Join For Water Member

Join For Water (Protos) is the Belgian water NGO. We work in 9 countries, 8 transboundary river basins and 14 different ecosystems.
During our 45 years of experience, we take access to water and protection of water rights as a lever for promoting wider human rights, development and dignity. Our core approach is therefore connecting ‘human rights’ and ‘resilient ecosystems’.

We combine actions on land restoration, reforestation and improving biodiversity with promoting sustainable livelihoods and water-efficient farming techniques, with improving access to safe drinking water, toilets and hygiene, and with raising awareness with households, school, companies, associations and local authorities to consume real and virtual water more consciously.

Therefore, we join with 31 local partners in Haiti, Benin, Burundi, Uganda, Mali, DR Congo, Belgium, Ecuador and Peru to restore and protect freshwater ecosystems (like mangroves, wetlands, source zones, river banks) to ensure the availability of their ecosystem services for present and future generations. By protecting and restoring ecosystems, we also join to strengthen communities against the effects of the climate crisis, and we join to combat climate change by protecting and restoring ecosystems and water resources.

We apply an action research approach to collect data and to partner with the science community to contribute to a better understanding of our impact on society and ecosystems.

Finally, advocacy is key for us. We seek to influence policies, to ensure that through the protection of ecosystems, present and future people’s rights are properly recognized, understood and internalised by key actors, with special attention to vulnerable groups in society, indigenous people, women and youth.