2020 ANNUAL REPORT GLOBAL WATER SECURITY & SANITATION PARTNERSHIP ABOUT THE WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE Launched in 2014, the World Bank Group’s Water Global Practice brings together financing, knowledge, and implementation in one platform. By combining the Bank’s global knowledge with country investments, this model generates more firepower for transformational solutions to help countries grow sustainably. Visit us at www.worldbank.org/water Visit us at www.worldbank.org/gwsp Follow us on Twitter at @WorldBankWater Follow us on Twitter at #gwsp 2020 ANNUAL REPORT GLOBAL WATER SECURITY & SANITATION PARTNERSHIP © 2020 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433 | +1 202.473.1000 | www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. 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Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to: World Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org ii Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Contents Abbreviations....................................................................................... v About GWSP........................................................................................ xi Executive Summary........................................................................xv  A Year Like No Other......................................................................... 1  Knowledge into Action..................................................................15  Advancing Results ......................................................................... 67  Moving the Needle.......................................................................... 81  Knowledge to Go Further........................................................... 89  Financial Update............................................................................. 101  Results Progress............................................................................ 109  Midterm Progress Assessment...............................................115 Annual Report 2020 iii FIGURES FIGURE 1.1: GWSP COLLABORATED WITH 410+ PARTNERS IN FY18–20 .............................................................................. 6 FIGURE 3.1: HOW GWSP’S “KNOWLEDGE INTO IMPLEMENTATION” BRINGS ABOUT RESULTS ACROSS ALL WATER SUBSECTORS..................................................................................................................................................................................69 FIGURE 3.2: THE THREE COMPONENTS OF THE GWSP RESULTS FRAMEWORK ....................................................70 FIGURE 3.3: PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN BY PRIMARY AND SECONDARY THEMES, FY20.....................................72 FIGURE 3.4: NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES CONTRIBUTING TO RESULTS UNDER EACH THEME, FY20..................72 FIGURE 3.5: BLOCK A: EXAMPLES OF RESULTS ACHIEVED IN FY20, BY THEME .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................73 FIGURE 3.6: $13 BILLION IN WORLD BANK LENDING INFLUENCED BY GWSP, FY20 ............................................75 FIGURE 3.7: GWSP INFLUENCE ON GLOBAL WATER-RELATED WORLD BANK LENDING, BY REGION, FY20 .......................................................................................................................................76 FIGURE 3.8: ONGOING LENDING OPERATIONS ..............................................................................................................................78 FIGURE A.1: FUNDING STATUS ($, MILLIONS)....................................................................................................................................102 FIGURE A.2: FY20 DISBURSEMENTS BY REGION AND THEME..............................................................................................105 FIGURE A.3: GWSP ANNUAL DISBURSEMENTS................................................................................................................................107 FIGURE A.4: GWSP DISBURSEMENTS BY REGION AND FY......................................................................................................107 TABLES TABLE A.1: GWSP DONOR CONTRIBUTIONS 2020..........................................................................................................................103 TABLE B.1: SUMMARY OF RESULTS ACHIEVED AS OF JUNE 30, 2020, REPORTED BY 129 ONGOING GWSP-FUNDED ACTIVITIES IN FY20 ........................................................................................................................................................110 TABLE B.2: PORTFOLIO INFLUENCE INDICATORS .......................................................................................................................... 112 TABLE B.3: SECTOR RESULTS INDICATORS........................................................................................................................................... 113 iv Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Abbreviations AAWSA Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage NGO nongovernmental organization Authority NUWSP National Urban Water Supply Program AQUA-VIE Rural Water Supply Universal Access NWSC National Water and Sewerage Program Corporation CWIS citywide inclusive sanitation O&M operations and maintenance DWP Danube Water Program PDAMs Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum EAP East Asia and Pacific (Indonesian water utilities) ECA Europe and Central Asia PIR policy, institutional, and regulatory ERRP Emergency Response and Recovery Plan PMA program management and ESMAP Energy Sector Management Assistance administration Program PNG Papua New Guinea EU European Union PPIAF Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory FCS fragile and conflict-affected situation Facility FCV fragility, conflict, and violence PWA Palestinian Water Authority FLID Farmer-Led Irrigation Development SAR South Asia FLL field-level leadership SDGs Sustainable Development Goals FY fiscal year SDIP Sava and Drina Rivers Corridors GDP gross domestic product Integrated Development Program GFDRR Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and SECO Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Recovery Affairs GP Global Practice SIASAR Rural Water and Sanitation Information GPRBA Global Partnership for Results-Based System (Sistema de Información de Agua Approaches y Saneamiento Rural) GWSP Global Water Security & Sanitation SRSSP Sustainable Rural Sanitation Services Partnership Program IBNET International Benchmarking Network for UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Water and Sanitation Utilities Refugees IDA International Development Association UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund IDP internally displaced people UoF Utilities of the Future IFC International Finance Corporation USAID United States Agency for International IWMDP Integrated Water Management and Development Development Project WASH water supply, sanitation, and hygiene KPI key performance indicator WEF Water Expertise Facility LAC Latin America and the Caribbean WHO World Health Organization LMICs low- and middle-income countries WOW Water Online Week MFD Maximizing Finance for Development WPP Water Partnership Program MHH menstrual health and hygiene WRM water resources management MHUUC Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban WSCs water and sanitation companies Communities WSiA water stewardship in agriculture MNA Middle East and North Africa WSP Water and Sanitation Program MWE Ministry of Water and Environment WSS water supply and sanitation Annual Report 2020 v Foreword The year 2020 has been shaped by interlocking crises: the COVID-19 pandemic that threatens to roll back years of hard-won development progress, the struggles of delivering the water-related Sustainable Devel- opment Goals (SDGs), and the impacts of climate change that continue to devastate communities across the world. First, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted to the world the critical need for water to not only prevent the spread of the disease, but also to revi- talize economies, employment opportunities, health outcomes, and the environment. This year starkly demonstrated the tremendous gaps in access to water supply, sanitation, and hygiene services, which are particularly evident in COVID-19 hotspots, health care facilities, informal settlements, and fragile and conflict-affected states. Second, the water sector was already struggling with the challenges of achieving the water-related SDGs—progress was lagging, and financing was still falling short as we grappled with the need to raise the profile of water writ large by catalyzing political will and leadership. Finally, climate change, expressed through the water cycle, remains a major threat to the world. Its impact on the quality, management, vari- vi Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership ability, and availability of water was demonstrated throughout the year, particularly for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. Science tells us, and nature is showing us, that climate change is fundamentally altering the world in which we live. Already we are seeing more frequent and intense storms and droughts, and major disruptions of the water cycle in all regions. This year clearly demonstrated that the Global Water Security & Sanita- tion Partnership (GWSP) is “fit for purpose” and was able to quickly and adeptly respond to the COVID-19 crisis in the World Bank Group’s client countries, while contributing to all facets of its response. In addition to the local presence of “boots on the ground,” the adaptive and just-in- time nature of GWSP support to governments proved critical. Importantly, the five themes of sustainability, inclusion, institutions, financing, and resilience were relevant to the design of a short-term emergency and health-focused response, even while setting the stage for the longer-term development and recovery efforts of “building back better.” This report highlights just some of the examples of how this unique part- nership supported governments. This year GWSP was able put in place urgent interventions to ensure that households have reliable water to facilitate handwashing, provide access to water supply, sanitation, and hygiene services for those most in need, support utilities in providing continuous service, and maintain other critical water services, such as irrigation needed to feed communities and provide sustainable liveli- hoods. All this was done without losing sight of the climate goals and SDGs to which we are all committed. Over the past 12 months, GWSP has consistently risen to meet these challenges. I am confident that this partnership will continue to play a key role in the global recovery and remain a vital asset as we chart a course toward a healthy and water-secure world for all. Jennifer Sara, Global Director Water Global Practice, World Bank Group Annual Report 2020 vii A Note from the Program Manager Urgent crises require quick responses. But speed is only helpful when it is backed by facts, analytics, and substance, and it is precisely this combi- nation that characterizes the past year of the Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership (GWSP). As countries around the world work to contain the spread and short- and long-term impact of COVID-19, GWSP is responding rapidly with a strong focus on country-based solutions. GWSP’s third year of operation embodied the spirit of ambition and inno- vation that inspired our formation and put to the test our ability to rise to the occasion in the context of an emerging crisis. These attributes and the experience we gained since our launch allow us to be both nimble and technical, as you will read in this report. Over the course of the year, GWSP worked with our clients to quickly and seamlessly support the most urgent needs emerging from the pandemic, while at the same time continuing to support activities focused on accelerating progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6. Many of the stories herein highlight the effectiveness of the GWSP model—our research is embedded in our country dialogues, policy advice, capacity building, and lending operations. This year alone, we have supported delivery of over 50 pieces of knowledge work while also influencing $13 billion in World Bank lending through technical assis- tance and analytics. This combination of knowledge, technical assistance, analytics, and lending influence makes GWSP unique in the water sector, at a time when it is more important than ever to ensure that knowledge flows into implementation. The cutting-edge knowledge products and diagnostic tools financed by GWSP and its successors, the Water Sanitation Program and Water Part- nership Program, have provided a ready basis of resources for countries to draw on as they respond to COVID-19. In this context the Emergency WASH Rapid Assessment Checklist and Sanitation Mapping and Prior- itization Framework helped the governments of Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Yemen quickly assess critical needs and identify and prioritize solutions to meet their most urgent needs in a sustainable way. The COVID-19 Financial Impact Assessment Tool for Water and Sanitation Providers is helping to quantify the financial impact of the pandemic on operations. viii Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership GWSP enables teams to provide enhanced technical assistance and capacity building to help client countries implement innovative solutions that have been tried and tested. For example, GWSP helped Mozambique adapt the design of an existing wastewater treatment plant based on nature-based solutions. The cross-cutting nature of water writ large requires dialogue across government, across sectors, and among partners. GWSP supports collab- oration platforms, such as Equal Aqua and Water Service Platforms, to help deepen dialogue on topics such as gender diversity and inclusion in water sector jobs and help clients identify and prioritize critical water issues. The Partnership’s global reach ensures that the advice and knowl- edge shared with national and local partners is backed by research that is collected across the globe. While the knowledge curation process is critical and at the forefront of our efforts, knowledge management and communications are critical to getting the messages to the right audiences. GWSP has placed high priority on expanding knowledge-sharing opportunities and utilizing a wide range of channels to ensure our messages reach the right people in a way that best meets their needs. Now more than ever, getting on track to meet the SDG 6 targets is going to require intensified commitment, collaboration, and resources. GWSP, with the support of our partners, is well positioned to work with our client countries in addressing and overcoming the challenges at hand. We are particularly grateful for the strong, sustained support of our partners. They have provided critical resources that have enabled us to deliver on this important agenda. I would especially like to welcome our new partners, Austria, Denmark, and the United States, that have committed to join us on this vital journey. Joel Kolker, Program Manager Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Annual Report 2020 ix x Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership About GWSP The Global Water Security & Sanitation support while also leveraging World Bank Partnership was launched in 2017 as an Group resources and financial instruments. international partnership to support coun- tries to meet the targets related to water GWSP-funded knowledge and tech- and sanitation under the Sustainable nical assistance influence the design Development Goals, particularly those of and implementation of client policies Goal 6. and programs, as well as water sector investments and reforms carried out by GWSP is a multidonor trust fund admin- governments with the support of the istered by the World Bank’s Water World Bank and other partners. Global Practice (GP) and supported by the Australian Department of Foreign GWSP expands the global knowledge Affairs and Trade, Austria’s Federal base through its broad dissemination of Ministry of Finance, the Bill & Melinda knowledge and analytics. Dissemination Gates Foundation, Denmark’s Ministry includes, among other things, making of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands’ experts available for hundreds of speaking Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish engagements and active participation in International Development Cooperation water-related conferences and meetings Agency, Switzerland’s State Secretariat around the globe. for Economic Affairs, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UK The analytical and knowledge work Department for International Develop- produced by GWSP is open source and ment, and the US Agency for Interna- available globally to all development part- tional Development. ners. While a strong emphasis is placed on quality analytics and strong delivery GWSP acts as the Water GP’s “think tank,” through policy dialogues with client providing client countries and other devel- governments and World Bank lending opment partners with global knowledge, operations, it is equally important that innovations, and country-level technical the material finds a wide, global audience. Annual Report 2020 xi INFLUENCE ON WORLD BANK LENDING GWSP’s unique position within the In FY20 alone, GWSP provided critical Water GP enables it to influence, through knowledge and analytical support to knowledge and technical assistance, the teams that delivered $13 billion in World design and implementation of water Bank lending. GWSP also supports part- sector reforms and infrastructure proj- ners at global, regional, national, and ects financed by the World Bank Group. subnational levels. GWSP ENTRY POINTS GWSP supports World Bank task teams and clients through three distinct entry points: KNOWLEDGE JUST-IN-TIME INTO IMPLEMENTATION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 6 Leverages the global reach of the 6 Enhances project designs with highly Water GP, sharing lessons from one specialized global knowledge. part of the world with another. 