Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN)

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RWSN at a glance

A vibrant network of more than 15,000 individual and 100 member organisations committed to improving the access to drinking water in rural areas around the world and to fulfilling the vision of sustainable rural water services for all.

About the network

Since 2002, Skat Foundation hosts the Secretariat of the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN).

RWSN is a collaborative platform dedicated to knowledge exchange, networking and learning to achieve universal access to safe water, with a focus on rural water services. This endeavour involves fostering connections among rural water practitioners and organisations on a global scale.

RWSN’s vision is of a world where all rural people have access to sustainable and reliable water supplies that can be effectively managed to provide sufficient, affordable, and safe water within a reasonable distance of the home. For RWSN, rural covers a spectrum of settlement patterns including isolated homesteads, hamlets, villages, and small towns.

With the engagement and collaboration of its members, RWSN is committed to continuing to lead collective action towards sustainable and safe water services for all rural people.

Thematic Focus

Water

Key Services

Networking (thematic discussion groups, communities of practice, member events, LinkedIn, etc.)
Knowledge hub (documentation, curation and sharing of knowledge: webinars, publications, etc.)
Capacity building (professional trainings, mentoring for young water professionals, etc.)
Knowledge brokering between practitioners, financiers, researchers and government for rural water

RWSN website

RWSN’s outreach



15,000+

members from 165 countries on Dgroups



20,000

members on LinkedIn



100+

member organisations

i

700+

documents published



200+

films published

w

Multiple languages

available Biannual webinar series

Arinaitwe Byamukama, Civil Engineer

“The desire to grow my knowledge and skills in the WASH sector led me to the RWSN mentoring programme. The benefits of being mentored are quite invaluable and innumerable to me. The mentoring has enhanced my problem-solving ability through the sharing of challenges and crafting of solutions with my mentor.”

Anonymous RWSN member, survey and mentoring programme

“I was able to create a water well drilling company with the support of RWSN members.”

Louisa Gosling, Consultant in WASH, Inclusion and Human Rights

“As the water challenges faced by rural populations intensify, RWSN’s unique value is increasingly recognised by research institutions, organisations and individuals seeking practical solutions to the problems faced on the ground. Despite the many examples of solutions, innovations, and good practice, a huge push is needed to learn from these, get them shared, used, adapted, and to generate the political will and financial resources needed.”