New Year’s Eve to honour a decade of humanitarian engineering

Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) this year celebrates a decade of bringing clean water, sanitation and energy to needy communities worldwide. The humanitarian organisation has spent 10 years sharing its engineering skills to alleviate poverty in developing communities, from Nepal, Sri Lanka and East Timor, to far north Queensland and remote Western Australia.

The organisation is the City of Sydney’s official charity partner for the 2013 Sydney New Year’s Eve, meaning its work will be promoted through the City of Sydney’s media and marketing programs, as well as opportunities through the event’s radio, print and television partners.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City was “proud to celebrate Engineers Without Borders’ first 10 years” and she looks forward to seeing the organisation “continue its life-changing efforts over the next decade.” She described the volunteers’ efforts to improve communities’ lives as “inspiring”.

“Their clear vision and robust strategies have helped improve the health and wellbeing of thousands of people and have had a lasting impact on many communities,” the Lord Mayor said.

EWB Chief Executive Lizzie Brown said it was a great honour to be working with the City of Sydney as part of its 2013 Sydney New Year’s Eve festivities.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to share our story and communicate the importance of engineering and technology in community development and poverty alleviation,” Brown said.

“EWB Australia has strong support from the engineering and design community in Sydney. We would like to encourage everyone in Sydney to support our work both in Australia and overseas.

“By choosing EWB Australia as its 2013 Sydney New Year’s Eve partner, the City of Sydney is helping us deliver humanitarian engineering solutions around the globe.”

Brown described EWB’s work over the past 10 years, which has involved cooperating with over 100 partner organisations in nine countries.

“The impact of this work spans from assisting rural Nepali villages to access clean water and electricity, to developing the renewable energy sector in Cambodia, and providing engineering education opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in Australia,” she said.

Past Sydney New Year’s Eve charity partners have included The Fred Hollows Foundation (2012), CARE Australia (2011) and WWF (2010).

EWB is separately celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a gala dinner on 2 August and a family day on 3 August, both to be held in Melbourne.