Mr Ben Fawcett
Environmental Health Engineer
Ben Fawcett is an environmental health engineer, development manager, lecturer and researcher with three decades of work experience throughout the developing world. He spent ten years with Oxfam GB, initially as technical adviser on humanitarian emergencies and long-term development projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, then as their first Program Manager in Vietnam and finally as Manager of their global Technical Unit.
After a period as an independent consultant with international NGOs assessing water, sanitation and other development projects in countries from Chad to Tibet, and South Africa to North Korea he joined the Institute of Irrigation and Development Studies at the University of Southampton, UK. For ten years there he directed a masters program in Engineering for Development, helping about 150 mature students from all over the world to become as passionate as he is about sustainable, people-centred development, particularly in the water and sanitation sector. At the same time he managed research into social and institutional issues in urban sanitation in South Asia and southern Africa, and gender issues in water supply development in India and Nepal.
Ben is co-author of 'The Last Taboo: Opening the door on the global sanitation crisis' (2008) aiming to publicise the scandalous situation in which 40% of the world's people have nowhere to 'go'. Since 2007 he has been based in northern New South Wales, teaching water supply and sanitation at the International WaterCentre as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Advanced Water Management Centre of The University of Queensland. He advises Engineers Without Borders on their policies and projects in the environmental health sector and continues to campaign for toilets for those suffering the indignity of life without such basic facilities.
Ben has been awarded the 2011 Oklahoma University International WaTER Prize.
