For over 50 years, USAID has brought clean water, healthy food, and productive livelihoods to hun-dreds of millions of people. We are constantly evaluating best practices, assessing lessons learned, and embracing cutting-edge innovations.It was in this spirit that we recently released our first-ever global Water and Development Strategy for 2013-2018. This five-year roadmap makes USAID’s approach to water programs transparent and addresses global water-related develop-ment needs with increased selectivity and focus. This special edition of Global Waters is devoted to the themes of the Strategy.