Akvo.org - the open source for water and sanitation

Akvo is an amazing project to transform the way water and sanitation development is organised in the poorest parts of the world. If we do our job well, it will become the definitive, Internet-based, global online water and sanitation resource and collaborative platform.

Our mission

To provide free and open working knowledge, a collaborative community, micro finance solutions and a marketplace for the water and sanitation community.

A Wikipedia and eBay for water, rolled into one, it is backed by some of the leading expert organizations in global water and sanitation development. We have seed funding from a Dutch consortium committed to technology innovation and the transformation of the water sector. Still in 'alpha' development phase, it will present a 'beta' product to the development establishment in August 2007 at Stockholm World Water Week.

Today Akvo is working to expand its network of supporters while we embark on pilot projects in India. We'd love to get your support.

Why?

Access to water for life is a basic human need and a fundamental human right. Yet more than 1.1 billion people have no safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation around the world. Each year, as a result, 1.8 million children die of diarrhoea and other diseases, 440 million school days are missed, and in sub-Saharan Africa alone $28.4 billion (USD) are lost in productivity and opportunity costs.

The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) include a target to reduce by half the number of people without safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015. Almost every expert in the world agrees that this target is unlikely to be reached if the world continues business as usual. And even if this target were met, 50% of the target population would still remain unserved.

Akvo.org components

Akvo.org consist of four primary components:

• Akvopedia - which is the knowledge base of technology, tools, organisations and best (or worst!) practices for low-cost water and sanitation. The Akvopedia is an open source effort where the water and sanitation community together creates the content.
• Financing - Akvo brings together small to medium size projects in communities which need water and sanitation with potential funding sources. These sources can be micro-finance facilities or grants and other type of loans. Akvo.org's project management tools and connections with people in the field makes it easy to at a glance see the status of a project and communicate with the people involved with the project. Akvo's tools also makes it easy to donate or lend money to specific projects and then follow the progress of the project.
• Community - Akvo.org's world-wide expert community consisting of people from all walks of life, as well as water and sanitation experts, use the Akvo.org forums and community tools to help each other solve problems and work out the best way of coming up with local sustainable solutions.
• Market place - The Akvo.org Marketplace provides a way for small, medium and big businesses to connect with the people and communities which need tools and expertise to solve their water and sanitation challenges.

Akvo governance

Akvo is in the process of being incorporated in The Netherlands as a non-profit foundation. This process is not completed yet. This is being overseen by the informal board of directors which consist of:

• Jeroen van der Sommen, NWP ("Informal Chairman")
• Paul van Koppen, IRC
• Thomas Bjelkeman-Pettersson, GreenOcean
• Caroline Fiquères, UNESCO-IHE

Akvo history

Akvo was founded by five organisations in the autumn of 2006 after an enlightening meeting between Jeroen and Thomas at WorldWaterWeek. The organisations were:

• GreenOcean
• IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC)
• Movement Design Bureau
• Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP)
• UNESCO-IHE

To read more about organisations and individuals which participate in making Akvo what it is, read the Akvopedia Portal:Organisations page.