Water Financing Program

ADB works closely with our clients in the region to ensure water resources and services are managed to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth

Challenge	Annual investments of at least $8 billion1 are needed to meet United Nations Millennium Development Goal targets for safe drinking water and sanitation. Additional investments are needed for irrigation services, river basin management, wastewater management, flood management, and climate change adaptation.
Strategy	To meet the expanding water needs of Asia and the Pacific, ADB launched the Water Financing Program (WFP) to make water a core investment area in our operations.
Response	WFP's program for action and implementation includes stronger country-focused investments, increased technical assistance, and the development of supporting papers to facilitate increased water investments.

Water is an essential resource and service. The lack of clean and reliable water service has dire consequences for ADB's developing member countries.

Economic growth, population pressures, and increased urbanization have combined to sharply increase water use in the region. Pollution and climate change pose additional threats. Today, about 500 million people across Asia and the Pacific lack access to safe drinking water, and nearly 1.8 billion people have inadequate sanitation facilities.

ADB views water as a socially vital economic good. It sees water management as a crucial challenge. There is sufficient technology and expertise in the region to solve both existing and future water problems. And ADB experts are partnering with national and local governments, the private sector, civil society, and other development professionals to help clients deliver targeted, knowledge-based water solutions.

Water for All

Adopted in January 2001, ADB's Water for All policy promotes a national focus on water sector reform. It recognizes that sustainability of water resources is key, and that it is best achieved through the active involvement of people at all levels.

Water for All fosters the integrated management of water resources and service. It supports improving and expanding the delivery of water services. And as climate change accelerates and water-related disasters increase, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda has emphasized the need for partnerships to increase water security for all.

Doubling investment to achieve program goals

ADB's WFP sets specific targets for increasing the number of people in the Asia and Pacific region with access to reliable and affordable water services for safe water, sanitation, and productive livelihoods. It is helping reduce disaster risks and introduce integrated water resources management (IWRM) in 25 river basins.

To meet ADB's long-term strategic framework 2008–2020 (Strategy 2020) objectives, the WFP is working to double water investments to achieve targeted goals. Targeted outcomes were adapted for rural water services, urban water services, and basin water management.

Also included are reforms, capacity development, knowledge management, and regional cooperation, with support from the Water Financing Partnership Facility. The WFP has recorded significant success since 2006, and there is a substantial pipeline of new investments.

The WFP's targeted outcomes² call for

• 200 million people with sustainable access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation—projects benefiting 95.5 million people have been approved.
• 100 million people with reduced risks to flood—projects to benefit 35.1 million people have been approved.
• 40 million people with more productive and efficient irrigation and drainage services—projects to benefit 8.1 million people have been approved.
• 25 river basins introduced to IWRM—projects benefiting 24 river basins have been approved.

Strengthening partnerships to implement our action agenda

Evolving priorities for the WFP are guided by the seven-point agenda for prioritizing water investments in the region, outlined by ADB President Kuroda at the Water Leaders Summit in Singapore in 2008. The agenda will help clients and development partners prioritize water investments for the region in coming years.

Because water management affects almost all sectors, investing in partnerships is essential to delivering results. ADB has developed strong relationships with partners in the Water Financing Partnership Facility.

This will better position ADB to increase cofinancing and leveraging of our own financial resources to catalyze investments toward water security for all.

Strengthening regional institutional infrastructure

ADB is also energizing the region's institutional infrastructure for water knowledge management and networking. ADB leads the Asia–Pacific Water Forum's (APWF) priority theme for water financing and capacity development in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. ADB also leads collaboration for APWF's key result area of increasing public outreach.

In addition, ADB's Water Operators Partnerships (WOPs) Program, introduced by the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board to the water sector, aims to enable water utilities to improve service delivery through a twinning program that matches an "expert utility" providing guidance and know-how to a "recipient" utility within the context of an agreed-upon work program.

Eight twinning pairs have been established and are being monitored. ADB's WOPs Program also provides programmatic training and capacity building on nonrevenue water management and other aspects of utility operations.

At the 2008 Stockholm International Water Week, ADB signed a cooperation agreement with the International Water Association (IWA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) establishing WaterLinks to better coordinate implementation of the WOPs Program in Asia and the Pacific region by member organizations.

In partnership with Singapore Public Utilities Board and UNESCO-IHE, ADB has also paved the way for establishment of APWF's Network of Regional Water Knowledge Hubs. These hubs develop knowledge and promote knowledge sharing.

The APWF Knowledge Hubs launched 13 centers of excellence, with one hub later added. Proposals for additional hubs continue to be received. Hubs are aligned strategically to ensure their products have relevance to policy makers in developing countries.

Going forward. Asia and the Pacific's water challenges are many. And the stakes are high. However, thanks to our technical and financial capacity, and growing network of partners, ADB is ideally positioned to continue delivering the knowledge-enriched water management solutions the region will require for years to come.