadmap towards the Post-2015 development agenda. We look forward hearing your thoughts on how we together can work towards a water wise world.