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ADB-Viet Nam Sanitation Dialogue

ADB’s Water Financing Program (WFP) aims to provide 200 million people in Asia with sustainable access to sanitation, among other targets, by doubling investments in the sector. ADB’s Sanitation Agenda focuses on the need for better and affordable facilities for individuals, disease prevention and healthy environments for communities, and financial viability of sanitation services for provider governments and utilities.

In March this year, ADB organized a Sanitation Dialogue with its Developing Member Countries (DMCs) to discuss their sanitation needs, barriers, options, and the required actions to move sanitation up in each DMC’s development agenda. More than 100 national and local government officials from 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific discussed environmental and socioeconomic issues, especially public health risks associated with poor sanitation, technological and financing options, and possibilities for private sector participation in sanitation initiatives. Country delegations produced a list of activities that would lead to increasing their sanitation coverage and investments.

This in-country session followed-up on Viet Nam’s sanitation actions proposed at the sanitation dialogue.

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The dialogue aimed to

• Enhance participants’ understanding of sanitation concepts, problems, barriers, and constraints
• Identify solution options (policy and institutional reforms, technologies, financing, capacity development, etc.), processes, and approaches to address sanitation issues
• Develop a sanitation roadmap covering short-, medium-, and long-term goals

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The dialogue was organized by ADB and Viet Nam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment.

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National and local government policy makers and key sanitation and finance officials were invited.