The conference theme, “Synergy at the Interface: Integrating Technology, Social Entrepreneurship and Behavior Change,” attracted nearly 200 participants from multiple disciplines, all with the common goal of bringing water and sanitation to developing countries.
The conference, held in Norman, Oklahoma, included representatives from 17 countries and hosted water and sanitation experts from academia, industry, NGOs, governments and foundations. Two full days of presentations and networking opportunities included oral and poster sessions that addressed an array of water related topics, such as assessment of WASH interventions, behavior change, climate change, fluoride effects and mitigation, gender and social equity, hydro-philanthropy, social entrepreneurship and water technologies for emerging regions.
The conference offered six keynote speeches from leading WASH professionals, an educational outreach Clean Water Poster Contest for local school-aged children, and a panel discussion on climate change. Serving on the panel was Dr. Christine Moe, Dr. Richard Taylor, Dr. Pawan Labhasetwar, Dr. Peter Lamb, and Dr. Braimah Apambire.
Ada Oko-Williams is an African woman dedicated to the cause of reducing poverty in Africa and an ardent believer that the development problems of Africa have African solutions.
Born and raised in Otukpo town, Benue State of Nigeria, Oko-Williams understands firsthand the problems of lack of access to water and sanitation. Trained as a social development practitioner (MSc., Development Studies), she has been actively involved and engaged in the social development sphere in the West African region. Highly committed and dynamic, she currently holds the position of assistant director at the Sustainable and Thriving Environments for West Africa Regional Development (STEWARD) program; a US Forest Services International Programs/USAID program where she is responsible for programs and development and supports program implementation across the participating countries. She gained prior experience at Water and Sanitation for Africa (WSA) (http://www.wsafrica.org) and WaterAid in Nigeria in various capacities and started her career in development at the Development and Learning Centre in Makurdi, Nigeria.
Oko-Williams’ career spans the spectrum of engagement in the sanitation sub-sector. From poor, rural, disease-stricken communities in Nigeria to communities of the deep forests of war torn Sierra Leone and Liberia to desert communities in Niger Republic facing some of the world’s greatest challenges through climate change, Oko-Williams is engaged with issues of rebuilding lives as well as infrastructure. The hallmark of her career is inspiring communities to take action towards their own development through participatory processes and critical analyses of situations while proffering solutions and action designed to address undesirable situations.
In the last five years Oko-Williams has trained more than 350 sanitation practitioners in West Africa. She has directly worked with more than 1000 communities, reaching over 600,000 people with access to sanitation and hygiene in open-defecation free (ODF) communities in West Africa. At the policy advocacy level, she influenced the development of sanitation programs and agenda though direct engagements with governments and duty bearers, supporting national sanitation coordinating platforms across the West African region. She remains active in the scaling up demand led sanitation approaches circles globally.
Oko-Williams is currently exploring economic and business potentials in WASH and biodiversity conservation that can contribute to better livelihood, support environmental sustainability, and spur economic development and growth at micro levels in Africa. Adopting a business approach, as opposed to previous approaches of charity and aid, is considered imperative for accelerated access to WASH in Africa.
Oko-Williams formally received the OU International Water Prize and gave the plenary lecture at the OU International WaTER Conference, held Sept. 23-25, 2013.
