Beginnings
At the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development, then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced a U.S. commitment to the global 2015 Millennium Development Goals (now the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals). One goal was to reduce by half the number of people without access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation.
To help achieve this MDG goal and beyond, in 2003 several leading US-based non-governmental organizations working in water and sanitation formed the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization to offer sustainable solutions through advocacy and influence, shared knowledge, and collaborative programming.
Building Influence
MWA was one of the key leaders in the drafting and passage of the 2005 Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act, and the 2014 Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act.
MWA pays a central role in advocacy on annual Congressional appropriations for USAID water and sanitation programming and is a voice for civil society in other development forums in the US and abroad.
Globally, MWA organizes the voices and skills of its members to support local governments and the private sector to appropriately prioritize and support resilient water and sanitation services to their people.