The Importance of Partnerships in Development Work: West Africa Water Initiative

The West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI) is consortium of 12 organizations representing private foundations, federal agencies, non-governmental organizations and university-based research groups. Now entering its second 5-year phase, the primary goals of WAWI remain unchanged – to improve access to clean water and sanitation, as well as the reduction of water-borne illness, among rural West Africans in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Niger. A retrospective examination of the first phase of WAWI, as well as the addition of a new country in which we will be working (Burkina Faso), have provided the partnership with much needed perspective on how to proceed over the next five years in a manner that will maximize the effectiveness of our efforts.