Following the presentation of the award, Mr. Fawcett delivered a plenary address to conference attendees entitled “Another 'Great Stink' is Needed: Sanitation and Hygiene in Poor Urban Areas.” View Mr. Fawcett's address.
Ben Fawcett is an environmental health engineer, development practitioner, speaker, mentor, researcher, and book author with three decades of extensive international experience. He has assisted many non-governmental organizations (e.g., Oxfam, Red Cross, Water Aid, Save the Children, and Engineers without Borders) and governments in the participatory planning, implementation and evaluation of development, humanitarian, and emergency relief programs related to water and sanitation.
His impact has been felt in countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. During his tenure at Southampton University from 1996-2006 he mentored 130 MSc and Ph.D. students who have continued through their work to impact over 60 countries. He has focused a good part of his writing on gender and sanitation, two issues often forgotten and yet critical if the world is to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment is his leadership and vision in coauthoring with Maggie Black the milestone book, The Last Taboo: Opening the Door on the Global Sanitation Crisis, the release of which was timed with the 2008 International Year of Sanitation.