6 Offers rapid response to changing 6 Drives investments and innovation circumstances. through cutting-edge analyses. 6 Provides an unparalleled capacity- 6 Supports proof-of-concept applications. building model based on peer-to-peer learning. 6 Shifts mindsets through advocacy and outreach. LONG-TERM COUNTRY ENGAGEMENT 6 Lays the framework for country strategies between lending operations or before lending operations begin. 6 Strengthens institutions before and during reforms. 6 Provides project implementation support to agencies with lower capacity, espe- cially in fragile and conflict-affected situations. xii Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership KNOWLEDGE INTO IMPLEMENTATION How GWSP Influences World Bank Lending and Works with Partners PARTNERS Clients | Donors Private Sector Academia | Other GW SP leverages SP learns f rom GW Le ss y on GWSP c ca sL Re , convening, ad e, vo ea r g rc h , k n o w l e d n e d + E m e rg i 13 BILLION s ea IN FY20 ng s is ly Tr en WATER GP Other GPs a n a ds $5.4 billion $7.6 billion Water Supply & Sanitation Energy | ENB Water Resource Mgmt Agriculture | SURR Irrigation Climate Change Water & Economy Health NP, Others Note: GP = Global Practice SURR = Social, Urban, Rural, Resilience Priority themes (white drop): Health NP = Health, Nutrition and Population Sustainability, Inclusion, ENB = Environment, Natural Resources, Blue Economy Financing, Institutions, Resilience Annual Report 2020 xiii xiv Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Executive Summary FY20 was unusual, with two distinct parts: between July 2019 and the early spring of 2020, GWSP was focused on driving prog- ress toward the achievement of SDG 6, with a strong focus on the intersection of water services and climate change. In February 2020, COVID-19 burst into our collective lives and quickly became a priority. The Part- nership quickly reoriented its resources to help partners battle the short- and long- term impacts of COVID-19. The response to the pandemic was undertaken while main- taining the focus on the SDG 6 targets. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is evident throughout this year’s report. Annual Report 2020 xv The Global Water Security & Sanitation of GWSP’s design was key in achieving Partnership (GWSP) is an international a rapid pivot to the COVID-19 response, partnership launched in 2017 to support allowing GWSP to help governments put countries around the world in meeting in place urgent interventions. the water-related targets of the Sustain- able Development Goals (SDGs), partic- Handwashing reemerged as a global ularly those of SDG 6, which calls on the priority and GWSP revisited, revised, and global community to “ensure availability reprogrammed earlier knowledge that and sustainable management of water had been produced by WSP for this critical and sanitation for all.” GWSP is admin- frontline response. The Partnership also istered by and housed within the World developed four emergency response and Bank’s Water Global Practice (Water GP), recovery tools for utilities. These assisted and draws on decades of experience built service providers to rapidly identify any through the earlier Water and Sanitation bottlenecks in continuing, and expanding, Program (WSP) and the Water Partner- service delivery without interruption. The ship Program (WPP). support, provided to a wide range of utili- ties worldwide, is described in this report. GWSP covers the entire water landscape, including water resources manage- The pandemic forced some GWSP activ- ment (WRM); water supply, sanitation, ities to be delayed and, at the time this and hygiene (WASH); water and agricul- report was written, the crisis was still ture; and water and the economy. In the unfolding. It was too early to determine context of this report, the term “water” the extent to which activities would be refers to the full spectrum of these further delayed or cancelled. However, subsectors. GWSP provides client coun- despite uncertainties and restrictions tries, development partners, and World created by the pandemic, the World Bank Bank staff with global knowledge, innova- staff working on GWSP-supported activ- tions, and country-level technical support ities rapidly adjusted to the new reality, while also leveraging World Bank Group providing support to clients through resources and f inancial instruments. online platforms, and continuing to offer This strong link between knowledge and advice and training. GWSP’s approach of World Bank lending makes GWSP unique putting “boots on the ground,” with staff in the water arena and is proving to be a working in-country with key counterparts, powerful vehicle for reforms to improve has also mitigated some of the COVID-19– service delivery. related challenges. This report describes GWSP’s results and Even before the pandemic hit, many coun- the impact it has made over fiscal year tries were off track to meet SDG 6 by 2030. 2020 (FY20), the 12 months f rom July Progress on several targets has been slow, 2019 through June 2020. and insufficient to reach universal access. Countries face many obstacles to ensuring In FY20, GWSP supported over 50 knowl- that their institutions and investments in edge products and influenced $13 billion the water sector are resilient, sustainable, in World Bank lending. The flexible nature and inclusive. xvi Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GWSP is helping client countries to sustain is building on the experience of the water resources, deliver services, and build WASH Poverty Diagnostics, described resilience to climate and human-made in last year’s annual report, to support shocks. GWSP supports these activities the preparation of Water Security as implemented through the Water GP’s Diagnostics. These diagnostics help three business lines: water resources client countries to examine in detail management, water in agriculture, and the importance and drivers of water water supply and sanitation. security and to chart and prioritize actions to improve it. 6 Water resources management encom- passes planning, developing, and 6 Mana gin g water in a gricul ture managing the quantity and quality requires new ways of engaging with of water required to sustain health the sector, including making agri- and livelihoods, ecosystems, and culture more water smart, account- production and to reduce water-re- able, innovative, and attuned to lated risks to people, environments, water users’ needs. Food security and economies. For instance, GWSP cannot be achieved without new Annual Report 2020 xvii approaches, and for the vast number 6 Sustainability: GWSP has supported of households reliant on agriculture more than 44 water institutions for their livelihoods, better water across 23 countries to sustain water management is also the pathway resources and build sustainable infra- out of poverty. GWSP has supported structure assets. In FY20, there was the Farmer-Led Irrigation Develop- an increase in the percentage of new ment (FLID) initiative, which offers projects that promote sustainable a powerful, cost-effective, and fast- and efficient water use in the World acting way to facilitate on-demand Bank’s water portfolio. and reliable sources of water, stabilize and increase incomes, and empower 6 Inclusion: GWSP has supported 46 entrepreneurial smallholder farmers, policies or strategies in 26 countries families, and entire communities. to enhance social inclusion. In FY20, 95 percent of new lending projects in the 6 The COVID-19 pandemic has under- Water GP were identified as demon- scored the critical role water supply strating a link between gender gaps and sanitation plays in safeguarding identified during the design phase and public health, protecting the poor specific actions during implementa- and vulnerable, ensuring sustainable tion, and 25 percent identified persons business growth and job creation, and with disabilities as an excluded group strengthening resilience. This year, two and included actions to increase inclu- global diagnostics were developed— sion and accessibility. Over 40 World the Policy, Institutional, and Regulatory Bank client agencies are now using (PIR) Diagnostic and Action Planning the Equal Aqua framework to achieve Tool, and the Utilities of the Future gender equality in the workplace, and (UoF) Diagnostic and Action Plan- the proportion of water and sanita- ning Tool. The UoF framework focuses tion operations addressing menstrual on strengthening water institutions’ health and hygiene has increased to capacity to undertake more inclusive 45 percent. approaches, for example, by setting up customer engagement strategies that 6 Institutions: GWSP has provided take into account the language and technical assistance to 37 countries accessibility needs of different groups on policies, strategies, and regulatory and adopting human resource manage- frameworks to strengthen the insti- ment strategies focused on attaining tutional environment for improved gender parity in utilities’ workforces. WRM and water service delivery. Nine- ty-six percent of new lending projects The GWSP portfolio is contributing to supported reforms or other actions that results across five priority themes: sustain- strengthened institutional capacity. ability, inclusion, institutions, financing, and resilience. Results are measured both 6 Financing: GWSP has helped 25 coun- in terms of GWSP’s direct activities, as well tries improve their financial viability as shifts in the new and ongoing World and creditworthiness. In FY20, 88 Bank water portfolio. percent of new lending projects xviii Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership EXECUTIVE SUMMARY supported reforms or other actions ences and shapes debates, and that aimed at improving financial viability lessons are captured and shared, is an and 19 percent had an explicit focus important part of GWSP’s work; dissemi- on leveraging private finance. nation is the equivalent of pumping water through the pipes—without it, knowledge 6 Resilience: GWSP has funded work is underutilized. In FY20, GWSP-funded in 32 countries to build resilience in activities were implemented in collab- WRM or service delivery. The propor- oration with 240 partners around the tion of financing for new projects in world. Since inception, GWSP has worked International Development Associ- with more than 410 partners including ation countries that delivers either academia, civil society organizations, climate change mitigation or adap- development agencies, multilateral orga- tation benefits to project beneficia- nizations, the private sector, governments, ries (climate change co-benefits) has and service providers. substantially increased, jumping from 40 percent in FY19 to 74 percent in This report is divided into four chapters. FY20. The active lending portfolio Chapter 1 provides an introduction and is helping to ensure that 2.2 million the context of FY20, while chapter 2 offers people are living in areas covered by a detailed look at country-level activi- water risk mitigation measures. ties. Chapter 3 articulates the results achieved and analyzes the additionality 6 This year also saw an increase in the of GWSP investments—the added value number of fragile and conflict-affected that could not be achieved with World settings supported, with water sector Bank lending resources alone. Chapter projects approved in Kiribati, Kosovo, 4 provides a summary of the midterm Somalia, Timor-Leste, and the West assessments carried out in Benin, Bolivia, Bank and Gaza. Egypt, and Uganda that examined the contribution of GWSP-funded support In FY20, in addition to regular monitoring, to the achievement of SDG 6 and other GWSP commissioned midterm assess- water-related SDG targets in these coun- ments in f ive countries: Benin, Bolivia, tries, as well as a summary of emerging Egypt, Ethiopia, and Uganda. The purpose global lessons learned. Chapter 5 of these assessments is to test innova- describes how in FY20 GWSP turned tive interventions and approaches that, research into implementation through complemented by World Bank lending knowledge products, just-in-time exper- investments, are expected to signif i- tise, and knowledge-sharing activities. cantly shift the trajectory of outcomes in the sector. Summaries of the findings A huge vote of thanks is due to GWSP’s from these assessments are presented in donors, without whom none of these chapter 3 and appendix C of the report. results could have been achieved. Support from the client governments with which GWSP’s influence reaches beyond the GWSP works, the Partnership’s develop- World Bank’s portfolio. Ensuring that ment partners, and the Water GP’s very high-quality research reaches key audi- committed staff is also deeply appreciated. Annual Report 2020 xix xx Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership A Year Like No Other Fiscal year 2020 (FY20) was truly an unusual year, unlike any other. It is clearly divided into two parts. Between July 2019 and the early spring of 2020, GWSP was focused on driving progress toward the achievement of Sustain- able Development Goal (SDG) 6, which calls for the availability and sustainable manage- ment of water and sanitation for all by 2030. And then, in February 2020, the World Bank Group as a whole, and GWSP within it, reori- ented its resources and knowledge toward helping governments battle the short- and long-term impacts of COVID-19. Annual Report 2020 1 It is estimated that 4 billion people 1 in 4 cities worldwide already already live in water-scarce areas experiences water insecurity 2020 2050 By 2050, urban water demand is By 2050, global demand for projected to increase 50–70% water is expected to rise 20–30% Water scarcity, exacerbated by More than 19,000 dams climate change, could cost some are over 50 years old regions up to 6% of GDP 6 in 10 countries are at risk of using water resources with negative consequences 2 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 1 The Challenge of SDG 6 Remains Even before the pandemic hit, many sustaining water resources, delivering countries were off track to meet SDG 6 services (including water supply, sanita- by 2030. Progress on several targets has tion, irrigation, and drainage), and building been slow, and insufficient to reach the resilience to climate and human-made goal of universal water and sanitation shocks. GWSP supports these activities access. Water scarcity threatens many under f ive priority themes, agreed on countries; service providers struggle to alongside partners, that are critical to ensure that reliable water supply, sanita- meeting the SDGs: sustainability, inclu- tion, and irrigation services reach everyone sion, institutions, financing, and resilience. who needs them; and climate change impacts are felt in the increased severity of GWSP continued to focus signif icant droughts, flooding, and rainfall variability. efforts on helping national and subna- Countries face many obstacles in ensuring tional clients meet the SDG 6 agenda and that their institutions and investments in delivery targets. A strong, evidence-based, the water sector are resilient, sustainable, systematized approach to analyzing the and inclusive. New challenges are on the key obstacles to progress has allowed horizon; for instance, as the world’s dams the Water GP to scale up the delivery of age, urgent water storage issues must be knowledge. For instance, experience with addressed to ensure water security in the the Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene future. Underlying the slow progress is a (WASH) Poverty Diagnostics, presented lack of consensus and political will around in last year’s annual GWSP report, has investments, joint action, the sharing of led to similar approaches in water secu- water-related benefits across international rity and utility reform. GWSP support has boundaries, management, and delivery. facilitated a process by which world-class experts have been convened to formu- These old and new challenges confirm late solutions that are then developed into that the “Water Secure World for All” concrete policies, enhanced capacity, and agenda, launched by the Water Global improved knowledge benefitting client Practice (GP) in 2016, is as important and governments. This has had concrete relevant as ever. In fact, the urgency of results in terms of policy reform, ranging the undertaking and the magnitude of from Pakistan’s first national water policy the challenge are even greater. The Water to the improved financial sustainability of GP is providing assistance to client coun- small-town water supply systems in Papua tries related to all pillars of the agenda: New Guinea. Annual Report 2020 3 The COVID-19 Pandemic Added New Urgency The pandemic, and the key role that jobs, and ensuring more sustainable water plays in mitigating the spread of business growth and job creation; and (4) the disease, has added an urgency to the support for strengthening policies, institu- SDG 6 agenda and the sustainable delivery tions, and investments to achieve a resil- and management of water services. GWSP ient, inclusive, and sustainable recovery. quickly mobilized and became an inte- gral part of the World Bank’s COVID-19 GWSP support has been essential to the crisis response aimed at assisting coun- Water GP’s response to the pandemic. tries to address both the immediate Building on the evidence base around the health threat and the longer-term social links between health and water, and the and economic impacts. The World Bank fact that water cuts across all four pillars response covers relief, restructuring, of the global response, a strong case was and resilient recovery efforts across four made to include water in the immediate thematic pillars: (1) health interventions assistance the World Bank offered to coun- aimed at saving lives; (2) protection of poor tries. The Water GP and GWSP worked and vulnerable people from the impact of with key partners such as the United the economic and social crisis triggered by Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the the pandemic; (3) an economic response World Health Organization (WHO), and the aimed at saving livelihoods, preserving