Riva Global - our story

The Global Hub is the platform through which Riva's members carry out work together globally. Riva is an international network of local systems leaders driving change that transforms lives through resilient national systems and public service. We are trusted advisors to nation builders globally – the political leaders, decision makers, wealth generators and citizens who are remaking the systems that shape people's lives.  We support a network that is locally led and globally connected in every country where it works. It draws on more than fifty years' experience in international development and on the knowledge, relationships and trust we have built in countries and globally.

Where we came from  

We began as IRC in 1968 under an agreement between the World Health Organization and the Government of the Netherlands as a hub for information dissemination, a 'knowledge broker'.  We were the focal point of a worldwide network of collaborating institutions active in water supply, research and development. 

During the 1980s and 1990s, our work became focused on finding solutions through action research. Our international programme was focused on research, knowledge development and sharing, training and advocacy. We started to test innovative approaches to tackle complex problems. This work has taught us the value of taking a systems approach – involving everyone from the people on the ground to the people who hold the purse strings.  

Building on and alongside this, we established our first country offices in Ghana and Uganda in 2009, so we could work more directly with local governments, communities and partners to achieve universal access to water and sanitation. The goal was – and still is – to build on the work we do locally and nationally to create change around the world - contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for everyone, everywhere.  

The work that shapes us 

What began as a global knowledge hub has grown into the Global Hub, working on behalf of the Riva network and its members, built on long-standing partnerships with governments, civil society, researchers and donors across regions. Through pioneering action research, thought leadership, training and professional development and country-led programmes, we've helped the water and sanitation sector understand and act on the same lesson: isolated projects don't sustain progress, functioning public systems do. Today, the Global Hub connects district-level experience with regional leadership and global partnerships, in service of that same conviction.  

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, our work now flows through every essential system that shapes people's lives.