Collaborating to Achieve Our Missions

May 13, 2019

By Sean McSwain – Director of Partnership Support, Water Mission

As an organization that has been developing and implementing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) solutions for 18 years, Water Mission is intimately familiar with the challenges of fighting the global water crisis. We continue to do this work because we know that ultimately these challenges can be overcome. But we can’t do it alone.

Ending the global water crisis — which affects more than two billion people around the world — requires close collaboration. By committing to sharing our best practices, innovations, and struggles, we can collectively improve the technical excellence, sustainability, and community impact of our WASH projects. Together, we can dramatically increase our scale to reach more neighbors in need around the world.

Water Mission’s vision aligns closely with the Accord Network’s purpose of cultivating “a community of effective organizations committed to helping each other learn, stay focused, and succeed in their efforts to lift the world’s poor.” And it’s one reason our collaborations with other Accord members have been so valuable and productive.

Over the years, the Accord Network has been a community that enabled us to help us create and deepen key partnerships. While we look forward to sharing initiatives and participating in the conference each fall, the real work is done behind-the-scenes through email exchanges, phone calls, and small gatherings that take place throughout the year.

In just the last few months, for example, Water Mission has had the privilege of co-presenting at events, hosting meetings, and visiting partners within the Accord Network to further refine best-in-class strategies for financial sustainability, church mobilization, and project monitoring and evaluation. We have much to offer and much to learn from organizations both inside and outside of the WASH sector, and we remain dedicated to serving as a resource to others engaged in fighting the global water crisis. I challenge each and every member of the Accord Network to reach out and collaborate with another organization. As a longtime member of the network, we’re so grateful for the commitment and innovation we have found in this unique community and look forward to continuing to learn from and support one another.

Sean McSwain serves as Water Mission’s Director of Partnership Support and can be reached at smcswain@watermission.org.

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