Sanitation and Water for All partnership, 4 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership and in close coordination with the Health and well-functioning WASH services are GP, to successfully focus Bank attention available in health care facilities, schools, on the importance of including WASH and priority public spaces; (3) utilities are actions in fast-track financing under the supported to provide continuous service; emergency Health Multi-Phase Program- and (4) water services critical to household matic Approach (MPA). Of the 81 emer- food security, such as irrigation, are main- gency preparedness and response projects tained. In nearly every case, the types of that have been approved to date under support provided were complementary this MPA, totaling $3.9 million, 70 percent to efforts toward SDG 6. include activities to promote hygiene and handwashing (56 projects) and 35 percent Sustaining the gains of the past and include activities to improve access to putting countries back on track to achieve water and sanitation services in health SDG 6 are fundamental to a resilient and care facilities (28 projects). sustainable recovery. But in every country where GWSP provides support, the crisis The Water GP was able to draw on the highlighted underlying problems in terms wealth of knowledge produced through of political will and leadership on the broad GWSP and its predecessor, the Water agenda of water issues. and Sanitation Program (WSP), to curate guidance and best practice to inform Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the the emergency response. For instance, overarching challenge of climate change knowledge produced by WSP, such as the remains. However, as the World Bank’s Handwashing with Soap Toolkit, helped to Crisis Response Approach paper states: guide country strategies for responding “The COVID-19 crisis presents opportu- to COVID-19 and provided a basis for the nities for countries to Rebuild Better, in Water GP to influence the design of hand- a greener, more sustainable and resil- washing promotion activities under the ient way.” Much of this broad, resilient World Bank’s COVID-19 preparedness and recovery relates to water, in terms of response projects. Additionally, methods watershed management, ecosystem developed under the WASH Poverty restoration, regenerative agriculture, and Diagnostic Initiative, funded by GWSP, food systems. These activities can create informed COVID-19 risk and susceptibility jobs quickly and generate long-term mapping in Nigeria, providing insights benefits due to reduced water scarcity to federal and state actors on how lack or flood damage, and greater agricultural of access to WASH services could place productivity and food security. They can populations at greater risk to the disease. also protect biodiversity and maintain or The flexible nature of GWSP’s design enhance ecosystem services. Resilient was key in achieving a rapid pivot to the recovery also extends to water supply and COVID-19 response, allowing GWSP to sanitation (WSS) services and infrastruc- help governments put in place urgent ture, ensuring that utilities are capable interventions. These included ensuring of delivering sustainable services to all that: (1) households have reliable water and a resilient design is incorporated into to facilitate handwashing; (2) adequate service planning. ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 5 Key FY20 GWSP Activities Since inception, GWSP worked with over including the Energy Sector Manage- 410 global partners, including academia, ment Assistance Program (ESMAP), civil society organizations, development the Global Facility for Disaster Reduc- agencies, multilateral organizations, tion and Recovery (GFDRR), the 2030 the private sector, governments, service Water Resources Group (2030 WRG), the providers, and the World Bank Group. Public-Private Inf rastructure Advisory Target audiences include users at the Facility (PPIAF), and the Korea Green global, regional, national, and subnational Growth Trust Fund (KGGTF). levels (see figure 1.1). Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has Within the World Bank, collaboration with enhanced existing collaboration with the Health GP increased signif icantly, organizations such as UNICEF and WHO, and existing relationships with energy, while building even deeper partnerships urban, agriculture, and environment and with groups such as the London School natural resources GPs grew stronger. Like- of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the wise, stronger ties have been built with Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and other World Bank–hosted trust funds, Government (Harvard Kennedy School). FIGURE 1.1: GWSP COLLABORATED WITH 410+ PARTNERS IN FY18–20 Client Governments Private Development Sector Agencies 24% 22% 15% 14% 10% 9% 7% Civil Society Academia Multilateral Service Organizations Organizations Providers 6 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 1 KNOWLEDGE With GWSP support, the Water GP shared country-level actions as part of the Water To support the “Knowledge into Imple- Action Track of the Global Commission mentation” agenda, the GWSP “AskWater” on Adaptation. This included a forward- service desk accesses a network of 250 looking analytical and communications subject matter experts in response to tech- agenda to galvanize global attention to nical and operational challenges. Since its the severity of climate change’s impact inception, it has addressed more than 1,000 on the hydrological cycle, affecting rich requests for support. and poor countries alike. GWSP was also a key contributor to a social media The GWSP-suppor ted World Bank campaign initiated and led by the World Water Week, traditionally a major knowl- Water Council to strengthen the position edge-sharing platform, was delivered of water within the climate negotiations as “Water Online Week,” with a strong and the UNFCCC processes. focus on assisting the Water GP staff to transform and restructure planning and In addition, GWSP has worked to advance ongoing activities to address the COVID-19 the United Nations’ SDG 6 Accelera- response and recovery. Over 400 staff and tion Framework, and its support is well technical experts attended, and a compre- aligned with the five accelerators of the hensive learning and social experience was framework: governance, financing, data, offered, with networking activities, virtual capacity building, and innovation. reality lounges, and self-directed online learning opportunities. COUNTRY ENGAGEMENT With GWSP support, the Water GP launched its largest engagement to date GWSP supports partners at a regional level at the World Water Week 2019 in Stock- through its work on transboundary issues. holm, hosting sessions on water sector resilience, water quality, subsidies, trans- For instance, GWSP facilitated joint invest- boundary water, and others. ment planning in the Sava and Drina River Basin, which is one of Europe’s largest transboundary basins, connecting five PARTNER SUPPORT of the eight Western Balkan countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and At the global level, this included advo- Bosnia and Herzegovina). GWSP’s support cating for a high profile for water at the helped in the transition from a fragmented 25th session of the Conference of the approach toward the identif ication of Parties to the United Nations Framework priority investments in sustainable infra- Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC structure that will protect against flooding COP 25) held in Madrid in December 2019. and make the Sava River navigable again. Annual Report 2020 7 GWSP Priority Themes GWSP supports activities under f ive services and the infrastructure to ensure priority themes that are critical for the optimal management of water meeting the SDGs: Sustainability, resources. Global demand for water is Inclusion, Financing, Institutions, and increasing at the same time that water Resilience. scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, is escalating. Aging dam infrastructure GWSP continues to focus on two critical around the world makes water storage aspects of ensuring long-term sustain- a priority issue, especially as it coincides ability: the sustainable management of with both high population growth and water resources and the maintenance and increased rainfall variability due to climate building of infrastructure. change. This has increased the demand from client governments for assistance with ensuring dam safety. Likewise, popu- SUSTAINABILITY lation growth will mean that demand for potable water and sanitation, and irriga- The sustainability of infrastructure touches tion services, will increase in the face of on both the systems used to deliver WSS climate change. Ensuring that sustainable 8 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 1 and climate-informed approaches are with underserved populations. There is incorporated into the design and imple- strong evidence that structural inequality mentation of these services will facilitate drives lower access to water and sani- their long-term viability. Climate-smart tation, less voice in water resource agriculture approaches will be required management, and greater vulnerability to help irrigation systems produce suffi- to climate-induced impacts. Tangible cient crop yields to feed growing popula- progress requires a focus on systems and tions, ensure rising farmer incomes, and institutional processes that contribute to promote sustainable land and resource the inclusion and engagement of citizens management. The COVID-19 pandemic as partners rather than just as benefi- has only intensified these pressures. ciaries. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made the fault lines of exclusion more If countries are to achieve SDG 6, they apparent, while highlighting its real cost need to set in place and implement the to public health. appropriate policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks for sustainable water resource The World Bank is working toward closing management; this means improved gender gaps by improving human systems for delivering, storing, sharing, endowments, creating more and better and valuing water. Water, energy, and land jobs, increasing women’s ownership must be used and managed in better ways and control of assets, and enhancing to ensure their availability in the future. women’s voice and agency. The approach More specifically, water-related institu- is evolving to increasingly focus on gender tions will need to better plan and deliver outcomes and institutionalizing more investments with a strong focus on their gender-inclusive processes. But inclusion long-term operations and maintenance goes beyond gender. GWSP supports the requirements, while also signif icantly enhancement of World Bank operations improving their operational effective- to improve service access and ensure ness. Examples of GWSP support, further greater voice for persons with disabilities, described in chapter 2, include efforts to young people, indigenous communities, improve Papua New Guinea’s capacity to ethnic minority groups, and other vulner- address the water sector’s financial sustain- able and marginalized groups. ability, and assistance to the Government of Honduras to articulate and plan invest- GWSP has been committed to placing ments to achieve water security in one of more focus on inclusion, and data show the world’s most susceptible regions to that it has lived up to this commitment. climate change and variability. Knowledge and analytical work have significantly increased this last year, and achievements have been made in terms INCLUSION of improving employment opportuni- ties for women, breaking down barriers Achieving access to water and sanitation that women and girls face in managing for all is inextricably linked to expanding menstruation, and ensuring that water services to and increasing engagement services and resources reach persons Annual Report 2020 9 with disabilities. Further, GWSP has enabling organizations, such as govern- strengthened water institutions’ capacity ment ministries and regulators, are to undertake more inclusive approaches responsible for facilitating the sustain- by mainstreaming inclusion in sector able delivery of services by formulating tools, and by launching Equal Aqua, a policies and driving their implementation. platform to accompany water utilities in Second, service providers, such as utilities implementing gender equity. Finally, the and irrigation authorities, are engaged in Partnership made a concerted effort to the production of water, and the delivery influence lending operations, as demon- of water and water-related services. And strated by over 40 World Bank client agen- third, institutions such as water user asso- cies using the Equal Aqua framework, the ciations, farmers’ organizations, and catch- percentage of lending operations inte- ment protection committees bring water grating persons with disabilities more than users together at the grassroots level for doubling, and the proportion of WSS oper- collective action. ations addressing menstrual health and hygiene increasing to 45 percent. All of these institutions are fundamental to ensuring the achievement of SDG 6 by 2030, and the factors that will shape the INSTITUTIONS delivery of the water SDG are complex and interlinked. They include the policy, insti- This year, COVID-19 has exposed the tutional, and regulatory arrangements set water sector’s institutional vulnerabilities, by governments. including coordination failures, ineffective and inefficient use of limited resources, Effective and coordinated policy is key and and insufficient capacity. The pandemic can be implemented through laws, regu- highlighted, more than ever, the impor- latory measures, courses of government tance of resilient and flexible institutions action, and financing priorities in order that are able to ensure reliable water to deliver quality services and incentivize services for all, especially the most vulner- good performance. Institutional arrange- able. On the other hand, the health and ments that are resilient, responsive, and economic crisis has also illustrated that it service-oriented result in service providers is possible for countries with well-run and that can manage risks and are able to managed institutions to act decisively. provide continuous services, even in times of crisis. Regulation involves setting “the When it comes to services related to rules of the game” and ensuring that water supply, water resources manage- those rules are enforced. ment, irrigation and drainage, and sani- tation, well-managed institutions—that These very real challenges justify the are adaptable, accountable, effective, and strong emphasis GWSP places on helping inclusive—can ensure reliable services institutions at this crucial moment. for all, especially the vulnerable, at this Organizations must be strengthened vital moment. Water institutions writ in order to ensure that they can fulf ill large comprise three sets of actors. First, their vital functions, providing safe water 10 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 1 services during crisis and building resil- Viability and creditworthiness have always ience against major risks in the future. In been critical in terms of the water sector’s chapter 2, examples of how this work is ability to attract private finance, whether supporting vital institutions to provide it be through bonds, loans, public-private key services is illustrated. These exam- partnerships, or management contracts. ples include creating the “Utilities of the However, with the advent of COVID-19 Future” in Albania, Brazil, Belarus, Turkey, and the related fiscal crisis, the sector will Philippines, Timor-Leste, Ghana, and Ethi- also need to address these foundational opia; improvements in the governance issues in order to attract much-needed of institutions tasked with the delivery of public finance. Service providers’ reve- irrigation in India and Armenia; and diag- nues are down, their expenditures are nostics of water resources’ institutional up, and they are seeking assistance from architecture and the drivers of water secu- the public purse at a time that govern- rity in Mozambique, India, Brazil, Bosnia ments are already overstretched. To help and Herzegovina, and Uzbekistan. quantify the COVID-19–related financing challenges and examine how public funds could help address this challenge, GWSP FINANCING has supported the development of rapid analytical tools and policy guidance for The water sector remains underfunded in key policy makers, sector leaders, local terms of both public and private finance. officials, and managers of water and sani- The likelihood of achieving the SDG tation service providers. targets was already questionable before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact In light of the global financing challenges, of the virus adds significant new chal - GWSP support of the World Bank’s Maxi- lenges and constraints. mizing Finance for Development (MFD) initiative remains a priority, assisting In order to address the f inancing gap, governments to carry out assessments, the sector needs to address foundational build capacity, and identify financing solu- issues that undermine the ability to attract tions. While progress may not be as rapid investment. First, water service providers, as preferred, there is a growing consensus whether they be water and sanitation util- around the need to address these foun- ities, irrigation service providers, or flood dational issues; the key role of domestic, management agencies, need to improve rather than international f inance; and their technical and f inancial manage- the critical need to improve the viability ment and efficiency. Second, more clarity, of service providers. In countries where predictability, and transparency are leadership has emerged to address these needed in terms of the policy, institutional, issues, for instance in Uganda and Indo- and regulatory frameworks governing and nesia (as prof iled in the next chapter), managing the sector. Together, significant progress is being made. Political leaders improvements on these two critical