| “It gives me great pleasure to take over as Chair of this unique organisation that is dedicated to accelerating progress towards safe water, sanitation and hygiene for all,” said Mr. Lenton. “Building on its successful WASH campaign, I hope to make a difference in guiding its course as the Council takes on more challenges and assumes a pivotal role in helping developing countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water and sanitation. Sanitation, in particular, must be incorporated into Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as recommended in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation,” he added.
"Roberto Lenton has the right background, experience and solid technical expertise that the Council needs as Chair at this particular juncture of its history," says Lilia O. Ramos, one of the longest-serving members of the WSSCC and head of the Molave Development Foundation, a Philippine NGO active in national WASH campaign efforts."We are counting on his leadership to guide us in our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation towards poverty alleviation and sustainable development," she added.
A citizen of Argentina, Dr. Lenton received a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Buenos Aires and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Water Resources Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A co-author of “Applied Water Resources Systems” and a lead author of “Health, Dignity and Development: What will it take?”, he is the author and co-author of numerous papers and book chapters on scientific, technical and policy subjects.
Appointed by the WSSCC Steering Committee in Geneva last May, Roberto L. Lenton is concurrently Chair of the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership (GWP), which is hosted by the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and also Senior Advisor for International Development at Columbia’s International Research Institute for Climate Prediction. He served as UNDP’s Director of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Division in New York, from 1995 to 2000; Director-General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) from 1987-1994; and Program Officer with the Ford Foundation in New Delhi and New York from 1977 to 1986.
A citizen of Argentina, Mr. Lenton holds a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Buenos Aires and Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Water Resources Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
During Stockholm World Water Week, Mr. Lenton will be holding a press briefing with Ministers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda, on Tuesday, 23 August at 12:10 hrs; he will also participate in a seminar co-sponsored by the WSSCC, WSP-Africa and the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) entitled “AMIWASH: African Ministers coming together to achieve the MDGs” on Thursday, 25 August, from 09:00 hrs – 12:00 hrs at the Stockholm City Conference Centre/Folkets Hus, Room A.
On 25 August, from 13:30 hrs – 16.30 hrs, the WSSCC and WSP-Africa are co-convening a seminar entitled “Marketing Sanitation and Hygiene – Selling Toilets like Toothpaste” featuring experts from India, Kenya, HIP/USAID, UNICEF, IDE/Vietnam and the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
For more information on the above-mentioned events, please consult www.wsscc.org or www.worldwaterweek.org
Journalists wishing to arrange interviews should contact:
Ms. Eirah Gorre-Dale, Special Representative of the WSSCC to the UN,
WHO Office at the United Nations, New York. U.S.A. 10017
Tel. +1 (212) 963-6003
Fax. +1 (212) 963-8565.
Email: gorre-dale@un.org
In Stockholm, Mobile No. +1 (914) 309-5491,
or through the Press Room at Tel. No. +46 (0) 8-506 16 812,
Fax. No. +46 (0) 50616 772 | 
