Our Approach

Political commitment, capable institutions, predictable finance, effective regulation, professional providers – all working together, over time. Building and sustaining that architecture requires systems leadership. That’s why today, it’s our driving force. We’ve spent more than fifty years learning how to strengthen systems and grow systems leaders: people who see beyond the boundaries of their own organisation or mandate. Who work across sectors. Who build coalitions. And find the leverage points where a small shift can trigger a cascade. From presidential compacts to village water committees, from national policy to ministerial reform, we’ve developed and worked with systems leaders in government and in service providers, in communities and in financial institutions. We believe that systems leadership is the only approach equal to the scale of the challenges we face today.

Long-term investment in essential public services only comes when there is institutional credibility. It rarely grows from project funding alone. Instead, it flows to institutions that govern clearly, regulate consistently, manage their assets and know their costs – ones that have earned the trust from funders and investors to deploy investment well. Building that credibility, from the inside out, is central to our institutional strengthening work. Institutional credibility is the ability of national and local institutions to be seen as reliable, investable and accountable – by citizens, governments and financiers alike. It is built from the inside out: through strong governance and clear regulation, through service providers who know their assets, their costs and their customers, through fiscal systems that blend tariffs, taxes and external finance in sustainable ways. When those foundations are in place, public services stop being a drain on the national budget and become a credible target for long-term investment – and the foundation on which thriving and resilient nations are built.

Safe water and sanitation, health, education, energy are the bedrock of resilient communities capable of facing changing climate. Placing essential public services at the heart of national development requires all kinds of nation builders to own the agenda, lead the reform, and finance it themselves. These nation builders might be political leaders, civil servants, experts, businesspeople, civil society activists or citizens – people who, like us are working to transform the lives of people – for the better, for all of us. We are living through a pivotal moment. The old architecture of international development assistance is changing, fast. Within that disruption lies a real opportunity: for governments across Africa and Asia to invest in the public services that will strengthen their nations and create healthy, resilient, communities and economies. Our own transformation – from a Dutch-based international NGO to a network of independent, locally-led national organisations – is our answer to that same imperative. We believe in locally-led change – and we’re proof of it.

Safe water and sanitation, health, education, climate resilience, energy are the interconnected foundations of public life, and the connections run in every direction. Working across those intersections – in new alliances, across traditional sectors is how public services move from sector priority to national imperative. We’ve spent decades building the coalitions and platforms that make collective action possible – hosting secretariats, shaping global networks, working with partners across sectors and borders. Collective action demands more than coordination. It requires a shared belief that systems can change, a willingness to work at the pace required to build relationships and trust, and the discipline to align strategies rather than simply attend the same meetings. That is the kind of collaboration we seek, and the kind we try to model.