Professor Jafry wins prestigious Elsevier Atlas award

Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) researcher Professor Tahseen Jafry has been awarded with a prestigious Elsevier Atlas for her published research examining water access and provision in Malawi and Zambia.

Professor Jafry’s article ‘The role of social actors in water access in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Malawi and Zambia’ published in the journal Water Resources and Rural Development has been selected from thousands of published articles to be awarded the trophy.

Each month, a single article is selected from published research from across Elsevier’s 2,000 journals by an external advisory board to showcase research that can or has significantly impacted on people’s lives around the world.

Professor Jafry’s paper states that access to water in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be a challenge to the extent that there are more people without access to water in 2015 than in 1990. It draws attention to the need for governments to take a leading role by facilitating long-term investment in the sector and promoting initiatives which incorporate the right to water access. It concludes that in order to achieve universal access to water, a new perception of rights and responsibilities is vital in communities, donors, NGOs and the public sector as one step towards reducing the number of people without water in the future.

Publisher of Climate and Sustainability journals for Elsevier Sandra Broerse presented the Elsevier Atlas award to Professor Jafry at GCU today (Friday, June 9).

As Director of GCU’s Centre for Climate Justice, Professor Jafry has led work including the 18-month Scottish Government-funded Water for ALL project which aims to help build sustainable capacity in achieving equity and entitlement in accessing water.

She said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be receiving this award. The project was truly a team effort and I thank all those involved for their dedication and commitment to this research project.  I hope that our work can make a difference to the lives not only of those in Malawi and Zambia but to all without access to water today.”