Water security for all

Tackling water problems together

Too much, too little and too dirty water seriously affect the water security in vulnerable regions. Currently, 1 in 4 people do not have access to clean drinking water. And almost half of the world's population does not have access to sanitation facilities. With the demand for water increasing, we must change our approach to provide everyone with clean (drinking) water and sanitation facilities.

The Netherlands is committed to realising sustainable water security for all. We contribute by sharing our knowledge and innovations and speeding up digitalisation. Together with partners, the goal is to ensure that by 2030:

• 30 million people have access to clean drinking water;
• 50 million people have access to sanitation facilities;
• We have helped 20 million people by improving river basin management and making deltas safer; and
• Water is used optimally in agriculture.

What does the Netherlands Enterprise Agency do?

We contribute to water security through subsidies and programmes such as Dutch Disaster Risk Reduction and Surge Support (DRRS), Sustainable Water Fund (FDW), Partners for Water PVW-IVWW, Water as Leverage, Reversing the Flow (RtF), MHPSS Surge Mechanism and Ghana Wash Window (GWW). These programmes focus on drinking water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH), integrated water resources management (IWRM), climate change adaptation, and the emergency response to water disasters, among other things.

We support cooperation projects that provide:

• Access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities;
• Safer deltas and improved water management;
• Support for local implementation;
• Private sector involvement; and
• A sustainable and integrated approach.

How can we support you?

Is your business, NGO or knowledge institute based in the Netherlands? And do you want to contribute to water security for all? 

• Contact our advisors;
• Find a partner for your project;
• Find support via our subsidies and programmes;
• Learn from completed projects. Check out our lessons learnt;
• Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to stay informed on our latest news and top stories from all over the world.

What have our projects achieved?

In our water projects, we work towards different types of results. Here are a few highlights of what some of our projects have achieved up until and including 2023:

For more background information on our projects, visit our project database. For more information on our lessons learnt, see our

• Documents and publications on water security

Water security projects in practice

Watch our videos on water projects in Ghana and Ethiopia.

• Read more articles from our projects