This session explores innovative partnership models between water utilities and development and humanitarian organizations, moving beyond traditional Water Operator Partnerships (WOPs) to examine diverse collaboration approaches with a focus on the transition period between crisis and reconstruction/development period. Partnership with Humanitarian and development actors offer alternative pathways—including community mobilization, behavior change programming, emergency response, and innovative financing—that can complement and enhance utility operations in complex urban contexts.

The global WASH sector is well-positioned to support these endeavours through the "Joint Operational Framework: WASH Resilience, Conflict Sensitivity and Peacebuilding." This sector-wide strategic framework provides concrete steps for facilitating nexus collaboration between humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding efforts. It emphasizes the importance of coordinated approaches to ensure that emergency responses are resilient and linked to longer-term development outcomes.

Drawing on concrete case studies from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and DRC,
the session will illustrate how these actors help bridge the gap between utilities and the populations they serve while transitioning from emergency to long term action. By engaging communities, supporting inclusive planning, and co-developing solutions tailored to local realities, NGOs and humanitarian actors strengthen the operational capacity of utilities and accelerate access to safe services for more people.

Through examples of Water Operator disaster preparedness strengthening, gender and social inclusion programming, cost-effective water provision improvement for displaced and host communities, and implementation of humanitarian blended finance model for better impact and scalability, panellists will demonstrate practical approaches that make services more accessible and sustainable.

The session will examine different partnership models and collaboration mechanisms, from direct service delivery support to capacity building, from emergency response coordination to community engagement facilitation. It will highlight how these varied approaches can be strategically deployed depending on context, utility needs, and community characteristics, offering practical frameworks for expanding the WOP ecosystem.