At the close of 2021, the PSIPW Council convened its first meeting for the 10th Award under the direction of its Chairman, Dr. Badran al-Omar, President of King Saud University.

Dr. al-Omar expressed his gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for giving his patronage to the PSIPW Awards Ceremony over the years. He then remembered PSIPW’s founder, HRH Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and extended his thanks to HRH Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, for upholding his father’s legacy with his generous and steadfast support for PSIPW and for his attentiveness to the Prize’s continued development. Then he commended the PSIPW’s General Secretariat for its achievements throughout the 10th Awards nomination period, which saw an unprecedented number of nominations of the highest calibre from leading scientists around the world.

PSIPW’s General Secretary, Dr. Abd al-Malik Al Alshaikh (pictured right), moved to ratify the various committees for the 10th Award referee process. Each of PSIPW’s prizes is judged by three separate committees made up of leading water specialists from around the world. There is a separate preliminary evaluation committee, referee committee, and final selection committee for each prize to insure professional rigour and impartiality.

At the close of nominations, the 10th Award had received 334 nominations from 66 countries, most of them from scientists working at leading universities and research institutes.

The PSIPW Council also reviewed the annual report presented by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) regarding the continued management and development of the Space4Water Portal, a joint initiative of UNOOSA and PSIPW governed by a long-standing Memorandum of Understanding that was renewed by both organizations on 10 January 2021 and which will be due for renewal again at the end of December 2026. The report also addressed the forthcoming 5th International Conference on the Use of Space Technology for Water Management which will be co-organised by UNOOSA and PSIPW along with the Government of Ghana in that nation’s capital Accra from 10 to 13 May 2022.

Finally, the Council discussed cooperation with UNOOSA on planning the PSIPW 10th Awards Ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters near the end of 2022.