From IRC to Riva - who we are

Where we came from

We began in 1968 as IRC – a global knowledge broker founded by the Dutch government and the World Health Organization. Our purpose was to gather and share knowledge about improving access to water and sanitation for the world's most underserved communities. Our early reputation was built on research and innovation around pumps and pipes. But we were learning something more important: that infrastructure alone doesn't transform lives. Systems do.

The work that shapes us

From the early 2000s, we began asking a harder question than how to build a water point: how to build the system that keeps it working. The evidence kept pointing in the same direction – infrastructure fails without the institutions, finance and accountability to keep it running. With sustained support from a growing body of partners and fellow travellers, we invested in testing that conviction at scale. In 2026 we took another defining step: our country offices are becoming independent legal entities, members of the Riva network. Power shifting to where it had always truly belonged: inside the nations serve.

We believe that water is the quiet force behind everything a nation hopes to become: a gateway to resilient public services, social justice and sustainable development. And while our background is in water and sanitation, our work now flows through every essential system that shapes people’s lives.