§ Baroness Rawlingsasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will explain the role of the resource centre on water and environmental health within the Department for International Development. [HL229]
§ Baroness AmosFollowing a process of competitive tendering, Water and Environmental Health at London and Loughborough (WELL) was set up in October 1996 as a Department for International Development-funded resource centre, managed jointly by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Water and Development Centre at Loughborough University.
It is a one-stop-shop for technical advice in water, sanitation and environmental health matters to the Department for International Development's (DFID) policy advisers, project managers and overseas partner governments. It provides short-term advisers for programme design, appraisal, monitoring and, through a programme of work, produces technical advisory material for wide dissemination on water issues relevant to DFID's objectives.
In addition WELL assists NGOs with on-line advice on current issues and lesson learning. It maintains a website, and a walk-in resource centre with on-line computer access is also in operation.