points and other decision-makers are working to will result in a sector that is more efficient, support service providers to become more viable, and ultimately creditworthy. eff icient and to address creditworthi- Annual Report 2020 11 ness. Nevertheless, this is a slow process, ners who are emerging as key actors on requiring perseverance and patience on this critical issue. the part of all stakeholders Climate change is increasingly inter- twined with f ragility, conflict, and RESILIENCE violence, another grave development challenge that threatens efforts to end Providers of water services face both acute extreme poverty, affecting both low- and shocks, such as natural disasters, and middle-income countries. By 2030, up to protracted stresses, such as drought and two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor prolonged conflict. The ability to rebound could live in fragile settings—the same from both types of impacts is a measure countries and populations that are most of their resilience. at risk of climate change impacts. Efforts to build a resilient water sector in these Climate change affects the global water countries are undermined by protracted cycle in myriad ways. Shifting rainfall and conflict and chronic fragility, even while temperature patterns are contributing these conditions highlight the importance to greater variability in the volume and of foundational strengths like financial seasonal timing of water availability. viability and the ability to manage energy Flooding is increasing and droughts are requirements and water resources. GWSP becoming more severe in some regions. is supporting efforts to build resilience in Increasing water scarcity, exacerbated some of the most fragile countries and by climate change, will not only reduce regions in the world, working across the the gross domestic product, but also spur Middle East and North Africa region, and migration and spark conflict. on national and city-level initiatives in such locales as Iraq, the West Bank and As the effects of climate change on the Gaza, and Angola. water sector become more stark, resil- ience has become an increasing priority The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated for the planning and design of water-re- the lack of resilience in many water lated investments. Building resilience service providers; their underlying finan- requires sound water management and cial vulnerabilities have been exacerbated proactive adaptation. GWSP supports as economic impacts ripple through systemic efforts to reduce flood and countries and erode service delivery drought risks, improve forecasting and capacity, just when it is most needed for warning systems, promote planning public health. The pandemic also pres- processes that address climate uncer- ents openings for countries to rebuild in tainty, and improve built and natural a greener, more sustainable and resil- infrastructure to store and manage water. ient way. GWSP’s support to utilities in These critical analytical inputs are not only response to COVID-19 is two pronged, available to clients and incorporated into with both a response to the immediate lending operations, but are also available crisis and a focus on strengthening to a global audience of development part- underlying resilience. 12 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 1 Annual Report 2020 13 14 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership Knowledge into Action GWSP supports activities in three business lines: water supply and sanitation, water in agriculture, and water resources manage- ment. Activities under these business lines contribute to results across GWSP’s f ive priority themes, as indicated in Chapter 1. Annual Report 2020 15 Water Resources Management Water resources management encom- Achieving water security in the context of passes planning, developing, and increased demand and scarcity requires managing the quantity and quality of a broad range of integrated reforms and water for all users. GWSP supports global investments, including: and local efforts to improve water secu- rity—the availability of an acceptable 6 Institutional reform of legal and regu- quantity and quality of water for health, latory frameworks, policies and plans, livelihoods, ecosystems, and produc- economic instruments, and incentives tion—and to reduce water-related risks so as to improve water allocation, regu- to people, environments, and economies. lation, and protection. It is estimated that 4 billion people already 6 Better information management to live in water-scarce areas and that by 2050 strengthen resource monitoring, deci- global demand for water will increase by sion-making, systems analyses, and 20–30 percent, and water scarcity, exac- hydro-meteorological forecasting and erbated by climate change, could cost warning systems. some regions up to 6 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP). 6 Investments in inf rastructure to improve water availability and reliability, One in four cities worldwide already expe- mitigate disaster risks, enhance produc- riences water insecurity, and urban water tivity, conserve and protect resources, demand is projected to increase by 50–70 and reduce demand. Such investments percent over the next three decades. can promote improved storage and Without signif icant advances in water conveyance, wastewater recycling, and resources management, 6 in 10 countries the integration of green and gray infra- are at risk of using water resources in such structure, and may include noncon- a way as to have negative environmental, ventional management approaches social, and economic consequences. Per to water sources and storage, such as capita reservoir storage is declining due aquifer recharge and recovery. to sedimentation in existing dams and lower rates of construction of new dams, To build resilience to floods and droughts, and dam failures are growing in number which are growing in f requency and as infrastructure exceeds its designed life intensity as a result of climate change, expectancy. Worldwide, more than 19,000 governments need to enhance planning; large dams are more than 50 years old. increase engagement with citizens and 16 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 both upstream and downstream users; by continuing to help develop bulk water and improve the built and natural infra- supplies—with long-term health, sanita- structure used to store and manage tion, environmental, and economic bene- water. These priorities remain even as the fits—while promoting more sustainable COVID-19 pandemic has added new pres- management and use of water resources sures on governments. GWSP has been in economic stimulus packages and other providing support at this critical juncture relief efforts related to COVID-19. Annual Report 2020 17 Water Storage and Dams ADVANCING RISK-INFORMED in the face of aging infrastructure assets. APPROACHES TO DAM SAFETY This team is assisting clients in imple- menting these approaches, with the support of GWSP analytics and World Bank lending, in Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, and other countries. In fiscal year (FY) 2020, GWSP supported the Challenge: Dams and reservoirs, be they development of a “Good Practice Note on for irrigation, water supply, or hydropower, Dam Safety” and a Handbook on Oper- are critical investments that support the ations and Maintenance Strategies for effective use of water resources. While Hydropower. The “Good Practice Note on new dams are being commissioned, Dam Safety,” accompanied by technical existing schemes are aging. Nearly 20,000 notes on six subjects (hydrological risk, dams have been in operation for at least geotechnical risk, seismic risk, small dam 50 years and are in need of major reha- safety, potential failure mode analysis, and bilitation to ensure their safety, as failure portfolio risk assessment) consolidates could pose serious risks to downstream the global knowledge of practitioners into communities. Increasingly sophisticated one source. It provides a comprehensive tools and management approaches are overview of issues to be addressed in required that are capable of identifying reviewing dam safety at all phases of the and managing risks that are compounded project cycle, from project design through by changes to downstream demographics. operation. The handbook, developed in In the past year alone, there have been collaboration with global players in the dam failures in the United States, China, hydropower community, is designed to Sudan, Myanmar, Lao People’s Demo- raise awareness among utility managers, cratic Republic (Lao PDR), and Uzbekistan. decision-makers, and other stakeholders Many countries have no system in place of the benefits of developing and imple- for the overall surveillance or monitoring menting robust operation and main- of their dams, and where comprehensive tenance (O&M) strategies. It contains a regulations are in place, they are often practical eight-step process to prepare not enforced. Failures often stem from a and finance O&M strategies for existing lack of readily available practical guidance, plants and those under development. capacity, or resources. The handbook includes case studies from Brazil, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda, Approach: The World Bank has a global Uruguay, and Argentina. dam safety team that, with critical GWSP support, has helped consolidate Additionality: The handbook was down- approaches to risk-informed dam safety loaded nearly 7,000 times within six 18 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 months, and is being further dissem- sometimes competing, needs. Water plat- inated and used by the International forms provide country-specific convening Hydropower Association, World Hydro- spaces for stakeholders to solve substan- power Congress, International Center for tial water issues.  Platforms are dynamic Hydropower, and Swiss State Secretariat and flexible vehicles to facilitate informa- for Economic Affairs (SECO), as well as the tion development and flows and to help World Bank’s Hydropower Global Solu- streamline integrated and coordinated tions Group. Already, the handbook is approaches among government and influencing investment projects, including sector actors, while providing road maps the Jiji and Mulembwe hydropower plants for donor and development partner priori- in Burundi and the Rusumo Falls regional tization. They also facilitate sharing among hydropower plant between Rwanda, World Bank teams, including those in the Tanzania, and Burundi. The “Good Prac- Agriculture; Health; Energy; Urban, Disaster tice Note on Dam Safety” and the tech- Risk, Resilience, and Land; and Environ- nical notes are being used to build the ment and Natural Resources global prac- capacity of client countries and to support tices (GPs), as well as the International borrowers and World Bank task teams in Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral meeting the requirements of World Bank– Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). financed projects, including those that feature efforts to ensure dam safety. There GWSP’s support of stakeholder collabora- are over 180 active projects in the World tion and of the development of targeted Bank’s portfolio that are related directly water resource data and information has or indirectly to dam safety. been key to its work in transboundary water as well, furthering shared data and understanding around this critical issue. WATER PLATFORMS AS FOUNDATIONS FOR WATER PLATFORMS IN NEPAL COLLABORATION AND AND SRI LANKA SECTOR IMPROVEMENTS Challenge: Nepal has high annual per Challenge: In order to better meet their capita water availability, but only an holistic water challenges and needs, coun- estimated 10 percent of available water tries need more effective ways to coordi- resources are harnessed for economic and nate, mobilize, integrate, and target inputs social purposes. The need for cross-sec- from different funding sources and devel- toral dialogue is acute—key challenges opment partners against multiple, and to the efficient functioning of the coun- Annual Report 2020 19 try’s water supply include rapid urbaniza- the eff iciency and effectiveness of tion, climate change, and administrative public spending. complexities inherent in the transition to federalism. In Sri Lanka, there is a need 6 A water sector diagnostic in Nepal that to assess the potential to leverage private outlines the challenges facing the sector finance and expertise to support sector and provides key directions the development of a comprehensive for the way forward. The diagnostic program of planned investments. Within reveals that Nepal must enhance the World Bank, meanwhile, there is a investment in water-related inf ra- need to maximize synergies among the structure and institutions as well as multiple GPs engaged in water-related improve the effectiveness of these projects, and to effectively integrate policy investments. The national narrative support, analytics, and operations related on water resources development has to prioritized country needs and thus prominently featured hydropower develop appropriate responses. development, yet an integrated approach would help Nepal manage Approach: GWSP supported the estab- water in such a way that is good for its lishment of water platforms in Nepal overall development. and Sri Lanka and conducted targeted analysis and activities to diagnose and 6 A strategy note in Nepal that identifies respond to gaps in sector data and anal- a two-pronged approach to increasing ysis. The water platforms have provided a access to water services, mainly in the mechanism to better coordinate water-re- water supply, sanitation, and irrigation lated work across water-using sectors subsectors with linkages to hydro- (such as agriculture, hydropower, and power, as well as ensuring greater drinking water supply), and government, resilience among water systems. development partners, and the World Bank Group, to provide a more holistic 6 A sector effects report in Sri Lanka that and effective approach to managing explores water sector performance water. Multi-stakeholder dialogue and its important linkages with the processes and targeted analytics create overall economy. Analytic work has a common understanding of challenges identified the economy wide costs, being faced, and help forge agreement particularly in energy, health, and around collective action. education, of not investing adequately in the water sector, and particularly Specifically, in FY20, GWSP helped deliver: in its O&M. The report sheds light on the financing and sustainability 6 Sector-level public expenditure reviews issues of the National Water Supply (PERs) in both countries to identify and and Drainage Board, including the understand financial and efficiency potential to attract more commercial gaps in the sector. The PERs analyzed finance, and incorporates available the allocation of public resources and analysis on climate change, projec- provided an objective assessment of tions of water stress by 2050, and 20 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 political economy analysis conducted In Nepal, the diagnostic is being used to under the Water Infrastructure Sector highlight the economic and social impor- Assessment Program. tance of the government’s commitment of budget and investment resources to the Additionality: Water platforms have sector. Collaborative analytical work and contributed to the development of cross-sectoral dialogue have informed irri- multisector programs and to intergov- gation, rural water supply and sanitation ernmental coordination across sectors. (WSS), climate hazards, and hydropower project development, including incor- The Sri Lanka Water Platform has poration of integrated water resources steered coordination among the Sri management principles in municipal Lankan government and its disaster risk water and wastewater management. management, agriculture, and environ- The platform and diagnostic aided in ment partners to work toward sustain- Nepal’s COVID-19 response by shifting the able watershed management, and this dialogue toward an integrated approach is being brought to scale through the to water management, and facilitating World Bank–f inanced Sri Lanka Inte- interagency coordination among minis- grated Watershed and Water Resources tries in charge of water supply, schools, Management Project. and medical facilities. Annual Report 2020 21 Transboundary Water 2014, and greater frequency, scope, and MAKING INTEGRATED duration of drought episodes. DEVELOPMENT IN THE SAVA The hydraulic infrastructure in the Sava AND DRINA RIVER BASIN A and Drina River basin, while nominally REALITY extensive, has been poorly maintained and only partially modernized and expanded since the Balkans War of the 1990s, hampering regional economic inte- gration and suppressing growth. Since Challenge: Transboundary water makes then, water depths have dropped and are up almost half of the world’s available currently below 2 meters for much of the freshwater. As water scarcity increases, Sava’s fairway. Navigability is constrained the sharing of this water is becoming to 160 days per year at key bottleneck increasingly important. The Sava and sections, and inland waterway traff ic Drina River basin, one of Europe’s largest volumes have plummeted. On the Drina, a transboundar y basins, covers over chronic lack of maintenance has reduced one-third of the Western Balkans in area the capacity of the river’s cascade of reser- and population and connects five of the voirs to safeguard nearby communities eight Western Balkan countries (Slovenia, from climate-related risks, such as major Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia flooding events. and Herzegovina). The economy and jobs in the region depend heavily on Approach: With support f rom GWSP, these shared water resources to trans- catalytic work was undertaken to transi- port goods, generate energy, grow food tion from a fragmented approach toward and fibers, sustain biodiversity, as well joint decisions and investments in sustain- as provide for leisure and ecotourism able infrastructure. This was in line with activities. The Sava and Drina River basin European