Acacia Water joins Millennium Water Alliance as first private sector member
The Board of Directors of the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) voted to accept Acacia Water as its first-ever private sector member. The Millennium Water Alliance is a consortium of America’s leading charities working to bring safe drinking water and sanitation to poor people. Acacia Water is a WASH-focused Dutch consultancy firm specialized in groundwater in relation to surface water, environment and infrastructure.
Beyond traditional roles
For MWA the alliance with the private sector is part of our opportunity to work better and think beyond traditional roles. Earlier this year, it 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 on transparency, accountability, and experience with WASH systems.
‘The addition of a great WASH-focused private company like Acacia Water is an important milestone for MWA’, said MWA Executive Director Keith Wright. ‘It 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.’
Key to success
More and more, we see partnerships with the private sector as key to success’, Wright added. ‘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,’
Acacia Water hopes the collaboration will contribute to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Arjen de Vries, Acacia Water’s Chief Executive Officer, said his company is honoured to join MWA.
‘Implementing collaborative pathways to universal, sustained WASH services and water resources management in developing countries, is a mission that Acacia Water wholeheartedly supports and shares with MWA.’
De Vries: ‘We hope to keep transforming people’s lives and come closer to achieving the SDG’s through our contribution to this alliance’.
Strategies for WASH interventions
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.
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.
About Acacia Water
Acacia Water provides practical advice 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
About Millennium Water Alliance
In 2003 the leading US-based non-governmental organizations working in water and sanitation, founded MWA to play a role to help reach the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal for water. Headquartered in Washington DC, the foundation is a permanent global alliance of leading humanitarian and private organizations working in water, sanitation, and hygiene. It has 18 member organizations that work with the world’s poorest people in more than 90 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
