Published on: 13/02/2020
THE HAGUE, February 13, 2020 – IRC CEO, Patrick Moriarty and Water For People CEO, Eleanor Allen, announced today the formation of a strategic partnership to accelerate progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 – water and sanitation for all. Both organisations are aligned around a commitment to systems strengthening as the way forward, and the two have long had a shared vision for 2030: that everyone has safe water and sanitation services that last forever.
The formation of the strategic partnership is aimed at harnessing complementary strengths and exploring opportunities for more impactful programme delivery. Through shared efforts to build and demonstrate strong and resilient national and local water and sanitation systems, the organisations are convinced they can move faster and achieve measurable progress by joining forces. Water For People’s strengths in service delivery and business incubation complement IRC’s strengths in research and evidence, advocacy, and social consulting.
“We are convinced that working even more closely together will strengthen us both: overcoming areas of relative weakness, delivering our shared organisational visions, and increasing our impact,” said Moriarty.
“Water For People and IRC have partnered closely together for many years and we are actively collaborating together in Agenda For Change,” noted Allen.” As we have now entered a new decade, 2030 does not feel very far away. We know time is of the essence to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal.”
In the coming months, the organisations will begin a process of intensive investigation and consultation with employees and stakeholders around this new initiative, with a focus on exploring ways to maximally align programmes in countries where there is already overlap – Honduras, India and Uganda – as well as across their shared social-consulting portfolio.
IRC is a catalyst of change, working in every corner of water, sanitation and hygiene to build and strengthen systems that transform lives. With its partners, the organisation uses its expertise to deliver water and sanitation systems in six countries and 21 districts and municipalities. IRC works with local and national governments, businesses and civil society, and with international partners around the world to promote systems thinking and delivery. Its international team is made up of over 90 recognised water, sanitation, and hygiene service specialists and dedicated field staff, based in its focus countries, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, India and Uganda, as well as in the United States, and head office in The Hague, the Netherlands. For more information visit www.ircwash.org.
Founded in 1991 in Denver, Colorado, Water For People is a global nonprofit working across nine countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa to achieve lasting access to clean water and sanitation services. Water For People brings together communities, local entrepreneurs, and governments to build, operate, and maintain their own systems so that every family, health clinic, and school has access to safe water and sanitation that will last for generations to come. This impact model is called Everyone Forever. Learn more at www.waterforpeople.org.
Marc Jaffrey, Director Global Communications | IRC | jaffrey@ircwash.org
Jody Carman, Director of Marketing & Communications | Water For People | jcarman@waterforpeople.org