regional priorities agreed to by generates 20 percent of employment in leaders of the European Union (EU) and Serbia, 35 percent in Croatia, and over 50 six Western Balkan countries during the percent in Slovenia. Increasingly prevalent 2018 EU Western Balkan Summit. GWSP floods and droughts create risks for liveli- supported inclusive stakeholder consulta- hoods and impose constraints on trade, tions to obtain buy-in and “home-grown” food security, and productive invest- solutions from different communities in ment. Documentation of the trends and this basin. GWSP-supported technical changes in precipitation, evapotranspira- assistance is also reviewing technical tion, and discharges in this basin indicate documentation to ensure high-quality, that climate change is expected to cause detailed designs. For instance, specialized more intense floods, like those in 2010 and expertise has been provided to review 22 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 the demining activity that is a prerequi- regional collaboration in this basin would site for the design of subprojects in the be missed. key waterway section between Jaruge (Croatia) and Novi Grad (Bosnia and Herze- govina), considered the most pressing WATER SECURITY navigation bottleneck of the Sava. DIAGNOSTICS Additionality: GWSP support helped develop institutional and technical preparedness to move beyond broad policy challenges and into implementa- tion, and facilitated the identification of Challenge: Too often, the dominant public priority investments in the region. These dialogue on water focuses narrowly on are being taken forward under the Sava infrastructure. However, understanding and Drina Rivers Corridors Integrated the implications of climate change, Development Program (SDIP), which population growth, urbanization, and focuses on investments that strengthen increasing resource scarcity for water the critical connections among infrastruc- management is essential to achieve ture, economies, and people as identified healthy, sustainable, and water-secure through studies and policy dialogue. The societies and economies. These factors assistance funded by GWSP transferred affect each country in different ways, knowledge, built capacity, and ensured interacting with specific national contexts quality and timely delivery during the (including demographics and the polit- preparation of SDIP. SDIP will be accom- ical economy) as well as specific water plished through two phases over ten years, sector architecture, including a nation’s providing approximately $332 million to water endowment, infrastructure (built support long-term and climate-smart and green), institutions, and enabling economic growth and regional coopera- environment (laws, policies, regulations, tion. SDIP’s flood mitigation measures will and financing). The challenge is to meet increase the area protected from floods the need for knowledge and advice in by 300,000 hectares, providing protection order to harness water resources in ways from 1-in-100-year floods to about 400,000 that provide equitable services, protect people. The project will improve waterway the environment, and drive sustainable connectivity and navigability for over 200 economic growth. kilometers (km) of the Sava River, and will enhance transboundary water coopera- Approach: Building on the experience of tion through knowledge sharing across the GWSP-supported Water Supply, Sani- sectors and riparian countries. Without tation, and Hygiene (WASH) Poverty Diag- GWSP support, the analytical activities nostics, the Partnership is now supporting that f ramed and conceptualized the the preparation of Water Security Diag- design and preparation of SDIP would nostics. These diagnostics help clients not have happened, and opportunities to to examine in detail the importance and unlock the bottlenecks that have slowed drivers of water security and to chart and Annual Report 2020 23 prioritize actions to improve it. The initiative has four main elements: (1) the develop- ment and dissemination of templates and frameworks that can be used to gather consistent and relevant data and conduct analyses; (2) quality assurance so that all work is grounded in the strongest evidence possible; (3) centralized expert support for complex activities such as economic and hydrologic modeling; and (4) an online dashboard that provides access to global databases for benchmarking and scoping efforts, as well as learning materials and knowledge products. Beyond this foundational support, the initiative is unique in two ways. First, it is supporting comprehensive, long-term analyses of water’s role in the economy, integrated across water resource manage- ment, disaster risk management, irrigation management, water supply and sanita- tion, and environmental management. In addition to looking across subsectors, the initiative assists governments in consid- ering resilience and sustainability over decades rather than just project cycles. Second, the initiative combines knowl- edge generation and dissemination with capacity building, facilitating the spread of skills, insights, and lessons to other subsectors, sectors, and parts of govern- ment in support of broad-based under- standing and solutions. Establishment of mechanisms for ongoing engagement with governments and key stakeholders allows the initiative to incorporate feed- back and forge partnerships to support long-lasting change. In Pakistan, for example, the diagnostic provided a thorough analytical investi- gation of the journey of water from the endowment to outcomes and identified that mega-storage construction invest- 24 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 ments were not the most urgent, or inefficiencies. This examined energy use necessarily the most impactful, inputs and nonrevenue water challenges and to long-term water security. Instead, the articulated specific recommendations diagnostic provided evidence that irriga- for government and water companies. tion and drainage services, rural sanitation, Multiple projects have been informed and urban governance and infrastructure, agri- influenced by the Vietnam Water Security cultural water productivity, and data and Diagnostic, including the proposed Binh information were the most urgent areas Duong Water Environment Improvement of intervention with the highest impact Project (scheduled for FY21 delivery), potential for Pakistan’s water security. which will contribute to reducing the pollution load on the interconnected Additionality: GWSP support is contrib- Dong Nai and Saigon rivers, the latter uting to the development of a growing being the source of f reshwater for Ho product line of high-quality, compa- Chi Minh City. rable national and regional studies on water security, based on a standardized In Pakistan, during preparation of the conceptual framework. The Water Secu- Water Security Diagnostic the govern- rity Diagnostics have been instrumental in ment f inalized and approved its f irst influencing the national discourse around National Water Policy. The diagnostic water in a number of countries, and in influenced both the policy itself and others have provided a basis for govern- the dialogue with stakeholders after its ments to tackle difficult or controversial adoption. The Working Group on Climate reforms, often with GWSP support. Change and National Security, led by the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor on The practical value of the Water Secu- National Security, has been tasked with rity Diagnostics was demonstrated in producing a report to be presented to the Vietnam in FY20 when, following on Federal Cabinet that will be informed by recommendations in the 2019 diag- the diagnostic. The diagnostic’s insights nostic, GWSP funded short-term inter- have also been featured in the media; for ventions and investments to support example, Radio Pakistan used the diag- government policy change. To demon- nostic to inform a panel discussion of Paki- strate how action can be catalyzed, stan’s water future. GWSP provided assistance to Hanoi to focus on the problem of pollution in A Water Security Diagnostic currently selected hotspots, concentrating on the being conducted in Argentina is also influ- four main rivers running through the encing policy dialogue and has already city and urban flooding issues in two key resulted in the design of a new project to districts. Incorporating broad technical improve WSS services in Buenos Aires. In consultation and inputs f rom affected this case, the diagnostic identified that districts and communities, the process the largest social and economic impacts resulted in the Hanoi Water Pollution were the result of WSS insecurities. The Policy Note, subsequently presented to analysis crystalized into a proposal for the National Assembly. A guidance note a new WSS law to address governance was also developed to highlight f ind- and financial challenges delineated in ings on water supply performance and the diagnostic. Annual Report 2020 25 SUDAN WATER SECTOR tion on the policies, strategies, and plans REVIEW guiding these subsectors, including the water resource management situation (availability of surface and groundwater, uses of water, and water quality issues) and the major drivers in the water sector such as economic development, climate Challenge: Water is one of the natural change, and foreign investments. resources most critical for Sudan’s devel- opment: 65 percent of the country’s The study identifies key challenges and population works in agriculture, which opportunities in the short and long term accounts for 96 percent of the coun- and identifies specific areas for investment try’s water use. The new, postrevolution that would strengthen sector viability in government needs to address the basic support of poverty reduction and economic needs of citizens in a country that ranked growth. For example, in the irrigated agri- 168th out of 189 countries and territories culture sector, crop yield is less than half in the 2019 Human Development Index, is the global standard, and this translates plagued by rapid desertification and the into significant potential to boost agricul- negative impacts of climate change, and tural production if degraded facilities and is expected to see its population double management are improved. Integral to the by 2050. study approach was a process of consul- tations with the Ministry of Irrigation and Dialogue is urgently needed with the Water Resources and other stakeholders new government on its water sector at federal and state levels, including in reform agenda, but much of the previous the government, civil society, and private analytical work on water issues carried sector, to ensure the realism of, and buy-in out by development partners, including to, analysis and recommendations. the World Bank, needs to be updated. The centrality of water to the livelihoods Despite delays following the social unrest of people in Sudan is only going to that arose from the revolution in 2018–19, increase—making the need for reliable the detailed analytic work is underway data and analysis more urgent. Despite and scheduled to be complete by the these needs, the Government of Sudan end of 2020. In parallel, GWSP funding does not have formal programs estab- is helping to support the Government of lished with many donors, due to prerev- Sudan’s sector reform process by show- olution economic restrictions that are still casing global good practices, providing in place. inputs to the draft national sector plan, and assisting the organization of a Approach: In order to develop the data national sector reform workshop. and knowledge needed to design resil- ient solutions to water challenges, GWSP Additionality: Through the analysis and is supporting a water sector review and policy advice supported by GWSP, the analysis that spans three subsectors: Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources water resources management, water is finalizing a national water sector trans- supply and sanitation, and agricultural formation plan, which includes diagnostic water use. The study provides informa- analysis, a long-term engagement plan, 26 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 and prioritized 2030 investment targets for resumed, and to bring synergy with other domestic water supply, irrigation, and water initiatives, such as the Nile Basin Initiative. resources management. In April 2020, the ministry conducted organizational restruc- The study will support the work of other turing as part of this sector reform. development partners in Sudan, and there is potential for collaboration with the GWSP support allowed the World Bank to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) engage in Sudan, where it has no lending on water supply and sanitation, with the program and donor activity is minimal. United Nations High Commissioner for Extended World Bank engagement based Refugees (UNHCR) on WASH support for on the findings of the GWSP-supported internally displaced people in Darfur, and analytical work not only helps the ministry with the Institute for Water Education build a solid foundation within the context under the auspices of the United Nations of a new government, but also enables the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Orga- government to prioritize investments when nization (UNESCO-IHE) on capacity devel- the Bank’s lending operation to Sudan is opment support for the ministry. Annual Report 2020 27 Water in Agriculture Agriculture is the largest freshwater user support f rom GWSP), which built on globally. The sector provides livelihoods decades of lesson learning. for hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers, and is expanding to meet the GWSP has also supported an initiative to ever-growing demand for food, fodder, promote the concept of water stewardship and f iber. But this expansion cannot in agriculture (WSiA). This is an emerging be achieved without managing water. concept that sets the agriculture sector in There is an urgent need to reduce agri- the broader context of sustainable water cultural consumption of water, while resource management at the farming at the same time adapting to climate field and basin levels. It is based on the change. Managing water in agriculture recognition that through collective action to enable farmers to thrive and adjust and engagement with other basin stake- requires new ways of engaging with the holders, agriculture can make a significant sector, including making agriculture more contribution to maintaining sustainable water smart, accountable, innovative, levels of water use in river basins. Its and attuned to water user needs. Food operationalization is built around the security cannot be achieved without new inclusive engagement of stakeholders in approaches, and for the vast number of agricultural water management planning, households reliant on agriculture for their aligned within overall basin planning. A livelihoods, better water management is redirection of incentive systems and regu- also the path out of poverty. lations allows smarter water delivery to farmers and greater accountability. Globally, institutions governing irriga- tion are weak, and have often failed to The Farmer-Led Irrigation Development deliver accountable services to their (FLID) initiative is using a problem-driven users. In many countries, current insti- approach that harnesses the knowledge, tutional arrangements are outdated as experience, and expertise of farmers in they are not accountable to farmers in support of small-scale irrigation. FLID decision-making and service delivery, and interventions center on supporting do not allow private sector participation business strategies for entrepreneurial in agricultural production and commer- farmers and irrigators, as well as creating cialization. GWSP is supporting work an enabling business, policy, and legal on governance in irrigation that aims to environment, and overcoming obstacles improve irrigation performance, with an in value chains, finance, and technology. emphasis on service delivery, as a priority FLID is a powerful, cost-effective, and fast- strategy. FY20 saw the dissemination of a acting tool to provide on-demand and resource book, Governance in Irrigation reliable sources of water, stabilize and and Drainage (produced by the Water in increase incomes, and empower entrepre- Agriculture Global Solutions Group with neurial smallholder farmers, families, and 28 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 entire communities. With GWSP support, SUPPORTING IRRIGATION the World Bank and IFC are collaborating SERVICE DELIVERY AND with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Daugherty Water for WATER STEWARDSHIP IN Food Global Institute (DWFI), the Global INDIA, ARMENIA, CAMEROON Water Partnership (GWP), and academia to support governments in understanding the dynamics of farmer-led irrigation and assess its potential in a range of countries and regions in Africa and beyond. Challenge: India is home to 18 percent The threat to food security posed by the of the world’s population but is endowed COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in areas with only 4 percent of global water suffering f rom f ragility, conflict, and resources. Almost 80 percent of Indian violence, as well as vulnerability to climate freshwater withdrawals are used in the change, is of significant concern. Irriga- agriculture sector. As demand for water tion and drainage services may be inter- goes up and consumption patterns evolve, rupted due to COVID-19 restrictions, and competition between water users has fiscal stress and deferred O&M may lead intensified, water quality has declined, and to an inability to maintain previous levels water services have become stretched. of service. Irrigation services may also Surface irrigation has contributed greatly suffer from labor absenteeism and disrup- to India’s poverty reduction and economic tion of the supply chain for inputs and growth, but its more recent performance equipment, possibly resulting in farmers leaves significant room for improvement. missing an entire season of food produc- India’s “protective” canal irrigation, devel- tion. There is a risk that households will