The University of Essex Human Rights Centre has cemented a partnership with Wivenhoe-based Aguaconsult which will contribute to improved access to clean water and sanitation for developing countries around the world.

A memorandum of understanding between the two organisations will allow them to collaborate on research projects and share expert advice, and provide Essex students with work placements where possible.

The partnership will contribute to improving access to water

Professor Sheldon Leader, Director of the Essex Business and Human Rights Project (EBHR) within the Human Rights Centre, said: “We have been applying the latest academic research to the practical human rights and environmental problems that arise as a result of businesses activity for more than a decade.

“Collaborating with Aguaconsult adds an important dimension to this work, harnessing their technical expertise with our experience in order to formulate and implement guidelines for access to water. This is an area of rapid development for human rights standards.”

Aguaconsult, a consulting company specialising in water supply in rural and peri-urban areas, works in partnership with a range of stakeholders providing technical support to public, private and third sector organisations to improve the delivery of sustainable, basic services in less developed countries. It works in countries in Latin America, south and south east Asia, and the central Asian states, delivering a range of services including policy research, design of sustainable service delivery programmes, monitoring and evaluation, and training.

The company has previously collaborated with the Human Rights Centre on one of its postgraduate degrees in which real-life projects relating to water and sanitation were analysed from a rights perspective.

Harold Lockwood, Director of Aguaconsult, said: “This is a local partnership with a global impact. Ours are two very different organisations but we share a common vision and commitment to improving the lives of marginalised people in countries where universal access to sustained and adequate water and sanitation is lacking.

“Together we understand that addressing these problems requires not only relevant technical expertise, but also a clear understanding of complex realities and the political economy within countries that often drive incentives to act – or as is more often the case, not to act – on behalf of the less powerful.”

The partnership will include:

• Collaborative projects in which Aguaconsult can offer technical assistance on the right to water and sanitation, including a project this year, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, which will identify examples of good practice.
• Collaboration on taught courses where Aguaconsult can bring current, real-world examples of how national governments and other development partners are working to engage on the right to water and sanitation.
• Internship opportunities for postgraduate students to work with Aguanconsult.
• Joint research in areas of mutual interest, such as the tension between private sector interventions and the human right to water

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More information

For further information please contact Professor Sheldon Leader, telephone: 01206 873311 or email: leader@essex.ac.uk, or Harold Lockwood, telephone: 01206 823329, or email: h.lockwood@aguaconsult.co.uk.