Water Financing Partnership Facility
Annual Report 2008
Since December 2006, the WFPF has provided additional financial and knowledge resources to help achieve the targeted outcomes under ADB's Water Financing Program 2006-2010 (WFP). This section features highlights of the WFPF Annual Report for January to December 2008.
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- Confirmed US$43 million partner contributions. Confirmed contributions from financing partners reached US$43.1 million, of which US$30.5 million have been remitted to ADB. The remaining amount is due for release to ADB in 2009 and 2010.
- Allocated 88% of 2008 available WFPF resources. About US$26.8 million or 88 percent, out of $30.5 million contributions remitted to ADB in 2008, was allocated to 66 approved funding applications.
- Approximately 27 million people expected to benefit from WFPF-supported projects. These benefits include increased access to safe water supply and improved sanitation, more efficient irrigation services, and reduced risk to floods. The WFPF's goal is to benefit 50 million of the 340 million people targeted by the WFP.
- Explored opportunities for Output-Based Aid (OBA). The WFPF provides funding support to 5 ADB water supply and sanitation projects with the potential to include OBA as a component.
- Advanced sanitation. ADB launched its sanitation agenda at the 2008 World Water Week and announced its commitment to dedicate 20% of WFPF resources to support sanitation. A Sanitation Action Group was also constituted, among other initiatives. In 2008, nine applications consisting of stand-alone sanitation projects and those with strong sanitation component were approved.
- Advanced work on water and climate change. A regional workshop on developing partnerships for water and climate change adaptation yielded 17 project proposals from various countries. A Water and Climate Change Working Group was established within ADB.
- Increased projects on disaster management and environmental protection. Complementing the work on climate change, these include improvements in flood management strategies, water resources and wetland protection, among others.
- Supported gender and civil society engagement. A video documentary on rural water supply in Sri Lanka was developed, highlighting women's roles. Public awareness strategies in Pakistan were also developed.
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- Speedy evaluation and approval of applications. Applications were processed within 5 weeks, as required by WFPF Implementation Guidelines.
- Direct charge modality expedited access to WFPF resources. The direct charge modality proved to be a fast response mechanism to the funding needs of ADB departments and client governments, and for funding small, stand-alone activities.
- Low disbursements, long processing cycle. A "spring cleaning" exercise being proposed to be undertaken periodically, instead of at the end of third quarter each year, seeks to address this issue.
- Low level of committed contributions. Total committed contributions is less than half of the initial target of $100 million. ADB is continuing discussions with new and existing financing partners to mobilize additional contributions.
- Level of ADB approved lending. The WFP seeks to invest over $2 billion annually from 2006–2010. The approved lending from 2006–2008 fell below this target. ADB is working to increase the pipeline. The WFPF could play a crucial role in providing resources for preparing more projects.
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Additional contributions of approximately US$7.6 million are expected from the 2009 confirmed commitment by The Netherlands (US$7.2 million) and Norway (about US$1.4 million equivalent). A total of $10 million is available for allocation in 2009.
However, the projected demand for resources this year, amounting to about $20 million, far exceeds the available resources. A shortage of cash after the first quarter of 2009 is expected; additional contributions to match the projected demand are critical. The WFPF expects to focus the 2009 activities on
- Supporting development of more projects to help accelerate achievement of the targeted outcomes under the Water Financing Program
- Boosting irrigation investment
- Promoting a comprehensive approach to sanitation—"from toilet to river"
- Advancing action on water and climate change
- Accelerating the implementation of IWRM in river basins
- Addressing other challenges confronting the water sector, including water security in river basins and water-related disasters
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