oped with the primary aim of avoiding face volatility in food prices and produc- famine and assuring farmers of at least tion supply chain disruptions. Massive some production even in the extreme migration to rural areas and reduced event of a monsoon failure, has come to job opportunities further intensify land be marred by weaknesses in the gover- and water pressures. Governments are nance and management of surface irriga- seeking solutions to these COVID-19– tion schemes. This has led to inefficiency, driven challenges that enable services to inequity, and unreliable water supplies be maintained and accelerate the imple- for farmers, and costly investments for mentation of irrigation projects. GWSP governments. Groundwater irrigation has has helped support early actions revolving also seen a dramatic increase, so much around identification and sharing of key so that the sustainability of groundwater issues among global stakeholders in irri- is threatened in several states. Improving gation, cushioning the effects of liquidity the performance and efficiency of India’s constraints on the subsector, ensuring the irrigation can help the country improve safety of laborers on work sites and the the productivity of its water use, unlock staff of service providers, and adjusting inefficiently used water, and reallocate and scaling programs in order to increase it to other uses that add more value to employment opportunities. India’s economy. Annual Report 2020 29 In Armenia, the main challenge in agri- system returns four times as much water cultural water management is to better to aquifers as it takes from them, helping match irrigation water services to the to replenish this high-value resource on types of crops farmers want to grow. which most municipal water supplies and Historically, older irrigation systems limit fish farms depend. the variety of crops that can be grown, and water delivery has been supply driven, In Cameroon, agriculture employs 70 rather than responsive to the agronomic percent of the workforce, and provides needs of crops. Farmers now want to 42 percent of its GDP and 30 percent of grow a greater variety of higher-value its export revenues. Yet, there are serious crops and require more reliable, flexible, constraints limiting the productivity f requent, and accountable irrigation of Cameroon’s agriculture sector and service. However, modernization of irri- conf ining it largely to low-production gation systems in Armenia requires an subsistence farming, especially in the appreciation of the value of return flows. north and extreme north of the country. It is estimated that the current irrigation These constraints include declining soil 30 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 fertility, limited use of fertilizer, lack of farm GWSP has also supported activities in mechanization, poor water management, India to improve the quality of irrigation low adoption of high-yielding varieties, service delivery, including asset manage- and obsolete farming techniques. These ment, performance monitoring, account- limitations are likely to affect women ability, and citizen engagement. The farmers, who make up 40 percent of activities included reviews of international the farmers in Africa, disproportionately. experience in service delivery, an in-depth Among all the limiting factors, water is the analysis of the service delivery arrange- most critical. Only about 35,000 hectares ments in several states in India over time, are under irrigation, less than 2 percent a review of international experience in of the potential land area of more than 2 managing water resources in a federal million hectares. However, Cameroon has context, an assessment of potential water no specific irrigation legislation and the savings in irrigation, and a review of recent topic is not even mentioned in its 1998 irrigation innovations in India. The studies Water Law. Cameroon also lacks suitable produced with GWSP support reveal that legislation for the creation of sustainable the groundwater revolution that has taken farmer-managed water user associations place in India since the 1970s has effec- with robust governance arrangements tively delivered on many of the recom- and based on the compulsory partici- mendations made in the past to reform pation of land holders. The relationship India’s irrigation sector. Groundwater has between government institutions and been developed almost exclusively with farmers, in terms of their respective rights private funding, is associated with high- and duties, is not clearly spelled out. value production and water markets, and provides an on-demand supply of water. Approach: In India, GWSP funded a study In states that charge farmers for electricity, to explore the use of remote sensing to volumetric water charges have been intro- monitor irrigation performance and duced. The studies recommend signifi- address the dual problem of unreli- cantly strengthening the sustainability of able data and absence of performance groundwater use by introducing conjunc- monitoring. The study identif ied a set tive ground- and surface-water manage- of remotely sensed indicators that can ment, adopting demand management be used to measure irrigation perfor- measures to improve the eff iciency of mance, including the reliability, equity, surface water, and promoting perfor- and adequacy of water supply. The study mance management and benchmarking. applied these indicators to 10 irrigation schemes in India and provided proof of In Cameroon, GWSP is working with the concept that remote sensing can deliver government to improve the institutional accurate and reliable information about framework and develop regulations for the performance of an irrigation scheme. improving irrigation governance in the The next step is to pilot the approach north. For example, a report on gover- in several states in India to trace these nance on irrigation in Northern Cameroon indicators over time and across the irri- has been prepared, including a diag- gated area, help identify service delivery nostic examining parastatal institutions hotspots, and identify adequate measures in charge of the management of irrigation to improve performance. schemes, the legal framework and current Annual Report 2020 31 responsibilities, and a road map with a Bengal Major Irrigation and Flood Manage- concrete set of actions. The analysis used a ment Project has incorporated many of process described in the GWSP-supported the findings from the GWSP-funded work, Governance in Irrigation and Drainage including adoption of a service delivery Resource Book. GWSP also supported a angle, asset management, performance report highlighting the significant poten- monitoring, and outsourcing of O&M to tial in the north region (Benue valley) and private operators on a performance basis. in the far north region (Logone valley) for The findings are feeding growing policy the exploitation of groundwater through dialogue on transforming the water-agri- manual drilling for irrigation purposes, culture-energy nexus in India. and showcasing the economic advan- tages of small-scale irrigation. In Cameroon, the GWSP-supported reports provided a clear road map for the In Armenia, GWSP has provided tools and government to consider as it pursues the governance principles to help Armenian reform of the sector, which will result in water service entities improve the effi- new roles for parastatal institutions, partic- ciency of service provision at prices afford- ipation of the private sector, and empow- able to farmers. The new government has erment of farmers. These reports have presented ambitious plans to make irriga- influenced the transformation of para- tion “accessible like electricity.” It has clari- statal institutions, for instance, through fied its local irrigation management policy the inclusion of a component to support and intends to support water user asso- farmer-led irrigation development, and a ciations as an established form of collec- new institutional organization to replace tive water management in agriculture. the existing dysfunctional parastatals that Through the construction of small- and manage around 34 percent of irrigated medium-sized reservoirs, the government areas. The reports are also informing the will augment storage capacity, providing government’s reform plans for irrigation flexibility in irrigation service provision schemes in the Adamawa, north, and far to better meet irrigation demand. Using north regions of the country. the GWSP-funded WSiA f ramework, plans have been made to strengthen the The GWSP-funded reports were timely capacity to monitor agricultural water use, contributions to the preparation of proj- promote stewardship of water use in nonir- ects in the Benue and Logone valleys in rigated systems, establish an agricultural Northern Cameroon, each with a value water monitoring and accounting plat- of $200 million. GWSP support helped form, prepare agricultural water manage- ensure that a full analysis of the irriga- ment plans for zones managed by water tion subsector’s governance was available user associations, and promote smart to design the project implementation water management practices. process and the institutional transfor- mation needed. Both projects combine Additionality: In India, the central govern- improvements in infrastructure with the ment took leadership of the analytical necessary institutional and governance work, forming a steering committee of reforms in the irrigation subsector. They senior officials to oversee implementation will support small-scale irrigation micro- of the studies. The recently approved West projects, making use of shallow ground- 32 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 water resources through low-cost manual In Uganda, agriculture employs 70 drilling, locally available technologies, and percent of the population and contributes the capacity of the private sector. one-quarter of the country’s GDP. While Uganda possesses abundant freshwater In Armenia, a Water Stewardship Compo- resources, increasingly erratic rainfall due nent developed using the GWSP-sup- to climate change and a lack of water-re- por ted WSiA f ramework has been lated agricultural infrastructure consti- incorporated into the Bank-f inanced tute two key challenges faced by farmers. Water-Secure Armenia Project. This Smallholder farmers perceive weather component will support the adoption of as the greatest risk to their agricultural water stewardship principles and prac- activities. Irrigation can help farmers deal tices in the Armenian agriculture sector. with unpredictable rainfall patterns, and the Government of Uganda is making irrigation a priority. The goal of irrigating FARMER-LED IRRIGATION IN 1.5 million hectares of land within the RWANDA AND UGANDA next two decades is a key pillar of the National Irrigation Strategy. However, while investing in irrigation may yield benefits for farmers in the medium and long term, they require financial support in the short term. Challenge: Rwanda’s economy is largely Approach: In Rwanda, the 2030 Water dependent on agriculture, with the sector Resources Group started a partnership contributing 33 percent of the national with the Government of Rwanda to engage GDP, employing approximately 70 percent the private sector in the development of of the national population, and providing irrigation projects and the establishment 91 percent of the food consumed in the of an agricultural water management country and 70 percent of revenue from workstream. exports. However, Rwanda irrigates only about 10 percent of its potential irrigable With GWSP support, and in collabora- area. Despite a government-run program tion with the Agriculture GP, a dialogue is to subsidize farmers who purchase small- being facilitated between the government scale irrigation equipment, and thus (through the Ministry of Agriculture and accelerate the development of sustain- the Rwanda Agricultural Board) and other able, demand-driven, affordable, farm- stakeholders to establish an Agricultural er-led and -owned irrigation systems, Water Management Working Group. the expansion of irrigated agriculture has been limited to date. The irrigation market GWSP is also supporting an assessment is supply driven, with limited initiatives by of the Small-Scale Irrigation Technology private commercial farmers or smallholder Subsidy Program in Rwanda to gauge its farmers, and irrigation technologies are effectiveness and recommend reforms expensive. Thus, despite the subsidies that incorporate innovative financing available, most smallholder farmers are models and strengthen the engagement unable to afford needed equipment. of the private sector. Annual Report 2020 33 34 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 In Uganda, GWSP supported the devel- training. A smartphone app has been opment of the government’s Micro- developed to register farmers, record farm Scale Irrigation Program, which aims visits, and record the installation of equip- to improve irrigation service delivery ment. It is linked to a national manage- provided through local government ment information system to help monitor entities. It is part of a larger government and evaluate progress and help ensure program to devolve public service delivery, consistency of the approach, even when building on the decentralization agenda working with a diverse range of local of the Government of Uganda. It supports actors. The COVID-19 pandemic struck smallholder farmers to make irrigation as this program was being developed, so more resilient to climate change, diver- training had to be reconfigured for online sify production toward higher-value crops, delivery. Six online modules have been and produce more, improving livelihoods developed to cover all relevant topics— in the process. GWSP support was used to from how irrigation extends the growing finance applied research activities focused season to how to prepare for farm visits. on local farmers with the aim of: (1) iden- tifying the constraints to accessing, and Additionality: In Rwanda, the GWSP-sup- the benef its of adopting micro-irriga- ported assessment helped to recommend tion technology, as perceived by irriga- policy reforms and develop f inancing tors themselves; and (2) establishing the models to support farmers in accessing evidence base for a field-based strategy irrigation. These models facilitate the of knowledge exchange on transformative leveraging of government subsidies, help water-smart irrigation technology for new crowd-in private finance, and strengthen irrigators. The findings allowed a better offtake market linkages for farmers. The understanding of how farmers access work is informing the Sustainable Agri- information on irrigation, how they make culture Intensification and Food Security their decisions, and what they can afford. Project (SAIP) led by the Agriculture GP. GWSP support has further strengthened The Micro-Scale Irrigation Program the already close collaboration between provides training, facilitates exchange of the Water and Agriculture GPs within the experience, and helps farmers buy irri- World Bank. gation equipment at a lower cost, with subsidies that fund between 25 and In Uganda, the GWSP-supported research 75 percent of farmers’ irrigation equip- influenced decisions related to the exten- ment. The program puts decision-making sion service strategy of the government’s power directly in the hands of small- Micro-Scale Irrigation Program, which is holder farmers, as those who apply for the being designed to ensure that all farmers program choose their preferred irrigation have access to information on water- technology, provide a copayment, and smart irrigation. There are plans to scale gain ownership of the irrigation equip- up the program from the current 40 to all ment as well as the responsibility for its 130 districts across the country by 2023. O&M. Because one-third of households The GWSP-supported findings will feed in Uganda are female headed, women into improvements of both the program are specif ically targeted and engaged in Uganda and wider regional World in all elements of capacity building and Bank interventions. Annual Report 2020 35 Water Supply and Sanitation An estimated 2.2 billion people globally needed to help clients identify challenges are without access to safely managed and solutions linked to this critical agenda. drinking water services and 4.2 billion These efforts operationalize water reforms people without access to safely managed through the following programs: sanitation services. Achieving universal access to WSS services is estimated to 6 Policy, institutional, and regulatory (PIR) cost low- and middle-income countries incentives, which are the foundation for (LMICs) between 0.8 and 0.9 percent of a broader enabling environment. GDP annually. Under increasingly tight fiscal constraints, further compounded 6 Utilities of the future (UoF)—promoting by the fiscal crisis evolving from COVID- innovative, future-focused entities that 19, achieving the goal of universal access provide reliable, safe, resilient, inclu- is increasingly challenging. sive, and transparent WSS services. In fact, the pandemic has underscored 6 Maximizing finance for development the critical role that water supply and (MFD) for the water sector—mobi- sanitation plays in safeguarding public lizing private sources of f inance to health, protecting the poor and vulner- reach the SDGs. able, ensuring sustainable business growth and job creation, and strength- 6 C i t y w i d e i n c l u s i v e s a n i t a t i o n ening resilience. (CWIS)—a radical shift in practices and approaches needed to achieve WSS service providers are at the forefront universal access to urban sanitation. of efforts to rebuild better by delivering access to safe, reliable, and inclusive WSS 6 Circular economy and resilience in services; promoting greener and more urban water—minimizing waste, resilient recovery; engaging local commu- improving eff iciencies, diversi- nities; and providing a solid pipeline of fying water sources, and recovering employment to public and private sector resources from wastewater. service providers. 