Latest news from Loughborough University
| 9 November 2007 | PR 07/142 |
Loughborough University to hold international sanitation and water conference in Ghana
An event was recently held in Ghana to raise awareness of the Loughborough University Water, Engineering and Development Centre’s (WEDC) 2008 international conference.
WEDC – an institute dedicated to helping improve the health and wellbeing of some of the world’s poorest people – has organised conferences in Africa and Asia on the provision of infrastructure services for low and middle-income countries since 1973.
Its 33rd conference, entitled ‘Access to Sanitation and Safe Water: Global Partnerships and Local Actions’, is taking place from 7 – 11 April 2008. Lasting five days and hosted by Ghana’s Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, the conference will attract around 500 delegates from across the world. More than 120 papers and posters will be presented during the event, which will also feature informal discussion groups, debates and workshops.
The conference’s pre-launch event was attended by the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Abubakar Saddique Boniface, along with representatives from industry, the Ghana Water Directorate, the Department for International Development (DFID) and the local media.
At the event the Minister drew attention to the difficulties faced by
Ghana in achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets
for water and sanitation coverage in 2015, identifying inadequate service
delivery and financial constraints as key barriers to this.
WEDC’s conference manager, Julie Fisher, said: “Low-income
countries face many difficulties in improving sanitation and access to
safe water. We hope this conference, in the International Year of Sanitation,
will address some of these issues and attract much needed support and
assistance. It will also provide an opportunity for Ghana to showcase
what it has achieved in this area.”
For further information about the 2008 conference visit:
http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/conferences/conference.php
Ends
For all media enquiries contact:
Judy Smyth, Loughborough University’s Public Relations
Office,
T: 01509 228697, E: J.L.Smyth@lboro.ac.uk
Notes for editors:
- Loughborough is one of the country’s leading
universities, with an international reputation for excellence in teaching
and research, strong links with industry and unrivalled sporting achievement.
It is a member of the esteemed 1994 Group – a set of internationally recognised, research intensive universities – and has a reputation for the relevance of its work. Its degree programmes are highly regarded by professional institutions and businesses, and its graduates are consistently targeted by the UK’s top recruiters.
Loughborough is also the UK’s premier university for sport. It has perhaps the best integrated sports development environment in the world and is home to some of the country’s leading coaches, sports scientists and support staff. It also has the country’s largest concentration of world-class training facilities across a wide range of sports.
In the 2007 National Student Survey, the University was voted fourth in the UK, with 23 out of 29 of Loughborough’s subject areas being ranked in the top ten for overall satisfaction.
Loughborough is also ranked in the top five of UK universities in national league tables and was named winner of the 2006 THES award for the UK’s Best Student Experience. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, the University has been awarded five Queen's Anniversary Prizes – an achievement bettered by no other university.