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Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

Part of UK in Sweden

6th September 2013

Fresh Water For Poor People: This year’s Stockholm Water Prize winner

As the Presidential road blocks were dismantled, and the sun continued to shine on the sparkling water outside the City Hall, I was privileged to be among the thousands gathered in the Stadshuset to see the British-born scientist, Dr Peter Morgan, become the 23rd Stockholm Water laureate.

For more than 40 years Dr. Morgan has worked to create innovative solutions in water, sanitation and hygiene to help African people to improve their health and their lives.

His focus has been on low-cost practical solutions. In awarding the world’s most prestigious water prize, the Stockholm judges noted that “Many currently existing solutions to provide clean water and sanitation are unaffordable, impractical and out of reach for the world’s poorest people,”.

“As a result of Dr. Morgan’s pioneering work to develop practical water and sanitation technologies for those most in need, countless communities now enjoy safer water, a cleaner environment and quality of life.”

Early in the twenty-first century, more than 780 million people still live without access to safe water and 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. Diseases caused by unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene kill more than 5,000 people each day.

Dr Morgan’s innovations include water pumps and latrines that have transformed people’s lives.  He has shared his designs and innovations freely, so they can be used and developed by local communities, in Zimbabwe where he works, and elsewhere.

As one of the judges said at the ceremony, access to clean water is a human right. Dr Morgan has rightly been honoured for helping making that right a reality for many of the world’s poorest people.

About Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially. He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide range of political and securit...

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially.

He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide range of political and security roles in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Paul joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1993 as Desk Officer for Bosnia. As part of this role he was also Private Secretary to EU negotiator Lord Owen and his representative on Bosnia Contact Group.

His first foreign posting was to Paris in 1995-99 as Second Secretary Political. He was Private Secretary to the Ambassador and latterly part of the UK delegation to the Kosovo Rambouillet negotiations. Then he returned to London as Head of the Kosovo Policy Team, leading work on post-conflict policy in the EU, NATO, UN and G8.

Before his second overseas posting to New York in 2005, Paul held a variety of other EU policy and security appointments in London, such as Head of European Defence Section between 2000-01 and Head of Security Policy Department between 2002-04.

As Head of the Political Section in UKMIS New York, he advised on major policy issues for the UK on the Security Council and the UN World Summit, including the UK EU Presidency in 2005.

Paul returned to London in 2008 as Director, International Security for the FCO. He was responsible for policy on UN, NATO, European Security, arms control and disarmament, human rights and good governance.

Paul was British Ambassador to Sweden from August 2011 to August 2015 and then was Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO.

He was UK Ambassador to the EU for Political and Security affairs from 2017 to January 2020 and became Ambassador to Ireland in September 2020.