From and for water operators

Established in 2005 by Dutch water utilities, VEI has developed into an effective organization operating worldwide. VEI implements Water Operator Partnerships (WOPs) with dozens of water operators, aiming at sharing knowledge and skills to make the partner water operators stronger, financially sustainable and more (climate) resilient. VEI creates improved access to water and sanitation services, for hundreds of thousands of people every year, mostly in low-income areas in Africa, Asia and Latin-America.

Standing side by side as water operators, we strive to continuously increase our impact for people living in poverty, by systemically improving the maturity of working processes of our WOP partners, supported by peer-to-peer collaboration, training, technical assistance and smart investments.

Find HERE our mission and vision

Organization

VEI is a full subsidiary of Vitens N.V. and Evides N.V. and implements their international Corporate Social Responsibility policy on behalf of seven Dutch drinking water partners:

  • Vitens N.V.
  • Evides Waterbedrijf N.V.
  • WML
  • Waterbedrijf Groningen
  • Brabant Water
  • WLN (laboratory)
  • PWN

Structure

VEI is headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands. VEI consists of the following departments that cooperate closely:

  • Corporate - overall management, communication and the secretariat.
  • Finance & Control - administration, controlling and ICT.
  • HR - recruitment, resourcing motivation, staff development.
  • Project Operations Department - project acquisition and implementation of all projects in 19 countries.

VEI employs at its headquarters in Utrecht a team of 20 staff members and engages the project staff members worldwide. In addition, for short term assignments, VEI arranges another 200 employees of Dutch water operators who provide support to peer operators. 

Management Team

VEI is a public company and is accountable to a board of shareholders: the CEOs of the Dutch water operators Vitens N.V. and Evides Waterbedrijf N.V. Its daily operations are managed by a CEO and management team:

  • CEO: Toine Ramaker
  • Manager F&C:  Luuk Veens
  • Senior HR Advisor: Andre van Beek
  • Regional Manager: Dr. Adriaan Mels
  • Regional Manager: Reinder van den Brink
  • Regional Manager: Emma Lesterhuis