Global Sanitation Graduate School wins award at IWA’s Water and Development Congress

The GSGS, managed by IHE Delft and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was launched in 2017 and recently enrolled its 1000th Masters student. Among the first to enrol after the programme was launched is Ziggy Kugedera of Zimbabwe, now a WASH Specialist at the UNICEF Yemen Country Office, Sanaa. He studied the curriculum at IHE Delft and graduated in 2019.

“Studying at IHE Delft for my sanitation master's provided a deep understanding of the interconnections between water, sanitation, hygiene, and public health, particularly in water governance and distribution. This knowledge served as a crucial foundation, opening opportunities for me within the United Nations, where I actively contribute to achieving SDG6 in countries like Pakistan and Yemen,” Kugedera said.

He added that he applies what he learnt in GSGS modules to ensure sustainable access to clean water for communities, including internally displaced persons, and to support and foster self-sustainability among local water authorities.

Adhitya Rakhmadi, Technical and Planning Manager at Grenex Mulia Indonesia, a private water company, studied the GSGS curriculum at the Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia, graduating in 2021. What he learnt is useful in his professional life, particularly at the managerial level, he said.

“It helps me to make decisions, to make cost-benefit analyses, and to create budgets,” he said. It helps me make an impact: just now in August, I used it when I made a non-revenue water feasibility study for a performance-based contract.”

This is a new area for his company, and in just four months, the project has reduced non-revenue water – that is, water that is lost due to leakage or non-registered connections - from 46% to 41%. The savings, which are expected to grow, help utilities increase household connections and invest more in water treatment plants, he said.