Our story

How cewas middle east started

Inspiration

Inspired by the cewas Start-up Programme in Switzerland, in 2013 we thought it was a no-brainer to do the same in the Middle East: So many water issues, so many vulnerable groups waiting for water.

Coffee drinking

Yalla, let's foster innovation in the most
water-scarce region of the world! As with all Start-up ideas, it took a bit longer than expected for things to kick off. Our colleague Lillian invested 2 years of drinking countless cups of coffee with the right people to convince then that water entrepreneurs can really contribute to tackling SDG-related water and sanitation challenges.

Coming to a decision

We hosted our first year-long training in Palestine for 14 start-ups and existing businesses working in the fields of water, sanitation and solid waste. With the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and all our other partners, today we are hard at work to develop a water-related entrepreneurial ecosystem in the whole region.

Where we work

Today we run dedicated entrepreneurship programmes on the ground supporting entrepreneurs in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, as well as the MENA region on a broader scale. We support entrepreneurs at all stages of their business' life cycle. We place a focus on ensuring maximum impact and inclusion of vulnerable groups into business models from the get-go, and work in parallel to raise awareness among future clients, partners and donors to recognise and support water- and environmental entrepreneurship.

Ongoing activities

Our goal

At cewas, we aim to build and strengthen the capacities needed to develop and implement sustainable entrepreneurial solutions for the water and sanitation sector to achieve the SDGs. From ideation, incubation and acceleration to scaling, we support water and environmental entrepreneurs to start and develop their businesses and enterprises.