Who we are
Riva Ethiopia is a member of Riva – an international network of local systems leaders driving change that transforms lives through resilient national systems and public services.
Since May 2019, we have been working closely with subnational (woreda, town, zone and region) and national governments to transform water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, testing our innovative models, generating evidence and advocating for systems transformation.
One of Africa’s most populous nations, Ethiopia has set bold national ambitions for universal access to water and sanitation as one of the core public services – and we've been working alongside government to help realise their commitments. We are trusted advisors to nation builders in Ethiopia – the political leaders, decision makers, wealth generators, and citizens who are remaking the systems that shape people's lives. Locally led and globally connected, our network draws on more than fifty years' experience in international development and on the knowledge, relationships and trust we have built here over a decade.
We began as IRC WASH Ethiopia, part of an international development agency which had been working here for many years. Many of our current teams were working for and with IRC to tackle the root causes of systems failures. In 2019, we set up one of our ‘country offices’ in Addis Ababa so we could work more directly with local governments, communities and partners to achieve universal access to water and sanitation. We are now a member of the Riva network.
From our earliest work with Ethiopia’s Ministries of Water, Health, Education and Finance, we understood that sustainable change in Ethiopia would require systems rather than just projects. We became one of the first organizations to pilot systems learning alliances here: bringing together government, communities and partners to develop shared plans, share evidence and act collectively.
That approach has since shaped national policy. Today, woredas across rural and urban Ethiopia are developing their own long-term costed water and sanitation master plans, with support to strengthen water service providers, build a digital monitoring system, and put water safety and financing plans in place. All of it feeds the national ambition of universal access to water and sanitation by 2030. To strengthen knowledge and understanding of systems thinking in Ethiopia, we are working in partnership with the Ethiopian Water Technology Institute to develop localised Systems Academy courses.
We believe that water is the quiet force behind everything a nation hopes to become: a gateway to resilient public services, social justice and sustainable development. And while our background is in water, our work now flows through every essential system that shapes people's lives.