Photo: Global Poverty Project

An impact blog from our partner WSSCC

Global citizens, meet Chris Williams, the Chief Executive of the Water Supply Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC). Chris has some pretty awesome stories from last year's Global Citizen Festival, which he shares in his blog below. Check it out:

Chris hanging out with Raya from Sesame Street

The Global Citizens Festival was held over five months ago. What has happened since? Did the event have any impact on sanitation, one of the three big issues it raised? Or was it a bunch of people having a good time on a gorgeous night in Central Park taking in the vibe of JayZ, No Doubt, and one hell of a surprise cameo by none other than Beyonce? Well, it was both!

In addition to a great time had by all, many gears were put in motion. New relationships were formed. And what took place was a conversation about sanitation that simply would not have happened without the Festival. Really? Definitely!

Three months before the Festival, ‎the governments and sanitation practitioners in Nepal and Madagascar swung into action to convince their respective Prime Ministers to commit public investments to eradicate the practice of open defecation. Not an easy task in cash-strapped countries with competing demands on national budgets. Working with members and partners of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, the two PM made the video messages and much more. The process of getting the video in time for the Festival forced a high level debate within these countries that would otherwise not have taken place. Both countries developed road maps to plot a way forward to ODF status, costing the target, and committing over USD 120 million of public funds.

Just as the commitments of Nepal and Madagascar were being aired by video at the Festival, wheels were turning backstage. The President of the World Bank, his head of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene loan portfolio, and I talked sanitation. Ten days later the WASH focal point and I mapped out how we could combine forces in six countries in Africa and Asia‎. Specifically, how we could layor World Bank lending on top of large-scale sanitation and hygiene programs supported by the Global Sanitation Fund. We're talking one hundred million people with improved sanitation in the next five years!

Also back stage another encounter occurred, this one with the founder of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Jeff Sachs. We had met years ago at a session of the General Assembly. He had never heard of our Global Sanitation Fund. He listen with interest about the gobal financing mechanism dedicated entirely to sanitation and hygiene. As with high level conversations with the World Bank, the Global Citizen Festival triggered action with SDSN. The following Monday we were in touch and agreed to work together to support the Financing Sustainable Development Conference in Addis, Ethiopia, to be held in July 2015.

Was I blown away by JayZ, No Doubt and Beyonce? Absolutely! Did the Festival trigger actions to improve people's lives? Totally! And that is the Global Poverty Project in a nutshell.

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Chris Williams, Chief Executive of the Water Supply Sanitation Collaborative Council

A trained economist and sociologist, Chris Williams leads the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), the only UN body devoted solely to the sanitation needs of the most vulnerable. He guides WSSCC’s efforts to transform lives in marginalized communities through good sanitation and hygiene.

Before joining WSSCC in 2012, Chris held senior posts at UN-Habitat, including director of the Washington, DC, and New York offices, and founding director of the Human Settlements Financing Division in Nairobi, Kenya. In these positions, he implemented programs to strengthen water and sanitation services in peri-urban and informal settlements, and worked to advance effective national and international sanitation policies. Chris has worked extensively in both the public and private sectors, promoting development across Africa, Asia and the Americas through collaboration, financing, advocacy, and policy research.

Chris holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science at the New School for Social Research.