The Millenium Water Alliance welcomes Acacia Water

This week, The Board of Directors of the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) (https://mwawater.org/) voted to accept Acacia Water as its first-ever private sector member. Since its inception in 2003, MWA’s members have been non-profit, non-governmental organizations, working as implementers of safe and clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)  programming in developing nations, or as research institutions focused on international WASH.?  Also in 2019, MWA welcomed two academic institutions, the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering – University of Colorado Boulder, and the Desert Research Institute.

“The addition of a great WASH-focused private company like Acacia Water is an important milestone for MWA, and reflects the urgent need for more cross-sectoral cooperation to accelerate global progress for universal WASH coverage – a target set by the world’s Sustainable development Goals for 2030,” said MWA Executive Director Keith Wright.

“More and more, we see partnerships with the private sector as key to success, not just as sources of funding, but as a partner for innovation, scaled service delivery and practical approaches to making WASH services  better and getting the work done,” Wright added. For MWA and its individual member NGOs and academic members, the increasing alliance with the private sector is part of our opportunity to work better and think beyond traditional roles.

“Acacia Water is honored to join the Millennium Water Alliance and contributing to achieving its goals,” said Arjen de Vries, Acacia Water’s Chief Executive Officer. “Implementing collaborative pathways to universal, sustained WASH services & water resources management in developing countries is a mission that Acacia Water wholeheartedly supports and shares with MWA. We hope to keep transforming people’s lives and come closer to achieving the SDG’s through our contribution to this alliance.”

Acacia Water is convinced that better understanding of the hydrological system, boosted by implementation of smart, climate-proof, and sustainable solutions should help the WASH sector and governments to improve equitable access to clean, affordable and safe water for all.

Acacia Water is an international leading supplier of practical advices and solutions to water resources issues such as scarcity, sustainable management and use. Ground- and surface water management are Acacia Water’s key areas of expertise associated to related themes such as land and soil protection, water quality, groundwater exploitation and integrated water resources management.

Within the WASH context, Acacia Water has initiated the development and testing of strategies to increase success rates of WASH interventions with a focus on water harvesting and water buffering techniques to increase resilience to droughts, floods and improved livelihood conditions. An important credo for Acacia Water remains: Approach problems in an integral and inclusive manner to improve ecosystem services and water availability for all.  

Also this week, the Board welcomed two additional NGO members, Safe Water Network (https://www.safewaternetwork.org/) and Action Against Hunger (https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/), expanding MWA’s global connections and deepening our capacity to draw upon the varied expertise of implementers in many countries.

Earlier this year, MWA created a class of membership for private sector companies that share MWA’s mission and goals. All organizations that are part of MWA must meet standards for transparency, accountability, and experience in WASH systems.

Founded in 2003, MWA, headquartered in Washington, DC, is a permanent global alliance of leading humanitarian and private organizations working in water, sanitation, and hygiene. MWA convenes opportunities and partnerships, accelerates learning and effective models, and influences the WASH sector by leveraging the expertise and reach of its members and partners to scale quality, sustained WASH services. MWA’s member organizations work with the world’s poorest people in more than 90 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

MWA’s 18 members are: Acacia Water, Action Against Hunger, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Desert Research Institute, El Porvenir, Food for the Hungry, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, IRC WASH, Living Water International, Mortenson Center in Global Engineering – University of Colorado Boulder, Pure Water for the World, Safe Water Network, Water4, WaterAid America, Water For People, Water Mission, and World Vision.

For more information you can contact our colleage Daniela Benedicto van Dalen (mailto:Daniela.Benedicto@acaciawater.com).

Source: Press release of MWA.