Less than 2% of global climate financing goes toward the water sector, mainly due to a lack of evidence on where water problems are and the absence of an enabling environment to attract investors. To respond to this challenge, WaterAid sought to build a global multistakeholder partnership which aims to boost the water security of the world’s most vulnerable by helping them access more climate finance and private capital through holistic, evidence-based water programming. SEEK supported WaterAid in defining the vision and strategy for the partnership and in bringing together stakeholders to set up this partnership. In a later phase, SEEK also supported in launching the initiative and led the interim secretariat.

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SEEK supported the WaterAid team in defining an initial vision, mission, and theory of change for the partnership, in consultation with prospective partners. Following the creation of the Resilient Water Accelerator, SEEK then assisted its Interim Steering Group in operationalizing the accelerator. SEEK’s consultants staffed the initial secretariat and assisted in the design of the partnership’s in-country operating model to ensure inclusive and data-driven water program design and helped identify the first wave of countries to receive support from the partnership. SEEK also led the development of the partnership’s long-term strategy, governance structure, and funding model.  

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Our collaboration with WaterAid resulted in the successful creation of the Resilient Water Accelerator, supported by the African Development Bank, the Global Water Partnership, the World Resource Institute, the UK, the Netherlands, and private sector partners. The Accelerator was announced at COP26 and launched country programs in 2022, after successfully securing funding to put the Accelerator on the path of boosting the resilience of 50 million vulnerable people living in water-stressed areas by 2030.

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