Water

Formulation Process

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• What has ADB learned from its water sector operations before this policy?
• It took ADB quite long to approve the water policy. Why was that?

What has ADB learned from its water sector operations before this policy?

We spent considerable time reviewing the experience from our earlier water sector projects. We found that they were very responsive to evolving policies, as in the case of environment and social dimensions. However, we also found that

• many projects suffered from a fragmented approach to water sector planning
• cost recovery should be pursued together with investments in public awareness and better regulatory systems
• there is a clear need for investments in water resources management, not only in water services
• each country needs its own water policy to respond to challenges within its cultural context.

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It took ADB quite long to approve the water policy. Why was that?

We had extensive consultations both within ADB and with countries in the region before finalizing the policy. This approach helped us build a strong coalition to implement the necessary changes. The preparation period also allowed us to pilot-test several reforms, like in Sri Lanka, Lao PDR, PRC, and Viet Nam. Any policy is only as good as its implementation, and we are very focused on that.

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