Source Global Convenes Water Leaders as Part of Landmark United Nations Water Conference in New York

Image: Kim Starkey from King Philanthropies, Patty Mills Team Mills Foundation  Mina Guli  Cody Friesen and Will Sarni.

Last month the United Nations (UN) hosted the Global Water Conference in New York, the first such event in 46 years which brought together Government delegations, NGOs, development organisations, and industry.  With support from the Australian Consulate-General, The Lightsmith Group and Team Mills Foundation, SOURCE Global convened a unique panel of water stakeholders who discussed how innovation can be used to “support culture, development, and adaptation," with a particular focus on remote indigenous communities that lack traditional drinking water infrastructure. 

The event was hosted by industry leader Will Sarni from the Water Foundry and featured SOURCE Founder/CEO Cody Friesen along with Patty Mills, point guard for the Brooklyn Nets, Australian Boomers and Founder of the Team Mills Foundation,  and a long-time SOURCE collaborator, Kim Starkey, the President and CEO of King Philanthropies, and water activist Mina Gulli, CEO of the Thirst Foundation who joined us only hours after completing her 200th marathon in the last 12 months!

The event also included moving cultural welcomes from community partners Jerry Williams (Navajo Nation) and Cliff Matias (Redhawk Native American Council) who both talked about the connection between water and culture.  We were lucky to be joined by two members of Sioux Tribe from South Dakota to perform a traditional dance to help demonstrate the importance of working with and maintaining native cultures.

The event welcomed a large group of delegates representing communities from international delegations from the Pacific Islands, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe along with multiple representatives from industry partners, NGOs and communities.

As part of the UN Water Conference Water Action Agenda, SOURCE announced a number of new project commitments including a collaboration with the Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority in the Marshall Islands to bring clean drinking water to 6 remote Pacific islands, a collaboration in Papua New Guinea with Total Waste Management and the Roku Water Committee with support from The Lightsmith Group and the Nordic Development Fund highlighting the importance of clean drinking water in remote, rural, and indigenous communities, and a partnership with the Chan Soon-Shiong Family and the University of Johannesburg in South Africa’s Eastern Cape exploring the impact of clean water access on health, school attendance, and gender-based violence. SOURCE has also recently launched new projects in remote Australian Indigenous communities to improve health and cost of living through partnerships with Government Agencies and NGO partners across Queensland and the Northern Territory.