Water

Water Financing Program 2006-2010
Seven-Point Agenda for Prioritizing Water Investments

At the Water Leader Summit during the Singapore International Water Week in June 2008, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda outlined a seven-point agenda to help governments, the private sector, civil society, local communities, and other development partners to prioritize water investments in the region in the coming years. Read the full speech.

Experience shows that much more must be done to help rural poor escape poverty, enjoy safe drinking water, benefit from safer sanitation, and build vibrant, water-secure communities. Increasing investments in rural water services is particularly urgent now, to increase agricultural productivity and ease escalating food prices.

Asia needs to develop more bankable urban projects that improve water utility performance. Business as usual will not benefit the urban poor. Cities and towns need to develop innovative partnerships among government, corporations and civil society to provide affordable, 24/7 water service to paying customers.

All stakeholders must collaborate to develop functioning, integrated water resource management systems across entire river basins, to conserve water for the sake of sustainability, and to clean up the environment with approaches that affect households, and in turn, rivers and seas. This will also require significantly higher investments in comprehensive sanitation systems all the way “from toilet to river.”

While mitigation is largely “in the air,” adaptation is mostly about water. Governments need to invest in strategies, tools and capacity to prepare for increased floods, droughts, and storms as a result of climate change. This includes better predictive capacity, modern design standards, and climate proofing of development projects.

Water-related disasters cause more loss of lives and destruction in Asia and the Pacific than anywhere else in the world. All sectors should invest more in reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience of communities through improved preparedness. This is as much an institutional challenge as it is about building infrastructure, and both need much more attention in the years ahead.

Now is the time for inspired leadership to improve water governance, performance, and knowledge management. With strong and inclusive leadership, and knowledge networking to draw better on the region’s rich experience, reforms can be accelerated through effective policies, appropriate legislation, and stronger organizations, especially at the local level.

Investing in partnerships will be the key to delivering results. In such a connected world, water management affects almost all sectors. Partnerships pay huge dividends. ADB’s resources and the Water Financing Program are a platform for working together with clients and partners. These partnerships can catalyze and leverage investments and pool the region’s knowledge in these priority areas, to raise the standard of living for hundreds of millions of poor people in the region and increase water security for all.