About IRHA
The International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance is a Swiss Non-Governmental Organization founded in 2002 and based in Geneva.
The IRHA implements rainwater harvesting development projects in developing countries to improve the health, livelihoods, and resilience of communities and ecosystems in the face of climate change.
As such, the initiatives of the IRHA are fully in line with the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 11,13, 15 and 17).
Vision
- A world where communities vulnerable to climate change are able to guarantee access to water, cover their basic needs and benefit from the conditions necessary for sustainable development.
Values
- Support human communities and ecosystems to better manage available resources and become more resilient to change
- Invest in sustainable development strategies that respect ecological balances and zero carbon
- Cultivate people's sensitivity to their environment, their indigenous knowledge to define contextualized responses that are quickly appropriated by them.
Mission
- implementation of projects
- Capacity Building
- support for the development of an integrated natural resource management policy.
We offer our partners:
- Expertise to plan, develop and build stormwater management systems and operationally demonstrate the benefits of this resource.
- Decision-making tools to provide local decision-makers with the tools necessary for the proper management of infrastructures and to ensure the sustainability of investments.
- Training to strengthen the technical and management capacities of local decision-makers, and technical services and young professionals (students in civil engineering, architecture, etc.).
- Support for the development of local and regional policies/strategies for the conservation and management of water resources, in order to strengthen resilience and the capacity to adapt to climate change.
Focus on impact
We pay great attention to monitoring/evaluating the performance of our projects with our local partners, to developing contextualized solutions based on a detailed understanding of needs. Results-based project management, monitoring of indicators and achievement of objectives, allows us to better perceive the impact of our interventions on the basis of quantifiable results.
Team
Marc Sylvestre - Director
Marc holds a Master's degree in Urban Development (IUG, 2007) and an MSc in Water and Environmental Management (WEDC- Loughborough, 2020). He has managed numerous development projects in Lebanon, Haiti and Nepal. He is responsible for the strategic and operational development of the organization, contributes to the deployment of new initiatives and is in charge of fundraising and donor relations (foundations, institutions, private, etc.).
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Arnaud Bourgeois - Admin & Finance
Florian Bielser - Programme Manager
Graduated from Environmental Sciences and Engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Florian joined IRHA in 2019. Passionate about low-tech solutions, sustainable and easily appropriated by communities, he is currently coordinating projects on food sovereignty and ecosystem restoration in Nepal and Senegal.
Marion Dunand - project officer
With a Master's degree in African Studies at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) as well as in International Program Management at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), Marion joined IRHA as an intern in January 2022. She first worked on the Global Rainwater Harvesting Index and then was responsible for the strategic strengthening of the Alliance. She is now responsible for sensibilisation projects in Switzerland and knowledge sharing at the Alliance level.
Darja Könnig PhD - Resource mobilization
Passionate scientific professional with a strong track record in cutting-edge research in regenerative
medicine and clinical trials management. For over 15 years, Darja proved to be a resilient and collaborative partner, capable of building strong relationships with stakeholders and delivering timely results.
Darja joined IRHA as resource mobilization officer.
Committee
The Committee defines the policy of the organization and ensures the promotion of the organization towards institutions, donors and other agencies.
Strategy
IRHA's strategy defines the organization's intervention framework, objectives and results to be achieved. The strategy specifies the areas of intervention, the modus operandi in order to develop, implement and evaluate the impact of initiatives.
Documents are available upon request.
Annual report
IRHA
International Environment House 2
Chemin de Balexert, 9
CH-1219 Châtelaine
Tel. : +41 22 797 41 57
E-mail : secretariat@irha-h2o.org