Red Cross Prize for Sodis
June 24th, 2006
Eawag’s Sodis project, directed by Martin Wegelin, is being awarded the inaugural Red Cross Prize by the Swiss Red Cross (SRC). The CHF 25,000 award – established to mark the SRC’s 140th anniversary – is designed to recognize special humanitarian efforts. Announcing the award, the SRC said that the jury had been impressed by the personal commitment of the project’s initiator Martin Wegelin, who «seeks to put his research and development work into practice himself, and personally endeavours, through partnerships and fund-raising, to help improve living conditions for the disadvantaged». Sodis was judged to be a «striking» way of contributing by simple means to the improvement of water supplies, thereby reducing (diarrhoeal) diseases and mortality in developing countries. The project was «sustainable», holding out the promise of far-reaching effects. The Red Cross Prize is being presented today (Saturday, 24 June 2006) at the National Council Chamber in Bern.
Press photos
Press release [pdf, 83 KB; in German only]