World Water Week 2024: Advancing WASH through climate-resilient solutions and youth engagement

Xylem’s Vice President of Sustainability and Social Impact Austin Alexander spotlights how the private sector can accelerate WASH innovation.

The growing climate crisis demands unprecedented commitment, creativity and collaboration to help communities facing severe water and socioeconomic challenges. Private philanthropy has a unique role to play by supporting the humanitarian sector in taking bolder action and trying new ideas, replicating innovative solutions to reach more people, and engaging the next generation of changemakers. 

Austin Alexander, Xylem’s Vice President of Sustainability and Social Impact, shares how Xylem is helping accelerate global progress on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) solutions.

Q: How is Xylem advancing global WASH access?

As the world’s largest pure-play water technology company, we’re working every day to solve global water challenges. With nearly one-third of the world population lacking access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation, improving WASH access is core to our Sustainability and Social Impact efforts. Earlier this year, Xylem expanded our corporate WASH goal to reach an additional 80 million people by 2030 through climate-resilient technology, capacity building and partnerships.

Q: How will you achieve those ambitious WASH targets?

We’re driving global WASH progress through innovative WASH partnerships, youth engagement, employee and stakeholder engagement, and disaster response. At this year’s Stockholm World Water Week, we’ll be spotlighting our work in the first two areas:

Partnerships: We leverage our own technology and work with a global network of NGO partners, like Mercy Corps, to provide WASH solutions.

Together, we’re identifying areas where we can solve today’s problems and build climate-resilient solutions for continued progress in the face of escalating climate challenges. Private-sector funding has a key role to play in accelerating WASH innovation.

Youth: We’re proud to be a founding partner of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) competition, which engages young innovators to apply their talents and find new solutions to water issues, including WASH. We also encourage students to solve water through our global youth program, Xylem Ignite, which comprises youth initiatives focused on citizen science, sports, sustainability and innovation – including an incubator program that helps students bring their water solution ideas to life.

Q: Can you discuss Xylem’s activities at this year’s World Water Week related to global WASH?

We’re excited to spotlight our partnerships and the progress we’re making to improve global WASH at World Water Week. This conference is an important way to share ideas and connect with NGOs, experts and private sector members who share the same goal – making WASH for all a reality.

Xylem highlights at the conference include the SJWP awards ceremony and a special session with our NGO partner Mercy Corps, a global team of humanitarians working on the frontlines of crisis, disaster, poverty and climate change. Xylem’s corporate social responsibility program Watermark has partnered with Mercy Corps for more than 15 years, delivering humanitarian disaster response and WASH access.  The live session – “How Corporate Philanthropy Helped De-Risk and Prove Innovative Water Solutions in Jordan” – occurred on August 25.

Q: Can you tell us more about Xylem’s work with Mercy Corps in Jordan, and how the initiative is advancing WASH?

In 2021, we teamed with Mercy Corps to launch an exciting pilot project called Livelihoods and Environmental Actions for Development (LEAD) to provide climate-resilient WASH access in Jordan, one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. LEAD’s goal is to empower community-based organizations such as family farmers, food producers and youth by fostering sustainable water and resource management and local income-generating opportunities.

With Xylem funding, Mercy Corps researched methods to increase community resilience to the impacts of climate change. These findings enabled the NGO to co-design a proof-of-concept with the local community and organizations that attracted additional funding from the Australian and Swiss governments.

In Jordan, farmers received support to improve pest control and water access on their farms. Photo: Ezra Millstein/Mercy Corps.

Since the pilot, the program has continued to deliver benefits to the host community and is now being replicated across the country.

LEAD is a great example of how private sector funding can drive WASH innovation and impact. Through Xylem Watermark’s initial support, Mercy Corps was able to demonstrate impact and catalyze major investments from larger funders to fully operationalize and expand this best-in-class WASH program.

Q: Let’s switch gears to youth engagement. How is Xylem involved with the Stockholm Junior Water Prize?

Xylem has been a sponsor of the competition from its start in 1997. We stay connected with SJWP organizers and participants throughout the year – for example, this year I was proud to be a judge of the U.S. competition. During World Water Week, Xylem will engage with SJWP finalists, giving tours of our R&D lab in Sundbyberg and providing master class sessions and presentations on water issues. Our leadership will also be supporting the finalists at the poster presentations and, of course, the Stockholm Junior Water Prize Awards Ceremony – one of my favorite events of the year!

Q: How is the Stockholm Junior Water Prize inspiring the next generation to solve water and WASH challenges?

Stockholm Junior Water Prize empowers young people from all over the world to apply their talents to addressing global water challenges, including WASH. The competition provides high school students with resources and a platform to connect with water professionals and with one another.

It is so exciting to see the ideas and commitment these young innovators bring to the SJWP program. They spend months working on projects that are taking on real water problems and delivering real results. 

The students are living proof that the next generation has a big role to play in solving global water challenges, and they don’t have to wait until they graduate to make a difference. These amazing young innovators are also a reminder that the water sector needs to encourage the next generation to build their careers in water – we need their bold ideas.

Learn more about Xylem Watermark.

Learn more about Xylem’s youth programming.