January 13, 2025, Washington, DC / Nairobi, Kenya – The Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) is pleased to announce the addition of two new members: RTI International, a global nonprofit contractor working in international development in more than 75 countries, and LifeStraw, a private sector company renowned for its work in water filtration.
The Millennium Water Alliance is a global alliance of leading humanitarian, research, and business organizations working to scale safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services and resilience. MWA’s global and national hubs work with our members to scale and influence sustained water and sanitation services and resilience in the developing world. All member organizations must meet a set of established criteria in an approval process culminating in a vote by the MWA Board of Directors, composed of longstanding members of the Alliance.
RTI International is a Globally Recognized Independent Research Institute
RTI is a leading non-profit contractor committed to increasing access to safe water and sanitation services and resilience, recognizing their vital role in community health and well-being. Founded in 1958, RTI (Research Triangle Institute) is headquartered in Research Triangle, North Carolina, and became widely known for its pioneering research in health, education, food, and agriculture, and more recently in climate and energy. RTI has a staff of nearly 6,000 working in more than 75 countries.
“RTI’s global reach and track record of leadership in research and programming in WASH and resilience makes them an extremely valuable addition to our alliance,” said Keith Wright, MWA’s Executive Director. “Their data modeling expertise and leadership in climate resilient WASH in particular will be valuable resources for the membership.”
RTI’s work in WASH reflects a holistic approach that aligns with MWA’s goals and priorities. RTI is now implementing USAID funded water-focused projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America aimed at strengthening local systems for sustainable WASH service delivery. These efforts include professionalizing the WASH workforce, supporting local entrepreneurs, and facilitating policy reform to create an enabling environment for improved services. This aligns with MWA’s focus on strengthening local systems to achieve lasting impact in the WASH sector.
Over the past year, RTI helped more than 100,000 households gain access to improved sanitation facilities, and helped approximately 50,000 households gain access to improved water sources. Prioritizing community engagement and ownership, programs are tailored to local contexts. This approach complements MWA’s focus on community-driven development and localization and aligns with its commitment to promoting climate-resilient solutions.
“MWA provides a valuable platform for RTI to collaborate with international and local governments, businesses, civil society organizations, and non-profit organizations”, said Jennifer Kovolski, Senior Director of Water & Urban Resilience at RTI International. “This unique alliance fosters collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and learning from diverse experiences. As a research institute, we greatly value MWA’s emphasis on monitoring and evaluation to track progress and promote accountability in the water and sanitation sector.”
RTI’s experts hold degrees in more than 250 scientific, technical, and professional disciplines across the social and laboratory sciences, engineering, and international development fields.
LifeStraw Brings Long History of Innovation and Emergency Interventions in Water-Scarce Crises
LifeStraw is a U.S. company producing point-of-use water filtration devices that have been used for remote and emergency water access, reducing exposure to waterborne illnesses and providing emergency access to millions of people.
The devices, first developed in 1999 by the Swiss company Vestergaard Frandsen, are now available for retail sale in the developed world, but also support public health campaigns and in response to complex emergencies in the developing world.
“LifeStraw is a highly reputable Climate Neutral Certified B corporation that shares our mission of delivering clean water globally, both through their innovative products and partnerships, and their Give Back program where they fund direct response,” said MWA Executive director Keith Wright. “LifeStraw has enormous technical expertise in water filtration, public health and social impact, and is a great complement to the strengths of MWA’s diverse member organizations now working in more than 100 countries.”
The first LifeStraw was a plastic pipe filter used to strain out Guinea worm larva (preventing Guinea worm disease) used by the famed Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, starting 25 years ago for use in its acclaimed campaign to eliminate the disease devastating hundreds of communities in parts of rural Africa. Since 2015, 100% of all LifeStraw Guinea worm filters provided to The Carter Center are donated. To date, LifeStraw has provided more than 39 million Guinea worm filters to support disease eradication efforts.
For every 500 products LifeStraw sells, it distributes a LifeStraw Community water purifier to a school in need to provide safe water to 100 school children for a period of five years. Put another way, one purchase of any LifeStraw product provides a year of safe water to a child in need, five purchases provide that child with safe water for the next five years.
In 2024, the Give Back program will have covered nine countries and reached more than 11 million children since 2014. In this time, LifeStraw supported 4,203 schools with 20,390 LifeStraw Community, 245 LifeStraw Max, and 3,820 LifeStraw Family products.
LifeStraw has been praised in international media and won several awards, including the 2008 Saatchi & Saatchi Award for World Changing Ideas, the ‘INDEX: 2005’ International Design Award and “Best Invention of 2005” by Time Magazine. It was featured in the Museum of Modern Art in New York