Gérard Payen has been working for 30 years to mobilize the international community on global water issues. He was for a long time Water Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations (UNSGAB) and President of AquaFed, the international federation of private water service operators. He is also a director of the International Water Association, the world association of water professionals.
In France, Gérard Payen is Vice-President of ASTEE, the French association of public and private water professionals, member of the board of the French Water Partnership, an association gathering the French stakeholders concerned by water issues outside France, administrator of the Water Academy and member of the Academy of Technologies.
Previously, after having participated in the general management of Degrémont, an international group specialized in water treatment, he managed all the Water activities of the group called Lyonnaise des Eaux then Suez to make it the world leader in drinking water and sanitation services (120 million people served with water every day) under the name of Ondeo, now Suez Environnement. During this period, the companies under its responsibility provided access to drinking water to 7 million people in developing countries.