Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene March - April 2017 Vol.12 No.2 | Page 28

People
WSSCC Executive Director Chris Williams at the Second National Sanitation Conference in Kenya
From left : Chris Williams , Executive Director of WSSCC ; Dr . Cleapas Mailu , Cabinet Secretary ( Minister ) of Health ; Dr . Jackson Kioko , Director of Medical Services and Dr . Kepha Ombacho , the Director of Public Health
Kenya ’ s Second National Sanitation Conference took place in Nairobi on February 7-9 2017 , attended by senior government officials from the Ministry of Health , county health ministers , sector partners and representatives from non-governmental organizations , the private sector , UN bodies , academia and civil society . The conference was officially opened by the Director of Medical Services Dr . Jackson Kioko , facilitated by the Director of Public Health Dr . Kepha Ombacho .
Executive Director Chris Williams represented WSSCC at the event , reinforcing WSSCC ’ s mandate that supports Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 – By 2030 , achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation , paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations . In particular , he stressed the importance of achieving equality at scale , highlighting the need to combine policy advocacy on equality and nondiscrimination with direct implementation of communitybased methods that bring about changes in behaviour .
The Partnership is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms . Helga Fogstad as Executive Director of PMNCH
Ms . Fogstad comes with a wealth of experience in RMNCAH-related issues . She has 30 years of working experience in public health and has worked many years in developing countries at sub-national and national levels , as well as at international level within multilateral and bilateral
Ms . Helga Fogstad agencies .
She has also lived and worked many years in Africa . She is a health economist and has co-authored several publications related to public health . Helga has been central in providing technical guidance on Norway ’ s health , education , research and development portfolio , both through the bilateral programs , as well as global initiatives and funds supported by Norway . She has been responsible for grant management , as well as measurement and quality assurance in many key areas . Helga has represented Norway on several international Boards and expert committees , and has been involved with several global initiatives , partnerships and funds related to Global Health . She has also chaired several global processes aimed at forging consensus and increasing global mobilization for RMNCAH , including chairing and overseeing the development of the first UN Secretary General ’ s Global Strategy for Women ’ s and Children ’ s Health , as well as chaired the Policy Coordinating Committee of the Special Research Program on Human Reproductive Health ( HRP ). Common for all the efforts led by her have been to stimulate and inspire partners ’ involvement , build consensus and ownership to implement strategic and costeffective interventions , as well as ensure optimal crossconstituency coordination and achievement of results . Ms . Fogstad is currently Director of the Department of Global Health , Education and Research at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation , a post she has had since 2014
Greyland awarded new Environmental and Quality Standards
Eading cleaning chemicals manufacturer Greyland announced that they start the New Year with two new ISO standards after being awarded the ISO 9001:2015 Quality and ISO 14001:2015 Environmental standards . Last year , Richard Dyson , Greyland ’ s
Greyland
Managing Director made the strategic decision to upgrade its ISO 9001 Quality Management System to the latest ISO 9001:2015 standards and obtain the prestigious ISO 14001 Environmental Standard . “ The Greyland quality team spent the last year providing organisational guidance in relation to the certification requirements and working with our management team we upgraded our procedures to the new standards ,” said Richard Dyson . “ After reviewing our quality and environmental management systems , our third-party auditors from The British Assessment Bureau concluded that Greyland ’ s management systems met all of the updated requirements and certified our organization to the new ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 standards .” The new ISO standards include an increased focus on continuous improvement , which helps ensure a more integrated focus on improvement with a specific focus
26 Africa Water , Sanitation & Hygiene • March - April 2017