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Water for Asian Cities
About the Program
Increased investments in urban water supply and sanitation carefully directed to the poor are crucial to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Through the Water for Asian Cities (WAC) program, the Asian Development Bank and UN-Habitat have collaborated to catalyze these investments. Find out more about this partnership. |
MORE ABOUT WAC
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On 31 August 2001, through a Letter of Intent, ADB and UN-Habitat agreed to collaborate on the Water for Asian Cities (WAC) Program, a water and sanitation initiative in Asian Cities that aims 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 set the terms for the collaboration and launched the Program. For five years, the partnership has been successful. In 2006, the program exceeded the originally agreed grant financing of $5 million each from ADB and UN-Habitat, and is expected to reach its target investments of $500 in ADB loan projects.
On 28 February 2007, ADB and UN-Habitat signed a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) for increased cooperation and sustained partnership. This new MOU provides an enhanced framework for action to pursue the partnership's earlier goals and create greater synergy for ADB's Water Financing Program.
TopThe 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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Phase 1- Capacity Building Focuses on creating the enabling environment and building the necessary capacity for the Program. Its key activities include
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Phase 2 - Project Preparation This involves 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. |
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Phase 3 - Investment This focuses 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. |
Theresa Audrey O. Esteban
Sector Officer, ADB
Email: testeban@adb.org