Dubai: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, honoured the recipients of the fourth edition of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water Award. The event took place at the Emirates Towers in Dubai with the presence of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai.
According to Emirates News Agency, the UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia UAE) oversees the Award, which is organised under the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives. This year, the Award recognised 12 winners from eight countries, distributing a total prize money of $1 million. The categories included Innovative Projects, Innovative Research and Development, Innovative Individual, and Innovative Crisis Solutions.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum emphasized the UAE's commitment to humanitarian impact and innovation to improve living conditions globally. He highlighted the importance of addressing clean water scarcity and supporting sustainable solutions that align with the UAE's vision of using technology for humanitarian aid.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Suqia UAE, expressed gratitude to Sheikh Mohammed for his ongoing support of humanitarian efforts. Al Tayer noted that the Award embodies the vision of fostering solutions for global challenges like water scarcity. He cited United Nations reports stating that 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and over 1,000 children die daily from water-related diseases.
He further mentioned Suqia UAE's 10-year milestone, during which it implemented over 1,000 sustainable water projects, impacting 15 million people across 37 countries. The Award serves as a platform to encourage innovations in water purification and desalination using clean energy.
The 'Innovative Projects Award - Large Projects' recognised Green Waste Solutions Trading DMCC from the UAE for its LANDCO Tech project. SIPCO from Vietnam and Sotrad Water Srl from Belgium also received awards for their impactful projects. The 'Innovative Projects Award - Small Projects' included winners like Kumulus SAS from France and Jiangsu Fenghai from China.
The 'Innovative Research and Development Award' celebrated international and national institutions such as STEM SAS from France and Khalifa University from the UAE. The 'Innovative Crisis Solutions Award' went to SkyJuice Foundation Inc from Australia, while the 'Innovative Individual Award' recognised individuals like Professor Guihua Yu from the United States and Zhenyuan Xu from China for their pioneering contributions to water innovation.