In Mwanza, Tanzania, as in many local governments, health sector workers and environmental monitoring professionals rarely spoke to each other. They gathered data points, and their surveys accumulated in piles in different offices. But when mWater, an organization that develops technology for water and health, collected those surveys together in an open access database, the technology became common ground now that data was gathered, analyzed, and acted upon from one place.
The husband and wife team who founded mWater entered graduate school the year development economist Jeff Sachs published “The End of Poverty.” They were drawn to his argument that malaria was one of global health’s low hanging fruit.
“Sadly, 12 years later, malaria has not been solved,” co-founder Annie Feighery told Devex following her appearance at SwitchPoint in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, last week.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
