Professor John Briscoe of South Africa received the 2014 Stockholm Water Prize for his unparalleled contributions to global and local water management, inspired by an unwavering commitment to improving the lives of people on the ground.

H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden presented the prize to Briscoe at a Royal Award Ceremony during World Water Week in Stockholm.

In its citation, the Stockholm Water Prize Committee stated that Briscoe “has combined world-class research with policy implementation and practice to improve the development and management of water resources as well as access to safe drinking water and sanitation.”

On receiving the award, Briscoe said he was “deeply honoured”, and that “one of my blessings is having had such great mentors.”

“I would like to emphasise the role of thinking practitioners, a group I am proud to be part of,” said Briscoe. “It is not an academic job, nor is it a nine-to-five-fixing-bolts job. They are engaged in action, in a cycle of challenges and responses. I would like to quote Mike Tyson, who has said that ‘Everyone has a plan until you get smacked in the face’. It is about the ability to adjust to new circumstances.”

 

Working at the micro level

In the mid 1970s Briscoe lived in a small village in the interior of Bangladesh, and learned first-hand how infrastructure for protection from floods and droughts could transform the lives of the poor. Later in the 1970s Briscoe worked as an engineer in the government of newly independent Mozambique, learning that you were a credible policy maker only if you could help resolve basic problems of building and running infrastructure.

“At the end of the day, it is what happens on the ground that matters. All policies must be judged by whether they make a difference on the ground. I believe that the years I spent working at the micro level is what enables me to be an effective policy maker,” said Briscoe.

 

Other achievements

At the other end of Briscoe’s spectrum of accomplishments is the 2003 Water Strategy for the World Bank. This strategy provided a new, creative and enduring benchmark for global understanding of the need for both better infrastructure and improved institutions.

The strategy has had implications far beyond the water sector, helping to ensure that developing and emerging countries get a stronger voice in global governance.

Briscoe brought his experience of high-level policy with him to Brazil as the World Bank Country Director in 2005. Brazil was one of the biggest of the World Bank’s borrowers, and John Briscoe was praised for bridging the divide between sound environmental management and economic development objectives in the Amazon and other parts of this rapidly developing nation.

Briscoe has become known for his passionate commitment to sustainable economic development, his disrespect for constructed boundaries between sectors and people, and for his insistence that the voice of people who are affected be heard.

“It is vital to give primary attention to the effect on people who will live with the consequences of policies and projects. Equally important is the voice of political leaders who have to take account of all of their people and who have to make difficult choices among competing priorities.”