UNICEF and IVL announce strategic partnership to accelerate climate resilience and strengthen governance in the WASH-sector
UNICEF and IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute have signed a partnership agreement until 2028, marking a significant step in advancing global efforts to ensure sustainable and resilient water and sanitation services. The focus of the collaboration is on strengthening sector governance and climate-resilient Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services.
"We are very proud and excited about this collaboration with UNICEF. This partnership will enable us to strengthen our international operations through projects in multiple countries and step-up our efforts to support the transition to a sustainable society", says Anna Söderholm, Executive Vice President, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute.
An important part of the collaboration is capacity building at the global, regional, and national levels, and by providing technical support to UNICEF country offices. The collaboration also aims to develop scalable tools and methodologies on WASH governance, and to capture and share learning through knowledge products for advocacy and policy influence.
This partnership builds on UNICEF’s long-standing collaboration with the WASH group – formerly part of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and now operating under IVL, following an acquisition at the end of last year.
The WASH group, which today consists of around 20 people at IVL, has collaborated with UNICEF for the past ten years and has worked on policy development and projects in more than 80 countries during this period. In 2024 alone, projects were implemented in over 50 different countries. In addition to employees in Stockholm, the group also have staff in France and Spain and in the offices in Amman and Bogotá.
“We are proud to strengthen our collaboration with UNICEF. Since 2014, our joint initiative, the ‘Accountability for Sustainability’ program, has played a vital role in supporting governance of water and sanitation services. Building on this foundation, our partnership expanded in 2020 to integrate climate resilience into WASH programming under UNICEF’s Climate Shift initiative. This new agreement will accelerate our efforts to deliver sustainable and resilient WASH services worldwide” says Alejandro Jiménez, Head of Group – WASH Governance, IVL.
IVL's expertise in the water area ranges from governance to technology in water purification to blue economy and blue-green solutions in cities. With climate change, urbanization and rapid industrialization, water shortages and issues such as wastewater management and reuse are expected to become increasingly relevant in the future. Solutions are needed for a more circular water management and to increase the countries' resilience and crisis preparedness.
The partnership with UNICEF will contribute to securing access to clean water and adequate sanitation services for millions of children, including in conflict-affected countries. The majority of projects will be focused water and sanitation, but the collaboration also aims to expand to other areas such as waste management, energy efficiency, and air quality. It will support an intersectoral approach to climate resilience and the implementation of cross-sector follow-up actions.
For more information, please contact:
Anna Söderholm, anna.soderholm@ivl.se, tel. +46 (0)10-788 65 76
Alejandro Jiménez, alejandro.jimenez@ivl.se, tel. 046 (0)10-788 66 32
UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, works across more than 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of childen. UNICEF provides and advocates for child health and nutrition, safe water, sanitation and hygiene, quality education and skill building, and protection of children and adolescents from violence and exploitation, in a safe and sustainable climate, free from poverty. Read more at unicef.org