Our Mission
In early 2005, at the urging of several advocates promoting greater access to clean water and sanitation in the developing world, the U.S. Department of State convened leaders from the water and sanitation sectors, including representatives from government, private companies, nongovernmental groups, and academia to share perspectives on this urgent global challenge. At the time, no organization existed to facilitate a dialogue of this kind, particularly one with strong private sector participation.
Despite their varied experiences and worldviews, participants in these discussions reached consensus on a number of matters. First and foremost, they reached an overarching agreement that water and sanitation problems had proven solutions. But, they also concluded that identifying, implementing, and scaling up those solutions to create a global movement capable of reaching the estimated 1.1 billion people worldwide without access to clean water, and an estimated 2.6 billion without access to basic sanitation, would require cooperation and partnerships across sectors, more funding, better coordination among grantors, and greater communication and learning from scores of field projects.
Recognizing the value in continuing this multi-stakeholder dialogue, The Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF) organized a series of forums throughout 2005 and early 2006. From these sessions came the call for a new organization to build awareness and promote scalable actions in expanding coverage for clean water and sanitation. The forums were supplemented by outreach and consultations with a wider range of stakeholders to assess support for such an organization and to examine potential priorities and operating methods. With initial funding from The United Nations Foundation, The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Cargill, and Wallace Genetic Foundation, the Global Water Challenge (GWC) was launched.
In late 2006, Global Water Challenge began its first project in the Nyanza Province of Kenya to provide, in cooperation with the Kenyan government, comprehensive coverage for water, sanitation and hygiene education in 1,500 schools. With initial funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation, GWC leveraged an additional $9.5 million from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. CARE is implementing the project on the ground. Of particular importance in this project is the monitoring and evaluation component by Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control that is documenting the benefits and hurdles for students, teachers, and communities. (To learn more about this project, please see our programs page).
In 2007, the first Executive Director, Paul Faeth, came aboard. He quickly put his imprint on GWC's program, with an emphasis on learning from the schools intervention strategy and on community level finance for water and sanitation, along with the priority to raise the profile of the issue in the United States and around the world.
Initially, GWC was hosted at the United Nations Foundation until early 2008 when GWC incorporated as an independent 501c3 organization.
At that time, GWC constituted its own Board of Directors, chaired by former U.S. EPA Administrator William K. Reilly, and relocated to new office space.
Currently, GWC has grown to a team of six, and is located at:
1001 Connecticut Avenue
suite 925
Washington D.C. 20036
Despite their varied experiences and worldviews, participants in these discussions reached consensus on a number of matters. First and foremost, they reached an overarching agreement that water and sanitation problems had proven solutions. But, they also concluded that identifying, implementing, and scaling up those solutions to create a global movement capable of reaching the estimated 1.1 billion people worldwide without access to clean water, and an estimated 2.6 billion without access to basic sanitation, would require cooperation and partnerships across sectors, more funding, better coordination among grantors, and greater communication and learning from scores of field projects.
Recognizing the value in continuing this multi-stakeholder dialogue, The Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF) organized a series of forums throughout 2005 and early 2006. From these sessions came the call for a new organization to build awareness and promote scalable actions in expanding coverage for clean water and sanitation. The forums were supplemented by outreach and consultations with a wider range of stakeholders to assess support for such an organization and to examine potential priorities and operating methods. With initial funding from The United Nations Foundation, The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Cargill, and Wallace Genetic Foundation, the Global Water Challenge (GWC) was launched.
In late 2006, Global Water Challenge began its first project in the Nyanza Province of Kenya to provide, in cooperation with the Kenyan government, comprehensive coverage for water, sanitation and hygiene education in 1,500 schools. With initial funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation, GWC leveraged an additional $9.5 million from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. CARE is implementing the project on the ground. Of particular importance in this project is the monitoring and evaluation component by Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control that is documenting the benefits and hurdles for students, teachers, and communities. (To learn more about this project, please see our programs page).
In 2007, the first Executive Director, Paul Faeth, came aboard. He quickly put his imprint on GWC's program, with an emphasis on learning from the schools intervention strategy and on community level finance for water and sanitation, along with the priority to raise the profile of the issue in the United States and around the world.
Initially, GWC was hosted at the United Nations Foundation until early 2008 when GWC incorporated as an independent 501c3 organization.
At that time, GWC constituted its own Board of Directors, chaired by former U.S. EPA Administrator William K. Reilly, and relocated to new office space.
Currently, GWC has grown to a team of six, and is located at:
1001 Connecticut Avenue
suite 925
Washington D.C. 20036