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Water for Asian Cities Program

Increased investments in urban water and sanitation carefully directed to the poor are crucial to meet the Millennium Development Goals. The Asian Development Bank and UN-Habitat are collaborating to catalyze investments.

  • Background
  • Program Objectives
  • Areas for Collaboration
  • Financial Arrangements
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    SPOTLIGHT

    Read the progress of initiatives in
    BACKGROUND

    On 31 August 2001, through a Letter of Intent, ADB and UN-Habitat agreed to collaborate on the Water for Asian Cities Program, a water and sanitation initiative in Asian Cities that will address the need for pro-poor investments in this field. Soon after, ADB and UN-Habitat engaged in a series of consultations designed to make the program operational.

    On 18 March 2003, during the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan, both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding that sets the terms for the collaboration and launches the Program.

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    PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

    The partnership between ADB and UN-Habitat aims to

    • expand and improve water supply and sanitation services to the urban poor in Asia
    • build the capacity of Asian cities to secure and manage pro-poor investments
    • help the region meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving by 2015 the proportion of people without safe drinking water and basic sanitation

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    AREAS OF COLLABORATION

    Phase 1- Capacity Building

    This focuses on creating the enabling environment and building the necessary capacity for the Program. Among its key activities will be

    • advocacy to promote policy, regulatory and tariff reforms
    • strengthening of regional, country and city-level governance and capacities
    • benchmarking of utility performance
    • monitoring of progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the water and sanitation sector

    Phase 2 - Project Preparation

    This will involve the identification, development and preparation of investment projects for the Program. These projects should be bankable, responsive to consumer demands, and technically, economically and financially feasible. They should also be socially, institutionally and environmentally sustainable.

    Phase 3 - Investment

    This will focus on mobilizing financial resources to implement the projects developed in Phase 2. Policy reforms, capacity building and institutional strengthening measures undertaken in earlier phases will also be continued in this phase.

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    FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS

    A critical aspect of this partnership is the sharing of financial responsibilities. For Phases 1 and 2 of the Program, ADB and UN-Habitat will make available at least US$10 Million, each contributing US$5 Million.

    For Phase 3, ADB envisages a total of US$500 Million in investments, consistent with its lending programs, to be approved over a 5-year period.

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    UPDATES
    • Draft Program of Activities for 2004-2005 (As of September 2004)


    • Country Initiatives (As of September 2004)

      • Several countries have expressed interest to join the program. ADB has ongoing collaboration with India and the People's Republic of China, and has pipelined collaboration with Sri Lanka, Nepal and Central Asian Republics.

    • ADB and UN-HABITAT Consultations
      (12-17 September 2003, ADB Headquarters)

      • ADB and UN-Habitat undertook the first review of the program six months after its inception. Results indicate that promising progress had been made at country level and through regional initiatives towards creating an enabling environment for investment in water and sanitation.

      From the consultations, ADB and UN-HABITAT identified priority actions for the next 6 months (October 2003- March 2004).

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