Having been devoting to the south-south and triangle cooperation for more than ten years, Prof. Li Fengting from the College of Environmental Science and Engineering and UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD) was honored the UN prize “An Recognition of Special Contribution to South-South and Triangle Cooperation” due to his significant contribution to the China-Africa cooperation on the safe water supply technology transfer. This honor was delivered by Mr. Zhou Yiping, the Director of United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation during the 2013 Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo held in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya from 28 October to 1 November 2013.

Since the first trip in Africa, Prof. Li Fengting has visited this continent for 38 times. His tremendous efforts have been paid off by reaping the harvest in promoting the water treatment technology transfer and triangle China-UNEP-Africa cooperation. Since the launch of China-UNEP-Africa cooperation programme on environment in 2008, Prof. Li Fengting has been engaged in the projects on safe water supply technology transfer in African countries. With the projects on “Re-use of Waste Water for Forest Plantation Irrigation” and "Development and demonstration of new technologies for safe water supply in typical African countries”, Prof Li’s research team has gained the first-hand knowledge about water resource distribution and the main barriers in water treatment in typical African countries. Three MOUs on safe water supply and water treatment technology demonstration were signed with partners from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Kisumu, Nairobi of Kenya and demonstration project has been ongoing.

In the past more than 10 years, IESD played a key role in conducting regional and international training programs on sustainable development. Up to now, nearly 3000 representatives from governments, NGO, institutions and private sectors from developing countries have benefited from more than 50 training programmes, which intensively enhanced the capacity building of environment and sustainable development for developing countries.

“Actually, today I am only the representative to accept this honor. It belongs to our team, our Tongji University and also all the group participants from more than 10 domestic institutes on the “African water actions”. In spite of substantive progress achieved in the projects, there is still a long way to go due to the factors restraining the cooperation among developing countries, including regional conflicts, asymmetric information, etc. However, we will spare no efforts in the poverty reduction and economic development and most importantly, maintaining a sound ecosystem in this beautiful African continent. And I will continue to devote myself to strengthening the South-South Cooperation.” Prof Li said at the awarding ceremony. Prof. Li’s efforts in the China-Africa cooperation and mainstreaming the concept of sustainable development showcased the dedication of one Chinese expert in fulfilling his own China-Africa Dream through the South-South Cooperation.