IWSN begins collaboration with the Asian University for Women

The International Water Security Network is delighted to announce a new collaboration with the Asian University for Women, based in Bangladesh.

In 2019, IWSN Director Chad Staddon and IWSN Post-doctoral researcher Thanti Octivanti delivered online lectures for students on the Water Management course, part of AUW’s Environmental Science program. Dr. Sayed Md Nazim Uddin, Assistant Professor in Environmental Science, is overseeing the collaboration at AUW, which will see researchers from IWSN continue to deliver lectures, and members of the AUW faculty visiting the University of the West of England.

AUW is “an independent, regional institution dedicated to excellence, women’s education and leadership development – global in outlook, but rooted in the contexts and aspirations of the people of Asia. Located in Chittagong, Bangladesh, AUW exists solely to educate and empower a rising network of women leaders through the transformative power of American-style liberal arts and sciences education. Open to women from all walks of life, AUW particularly encourages women who are the first in their family to get university education.”

IWSN Director Chad Staddon said: “We are excited to be working with one of Asia’s premier universities for women. Empowering women is key to achievement of SDG 6 (“Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”) and in fact is linked to pretty much all SDGs. Using Skype and Zoom we have been contributing lecture content to AUW modules on water management and have found the students really engaged and inquisitive.”

Together IWSN and AUW are also developing collaborative research on water and sanitation issues affecting refugees and displaced persons.