6 Rural water supply and sanitation— SDG 6 cannot be met without addressing promoting equitable and sustainable the full breadth of challenges that are rural water supply and sanitation at undermining the performance of the WSS scale through the development of subsector. GWSP supports this mandate sustainable management models of by providing funding to prepare knowl- rural WSS systems, institutional reform, edge products and carry out the assess- inclusive and participatory approaches, ments, capacity building, and analysis and evidence-based interventions. 36 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 Policy, Institutions, and Regulations POLICY, INSTITUTIONS, projects that aimed to jump-start the AND REGULATION GLOBAL sector—by raising tariffs prematurely or by building large-scale infrastructure—were DIAGNOSTIC TOOL implemented without first making the necessary adjustments to the foundational issues of utility performance and sector governance. For example, expanding water supply without improving perfor- Challenge: Weak policy, institutional, and mance puts the long-term sustainability regulatory frameworks fail to provide suit- of a utility’s operations at greater risk by able incentives and an enabling environ- increasing both costs and inefficiencies. ment within which public and private Using this approach, billions invested in sector organizations can function and the urban water sector have failed to reap deliver water services. Previous global the expected outcomes. The intention to initiatives offered a range of promising rebuild better through increasing access technical solutions that often proved to to resilient WSS services has demonstrated be unsustainable. Governments and devel- the need for new approaches centered on opment partners have in the past made strengthening institutions. a series of high-profile changes to sector policies and infrastructure through indi- Approach: In response to this funda- vidual, uncoordinated interventions. Some mental and complex sector challenge, Annual Report 2020 37 GWSP supported the development and Additionality: PIR operational support has implementation of the Policy, Institutional, been provided to a multitude of countries. and Regulatory (PIR) Global Diagnostic For example, in the Democratic Republic Tool, which guides users through a list of of Congo a comprehensive review of the targeted questions designed to identify new water law was completed. In Egypt, policy, institutional, and regulatory bottle- operational support focused on specific necks, and reforms to address them. regulatory reforms and capacity-building efforts. In Uruguay, a PIR analysis contrib- A suite of products is offered to clients, uted to a sector wide review, while in partners, and Bank teams, including Nepal a PIR analysis informed sector assessments, reform options and action strategies and corporate business devel- plans, and advocacy tools. opment. Finally, in Kenya, a PIR analysis informed a sector strategy as well as oper- The PIR Global Diagnostic Tool directly ational efficiency. contributes to WSS operations and supports countries in strengthening PIR In addition to this analytical work, GWSP frameworks. GWSP has supported deci- is supporting preparation of PIR diagnos- sion-makers and other WSS stakeholders, tics and action plans in Mozambique, using the PIR Global Diagnostic Tool to India, Brazil, Bosnia and Herzegovina, spur policy dialogue about the reforms Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uzbekistan, and required to achieve the goal of universal these have informed the design of access and to deliver targeted solutions specif ic World Bank lending project specific to each country. components and activities. 38 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 Maximizing Finance for Development CROWDING IN FINANCIERS IN to achieving the long-term sustain- THE EUROPE AND CENTRAL ability of WSS services; (2) improve cost recovery rates and thus utilities’ finan- ASIA REGION cial sustainability and creditworthiness; and (3) support the commercial banking sectors’ entry into selective utility lending by developing the skills of commercial banks to take municipal/utility risks. Challenge: Within the Europe and Central A GWSP-supported activity is assisting Asia (ECA) region, the Danube Water efforts in the ECA region to improve the Program (DWP) estimated the invest- water sector’s financial sustainability. This ment gap among Danube countries to be includes (1) the development of a potential approximately €2.5 billion a year (almost specific financing vehicle in collaboration $3 billion), and that current investment with IFC; (2) the development and cura- levels in a number of countries are insuf- tion of knowledge and analytical work; ficient to maintain and manage assets in and (3) learning and capacity-building the long run. To dynamize overall sector activities targeting utilities, key policy financing and help fill these financing makers, regulators, and other sector stake- gaps, governments need to crowd in holders as well as World Bank staff. This commercial f inance, building on the fiscal year, this activity helped to: existing sources of finance. This can be accomplished by ensuring that service 6 Develop a full-fledged prefeasibility providers strive toward more eff icient study for a specific investment vehicle, services; institutional, governance, and or financing facility. The facility would regulatory arrangements are clear and leverage potential IFC and commercial transparent; and scarce public and funding and target the financing of concessional funds are used in a more WSS utilities’ investments in infrastruc- targeted manner. ture and equipment for the reduc- tion of nonrevenue water/losses and Approach: A regional or multicountry improvement of resource efficiency financing facility that leverages commer- with solid profitability prospects and cial financing has emerged as a potential short payback periods. development solution with the following objectives: (1) provide f inancing for 6 Kick-start the preparation and delivery small investments resulting in efficiency of a capacity-building program on improvements that can in turn contribute the f inancing of municipal WSS Annual Report 2020 39 services in Bosnia and Herzegovina, building on the existing capacity-building complementing the existing delivery delivery model. mechanism of the DWP. The capaci- ty-building program is followed by an The work is also informing the Bank’s new on-the-job learning approach by which operations in the region under prepara- utilities are requested to develop their tion: (1) the Water and Sanitation Services own action plan for improvement Modernization Program in Bosnia and based on lessons learned. Herzegovina, where the launching of the capacity-building program will enable 6 Support high-level policy dialogue targeted utilities to better engage in on the potential to use public-private Bank operations, which encompass a partnerships in the irrigation sector of range of reforms around setting cost-re- ECA countries, especially Turkey. That covery tariffs and improving operational dialogue focused on specific proposals efficiency; (2) the Albania National Water and examined the viability of various Supply and Sanitation Sector Moderniza- options moving forward. tion Program, by providing supporting evidence around the positive impact of Additionality : GWSP suppor t has operational efficiency savings in financial enabled a strong synergy and connection sustainability, and helping gain govern- (including cofinancing of the prefeasibility ment endorsement of the proposed study mentioned above) to connect the program design; and (3) consultations and DWP team with resources and experts an investigation of public-private partner- to improve and broaden their regional ship options that will inform the concept understanding of sector financing, thus f inalization and design of a project to allowing them to give better advice to modernize irrigation in Turkey. clients. Specifically, the work highlighted above has enabled the Bank team to: (1) gain a deeper understanding of the ACCESS TO FINANCE FOR financing needs of service providers, to LOCAL GOVERNMENT-RUN improve operational efficiency and cost recovery, and barriers to access private UTILITIES IN INDONESIA f inancing; (2) establish a knowledge base to allow closer work with IFC (that has brought a broader angle/perspective on municipal financing); and (3) be in a position to offer the network of utilities in the DWP and in the World Bank client Challenge: Indonesia is the fourth-most countries a new capacity development populous country in the world with 256 program focused on utility f inancing, million people, spread over a vast 5,150 km 40 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 equatorial archipelago of 17,000 islands. Its identifying and assessing project designs urban population was estimated at 137.4 and proposals, and (4) a general lack of million people in 2015, an increase of 34 technical and operational knowledge. million from 2005. Despite its lower-mid- dle-income economy, only one-third of Approach: In FY20, GWSP prioritized the urban population has access to piped the strengthening of PDAMS through: water services on household premises, (1) training in commercial f inance and lagging signif icantly behind regional private sector participation opportunities neighbors. Responsibility for the provision in collaboration with IFC, the United States of water services in urban areas shifted Agency for International Development from the central to the local government (USAID), and other development partners; as part of a decentralization process, with (2) preparing guidance on WSS public-pri- water utilities (Perusahaan Daerah Air vate partnerships and the development Minum, or PDAMs) now being owned of regional water supply schemes; and by local governments. However, many (3) assessing the impact of the COVID-19 subnational governments have neither pandemic on PDAMs, using the Rapid fully accepted the transfer of responsi- Assessment Toolkit, also developed by bility for water services, nor have adequate GWSP. The toolkit has been translated capacity and resources, and local funding into Bahasa Indonesia to make it easier of water infrastructure continues to fall for PDAMs to use. short. In this context, local governments are both owners of PDAMs and the regu- Additionality: GWSP support to the World lators of tariffs, and many have little polit- Bank–f inanced National Urban Water ical appetite for tariff increases. As a result, Supply Program (NUWSP) has allowed investment has not kept pace with popu- central and local governments to have lation growth and depreciation. access to resources and experts, which has deepened and broadened the under- The majority of PDAMs are very small, with standing of sector financing options. This less than 10,000 connections. The opera- has resulted in new perspectives on sector tional performance of PDAMs is generally financing, particularly from the private low, with average national nonrevenue sector. Three NUWSP-supported PDAMs water estimated at 33 percent. Less than have reached financial closure with their half of all PDAMs were found to be oper- private sector investor, leveraging more ating at cost-recovery levels in 2017. Key than $60 million, and 11 others are in the capacity constraints faced by PDAMs process of finalizing their proposals for include: (1) the ineff icient commercial investment through private sector or operations of water utilities, (2) a lack of commercial borrowing. GWSP support has understanding of and commitment to helped PDAMs in assessing the impact full cost-recovery tariffs, (3) challenges in of COVID-19 on their operations through Annual Report 2020 41 the COVID-19 financial impact assessment able manner. The approach focused on tool, and utilizing the results to establish two dimensions of sustainability—the dialogue in identifying potential support underlying water resources and the finan- for PDAMs and local governments. cial viability of operations. Water PNG’s ability to understand and assess the risks associated with water resource selection, BUILDING THE FINANCIAL including climate change impacts and VIABILITY OF WATER IN anthropic pressure, has been increased. Investments have been optimized by PAPUA NEW GUINEA WHILE enhancing water resources selection as EXPANDING COVERAGE well as designing treatment and pumping arrangements in order to minimize oper- ating costs. The utility now prioritizes service expansion based on financial effi- ciency indicators, such as the long-term average cost of service and the commer- Challenge: Papua New Guinea has the cial rate of return. Water PNG is improving lowest water and sanitation access indi- its design manual to optimize systems for cators among the 15 developing Pacific small, remote towns, building on the anal- Island nations, according to the Joint ysis carried out under the technical assis- Monitoring Programme (JMP) of the tance, while restructuring its operating World Health Organization (WHO) and model to enhance profitability. The design UNICEF. Improving the country’s access model developed is now being imple- results will rely, in part, on the ability of mented in seven towns and can, in the Water PNG, one of the two national urban future, be replicated across the country utilities, to fulfill its mandate to provide under the leadership of Water PNG. water service to 70 district centers. Water PNG was already struggling to serve the Additionality: As a result of the technical larger national and provincial capitals assistance funded by GWSP, Water PNG within its service area on a f inancially improved its capacity to address its finan- sustainable basis; the addition of these cial sustainability challenges. The utility’s small towns, representing sometimes just enhanced capacity to plan for sustain- a few hundred connections in remote able service provision is now helping to areas, days of travel away from the utility’s improve the design of $40 million water current operational centers, presented supply systems in secondary towns, to be a significant investment planning and implemented starting in 2021 with Inter- operational challenge. national Development Association (IDA) financing from the Papua New Guinea Approach: With GWSP support, technical Water Supply and Sanitation Project. It will assistance has been provided to Water also support the viability of companion PNG to strengthen its capacity to serve investments being designed by the Asian these towns in an efficient and sustain- Development Bank. 42 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 Annual Report 2020 43 Uganda & Kenya THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: ATTRACTING COMMERCIAL FINANCE FOR WATER SERVICE PROVIDERS Banks in Sub-Saharan Af rica do not pendent sector regulator, ring-fencing normally view water service providers as revenues and establishing a framework creditworthy borrowers, and governments to move toward cost-reflective tariffs. are often reluctant to borrow from the These measures resulted in more self-suf- private finance market to finance water ficient providers, with the stronger ones and sanitation investments. However, covering operation and maintenance costs GWSP-supported activities in Uganda and generating surpluses for investment. and Kenya have proved that, though the Support provided over several years, initially time frame may be long, success can be by the Water and Sanitation Program achieved in attracting commercial finance (WSP), and more lately from GWSP and for African water utilities. the Public Private Inf rastructure Advi- sory Facility (PPIAF), has led to a bankable Sector reforms implemented by the project pipeline. Working with Kenyan Government of Kenya in the early 2000s banks, service providers, and local govern- created autonomous utilities and an inde- ments, support was provided to financial 44 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership management, project modeling, and busi- go ahead as it was made redundant by ness planning. The regulator was supported the availability of a grant f rom a bilat- to establish a mechanism to assess utility eral donor. Discussions around domestic creditworthiness—initially publishing borrowing were reopened at the time of shadow credit ratings for 43 utilities in 2011, a new strategic plan for NWSC in 2016, and eventually integrating the process into and the World Bank was approached utility performance evaluations. once again for assistance. GWSP and PPIAF provided support for a prefeasi- As tariffs were inadequate to cover all bility study for a loan or bond from the capital expenditure costs, a blended domestic market. With the support of financing mechanism was put in place USAID, NWSC obtained an AA credit that included grants to support services in rating in 2018. Consultations revealed that low-income areas from the World Bank’s local investors were supportive of a bond Global Partnership for Results-Based issuance of up to $40 million. However, Approaches (GPRBA). These grants were NWSC was concerned that issuing a bond paid against independent verif ication would be time consuming, and as its that households had received services. financing needs were urgent, the corpo- As WSPs were responsible for pref i- ration decided to seek a commercial loan. nancing the investment costs, there was Bids were invited from 20 local banks, of significant risk transfer to both WSPs and which 11 responded, and in December the commercial banks, and some loans 2019 a loan agreement was signed for a were supported by partial credit guar- $15 million loan over five years at a fixed antees f rom the United States Agency rate of 15 percent per annum. The Ministry for International Development (USAID). of Finance provided approval and no These have allowed utilities in Kenya to government guarantee was issued. enter into arrangements with lenders that extend floating rate loans for up to Experience in both Kenya and Uganda 10 years. The total volume of financing confirms that commercial bank financing achieved totals $25 million to date, and of water and sanitation utilities is possible over 450,000 people have benefitted from under a conducive environment, specifi- new