Henk Ovink is the Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
As the Ambassador for Water, he is responsible for advocating water awareness around the world, focusing on building institutional capacity and coalitions among governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector and NGOs to address the world’s pressing water needs and help initiate transformative interventions.
Ovink has a proven track record in water and sustainable urban development and holds several international posts. One of these is Sherpa to the High Level Panel on Water, which strives to catalyze change in water awareness and implementation. He is Principal for Rebuild by Design, the resilience innovation competition he developed and led for President Obama's Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force.
Ovink also plays an active role in academia, and holds a research position at the University of Groningen, and teaches at LSE and Harvard GSD.
