To mark 20 years of operations, Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) has unveiled a new name — Water and Sanitation for Urban Populations — alongside an ambitious 2025-2030 strategy to build climate-resilient, inclusive water and sanitation services across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia’s fast-growing cities and towns.
The rebrand and strategy launch comes at a crucial time for urban communities worldwide. With climate change driving more severe droughts, floods, and water stress, which in turn drive people off the land and into cities and towns in search of work, urban populations are set to grow by 2 billion people by 2050.
Cities face mounting challenges to deliver safe, reliable water and sanitation services, pressures which are further compounded by shrinking development aid and widening inequalities in access to essential services.
‘‘Our new name and strategy signal our call to urban leaders, donors, and investors to step up — because the future of our cities depends on resilient, inclusive water and sanitation services for all. Achieving real impact requires more than taps and toilets — it demands functioning systems that deliver and sustain services in the complex and challenging environments of urban slums,” said Ed Mitchell, WSUP’s Chief Executive Officer.
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Water and Sanitation for Urban Populations name reflects its evolution to the urban WASH specialist and systems change leader working across whole cities to strengthen urban services and climate resilience for integrated cities’ development.
WSUP’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan sets out a bold roadmap to help cities build inclusive, climate-resilient water and sanitation systems that leave no one behind. Key focus areas include strengthening urban water and sanitation systems by helping utilities, municipalities, and smaller service providers professionalise, reduce water losses, and deliver financially viable, climate-resilient services at scale.
It also seeks to embed climate resilience and mitigation by supporting cities to adapt to floods, droughts, and water scarcity while cutting greenhouse gas emissions from poorly managed sanitation systems. The strategy also ensuring women, girls, migrants, and low-income communities have equitable access to safe, affordable water and sanitation, among others.
The United Nations estimates that more than 700 million people lack safe water in urban areas, and 1.5 billion people live without basic sanitation. With climate change making water scarcity, flooding, and heatwaves more frequent and severe, people living in low-income vulnerable communities — many of whom lack access to water and sanitation — face an increasing risk of waterborne diseases, displacement, and loss of livelihoods. Many of these low-income communities are also located in areas prone to flooding, further worsening their vulnerability.
“Urban water and sanitation are no longer just about pipes and toilets — it is about climate resilience, social equity, and economic survival. Our new name and strategy reflect the urgency to build city-wide systems that work for everyone and especially those in low-income communities — and to bring in the finance and innovation needed to make it happen,” added Ed Mitchell.
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