or improved services as a result. cally, adequate liquidity in capital markets; political commitment to the process; an GWSP has also supported Uganda’s independent regulator that supports cost National Water and Sewerage Corporation recovery, transparency, and fairness; and (NWSC), which first requested support in utilities with demonstrated financial and 2006 when it was considering a domestic technical capacity. GWSP funding enabled currency bond. PPIAF and WSP provided flexible, sustained support, working in part- technical assistance, but, despite signif- nership with PPIAF and GPRBA and other icant effort, the bond issuance did not development partners such as USAID. Chapter 1 Annual Report 2020 45 Building the Utilities of the Future UTILITIES OF THE FUTURE potentially lead to rationing of water and FRAMEWORK impacts on quality and levels of services. Approach: In FY20, GWSP supported development and initial implementation of the concept of the Utility of the Future (UoF), further expanding the concept and In many places around the world, water methodology of the Utility Turnaround and sanitation services are provided by Framework. The UoF is built on good public water utilities. While some such util- sectoral practices and four additional “UoF ities perform well, many others suffer from dimensions”: (1) resilience, (2) inclusion, (3) the types of performance issues observed innovation, and (4) market and customer in other public sector entities, such as low orientation. The UoF Diagnostic and financial, operating, and investment effi- Action Planning Tool facilitates assess- ciency and deficient quality of service. ment of the current maturity level of a While they have the mandate to deliver utility, determines realistic objectives, and services in support of national targets, they then assists in the preparation of action often lack the institutional structure, exper- plans. It includes indicators to track how tise, resources, and incentives they need well utilities have embedded inclusion (for to provide sustainable universal access example, related to gender or disability) to WSS services. Global forces, including in their institutional processes, as well as climate change, water scarcity, population an index measuring customer orientation. growth, and rapid urbanization, exacerbate these obstacles. Additionality: The UoF concept is helping to shape the entire WSS portfolio; the ulti- COVID-19 has worsened many of these mate objective is to use the tool to inform challenges. The suspension of water billing clients on their policies and capacity chal- (for all or part of the population) has been lenges as well as potential or ongoing a common feature of countries’ socioeco- operations. This year it has influenced the nomic response to the crisis. As a result, design and implementation of nearly $1.7 utilities are reporting significant revenue billion in pipeline and active World Bank reductions, as well as increased oper- lending projects. The UoF program is being ating costs as coverage is being urgently rolled out across 15 different utilities in extended to underserved communities. Albania, Brazil, Belarus, Turkey, Pakistan, In the short term there is a high risk of Peru, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Uruguay, disruption to service continuity, and in the Ghana, and Ethiopia as part of the diag- long run the devastating impact on finan- nostic phase—spanning a range of condi- cial and operational sustainability could tions and geographies. For example, in 46 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 Turkey the UoF is being piloted to improve reduction program; water safety plans; host and refugee communities’ access to monitoring and reporting; inf rastruc- safely managed water supply, sanitation, ture asset management; and resilience, and solid waste services in selected munic- climate change adaptation, circular ipalities affected by the influx of Syrians economy, and drought management. Under Temporary Protection. Outputs f rom this support will include the development of an asset manage- The UoF initiative is also providing a plat- ment strategy and implementation of a form for collaboration with the Dutch geographic information system. government under the WaterWorx program (the Dutch Operator Partner- In Lima, Aguas de Portugal has provided ship Program). This cooperation will support to SEDAPAL in the development maximize the performance of partici- and implementation of a modernization pating water utilities by improving their strategy. Support was focused on the operational performance, through Water- following areas: corporate governance; Worx, and leveraged by the World Bank investments control and financing; asset Group’s capital and institutional expertise. management; and resilience, climate Furthermore, the UoF has been directly change adaptation, circular economy, and responsive to utility needs in the face of water resources management. the COVID-19 pandemic by developing a COVID-19 Emergency Response and Recovery Checklist and Excel Module; ASSISTING UTILITIES TO Considerations for Financing Facilities for RESPOND TO COVID-19 Water Utilities; and a COVID-19 Financial Impact Model for WSPs (highlighted in this report). GWSP has provided tailored support to utilities globally including the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) Challenge: The unprecedented impact of in Karachi, Pakistan, and Servicio de the COVID-19 pandemic, and the associ- Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Lima ated public health measures required to (SEDAPAL) in Lima, Peru, through the combat it, have presented WSS service Water GP’s partnership with Aguas de providers with immense challenges. Given Portugal. With support from the World the importance of reliable water supply Bank’s Karachi Water and Sewerage provision for handwashing to interrupt Services Improvement Project, KWSB the spread of the disease, governments has started an ambitious utility reform around the world have ordered emer- program across all levels of the organi- gency response measures to ensure zation. The ultimate objective of reforms that water supply services are not inter- is capacity building and improving rupted during the pandemic. Such the enabling environment to allow for measures include policies to provide free improved utility performance. Specific water, suspend service disconnections, areas of suppor t through the UoF freeze tariff increases, and use tankers initiative include a nonrevenue water to enhance services, among others. The Annual Report 2020 47 resulting decline in tariff revenues and tion of supply chains, and lack of increase in operating expenses means personal protective equipment) and that service providers are facing liquidity ensure business continuity. The ERRP problems that put continuity and sustain- guidelines were shared with clients ability of their services at risk. globally, and Aguas de Portugal also provided support and inputs to emer- Approach: It is imperative that service gency plans developed by utilities in providers can rapidly identify any bottle- Afghanistan, Lebanon, Pakistan, the necks in continuing, and expanding, unin- West Bank and Gaza, and Zambia. terrupted service delivery. Quick action in assessing the need for financing facili- 6 COVID-19 Financial Impact Assess- ties for water and sanitation utilities, and ment Tool for Water and Sanitation finding the resources to finance them, Providers. This simple Excel-based is perhaps one of the most important tool and manual enables utilities to actions in response to the COVID-19 crisis. set a baseline, using data f rom the GWSP provided rapid support to respond time before the pandemic affected to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing their operations, to project their four emergency response and recovery revenue, regular operating expenses, tools, including: emergency expenses related to the pandemic (such as additional labor 6 Emergency Water, Sanitation, and costs, additional chemical costs, new Hygiene (WASH) Rapid Assessment water points, and additional tanker Checklist. This tool was created to services), and debt service. They can assess the existing status of WASH then prepare projections of the total services in towns, cities, neighbor- monthly cash needed in light of these hoods, and facilities. The checklist is a factors. The tool and manual are being quick, inexpensive instrument to iden- translated into Spanish, Portuguese, tify bottlenecks in WASH services in French, and Bahasa Indonesia. the target area, and determine short- term, no-regret interventions that can 6 Considerations for Financial Facili- be implemented on a priority basis, ties to Support Water Utilities in the with complementary medium-term COVID-19 Crisis. This document lays actions. The checklist equips govern- out options and considerations in the ments and World Bank teams with design of facilities to provide emer- guidance on how to provide continued, gency f inancial support to water uninterrupted WASH service delivery utilities in response to the COVID-19 during an emergency, such as the pandemic. It is designed to help deci- current COVID-19 pandemic. sion-makers incorporate context-spe- cif ic factors such as the economic 6 Emergency Response and Recovery situation, the scope and scale of the Plans (ERRPs). These were devel- crisis, and the institutional arrange- oped in partnership with Aguas de ments governing the sector, along Portugal, and help utilities minimize with policy considerations that will operational impacts due to COVID-19 influence the design of the facility. It (such as staff absenteeism, disrup- builds on the experiences of previous 48 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 f inancial crises, such as the global resources from an existing World Bank f inancial crisis of 2007–08 and the project have been rapidly mobilized to Asian financial crisis of 1997. help meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and assistance is being In addition, a guidance note was developed provided to the Addis Ababa Water and for World Bank task teams on integrating Sewerage Authority (AAWSA) to under- social inclusion dimensions into COVID-19 take borehole rehabilitation of existing pandemic responses, including measures groundwater sources and the replace- to address the differential needs of female ment of water pumps across the city in utility employees during the crisis. order to urgently increase water supply to densely populated areas. The ERRP Additionality: With GWSP support, Water guidelines were utilized to support the GP staff have been able to work directly development of an emergency response with utilities to develop immediate action and preparedness plan for the Afghani- plans for COVID-19 emergency response stan Urban Water Supply and Sewerage and recovery. On-demand support has Co m p a ny w i t h a f o c u s o n i m m e - been provided to the Lusaka Water and diate, high-impact actions to build the Sewerage Company in Zambia to develop capacity of the utility, including planning, an emergency response plan, to the processes, and procurement. Support in Ghana Water Company Ltd. to prepare Afghanistan was coordinated with utility an action plan to address the impacts managers, government leaders, and of COVID-19 and plan recovery, and to other development partners engaged the West Bank and Gaza. In Ethiopia, in the sector. Annual Report 2020 49 The Financial Impact Assessment Tool has restructure the existing Water and Sani- been used extensively in Latin America tation Development Project to support and the Caribbean (LAC), where it has a conditional liquidity support grant of been instrumental in assessing the short- $50 million to select priority providers to to medium-term cashflow impacts of finance the O&M necessary to keep water COVID-19 and in developing plans and flowing, including the costs of chemicals, strategies to mitigate longer-term finan- electricity, spare parts, salaries, and regu- cial impacts. EMAPAG of Guayaquil, latory levies. Ecuador, has used the tool, as have five utilities of varying sizes in Bolivia, Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Areq- SUPPORTING WEST BANK uipa (SEDAPAR) of Arequipa, Peru, and AND GAZA WATER AND the national utility AyA in Costa Rica. Five water service providers in Honduras have WASTEWATER SERVICE used it to inform remedial actions to be PROVIDERS THROUGH included in the Honduras Urban Water THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Supply Strengthening Project. In Africa, AND TOWARD RESILIENT the Rapid Assessment Checklist has been shared with colleagues from government, RECOVERY utilities, and the World Bank that are working on the Nigeria Third Urban Water Sector Reform Project and the Nigeria COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project. In Middle East and North Africa, the tool was used in Jordan, and will feed Challenge: Although water and waste- into a financial sustainability road map water services are essential in the battle being prepared in partnership with the against COVID-19, service providers in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the water West Bank and Gaza are facing new chal- sector development partner group, and lenges to ensuring business continuity. the Ministry of Planning and Interna- These include increased staff absenteeism, tional Cooperation. The tools have also shortage of basic chemicals, and financial been used by a number of bilateral and stresses as customers struggle in a slowed nongovernmental development partners. economy. In a survey of service providers, 38 percent reported they were operating GWSP support to utilities in Kenya has with a less than 50 percent staffing level led to the establishment of a liquidity over the period between March and May support facility, after the Kenyan Water 2020, while only 34 percent of the major Services Regulatory Board was supported providers and 17 percent of the smaller to collect operational and financial data ones had a 30-day supply of chlorine. f rom over 70 water services providers These new challenges are layered upon that identified a financing gap due to the the preexisting political and economic COVID-19 pandemic of about $70 million fragility in the West Bank and Gaza, where for the eight-month period between aging inf rastructure is deteriorating, May and December 2020. The Ministry water supply is intermittent, and sewage of Water requested the World Bank to treatment is inadequate. These under- 50 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 lying conditions, combined with the new Bank and Gaza are local government pandemic pressures, create the potential units, the signing of the memorandum for water supply failure, sewage infiltra- demonstrates commitment to a unified tion into the water network, and disease approach to be adopted by all service outbreak and spread. providers, establishing a precedent for future emergencies. The PWA is in the Approach: GWSP helped mobi- process of refining the guidelines for the lize support to the Palestinian Water application of the approach in other coun- Authority (PWA), which is responsible for tries where there is an equivalent need to the management of water resources and build the resilience of service providers, water sector planning and development and other development partners have in the West Bank and Gaza. Assistance shown interest. was provided through the GWSP-funded Water Expertise Facility (WEF), which enabled the rapid mobilization of consul- CREATING INCENTIVES FOR tants to support the PWA in assessing the CHANGE IN PUBLIC AGENCIES: impacts of COVID-19. Service providers were surveyed, allowing for the identi- FIELD-LEVEL LEADERSHIP IN fication of risks and the prioritization of THE ADDIS ABABA WATER actions, and resulting in a detailed tech- AND SEWERAGE AUTHORITY nical note. The note focused on ensuring a level of service that safeguards public health while steering service providers through the current crisis and into recovery. It included measures to ensure the resiliency of the sector, including the Challenge: Water service delivery agen- immediate, medium-, and long-term cies, together with their partners, have phasing of operations and activities typically employed a fairly standard based on assessment of risks, innovative template of three elements—capital technology solutions for the distanced investments, institutional reforms, and operation of systems, and technical capacity building—in an attempt to backup for teams, such as long-term stem service decline and reach unserved twinning agreements with more experi- populations. Yet, many water agencies enced utilities. These measures are appli- in the developing world have continued cable to both the current pandemic and to perform poorly. There is a growing future emergencies. recognition that the problems underlying this poor performance are complex and Additionality: Based on the technical multidimensional, and therefore cannot note, the PWA, supported by the GWSP- be addressed without tackling the chal- funded technical advice, developed lenges of organizational culture and staff detailed guidelines that provided the basis motivation. Sometimes, the solution is for a memorandum of understanding found in a charismatic and inspiring between the PWA and the Ministry of leader, but what is needed is an opera- Local Government. As the majority of the tional approach that can motivate the 300 water service providers in the West staff who deliver service. Annual Report 2020 51 A p p r o a c h : G W S P i s te s t i n g n e w In parallel with the World Bank’s invest- approaches to support water service ments under the Second Ethiopia Urban providers to improve the coverage and Water Supply and Sanitation Project, quality of services. Field-level leadership GWSP is supporting a three-year FLL (FLL) is an approach predicated on an activity designed to enhance commit- understanding that success depends in ment to, and ownership of, sustained large part on how well change is under- improvements among the staff of AAWSA. stood, embraced, and executed by individ- AAWSA had antiquated and cumber- uals across the ranks of the implementing some systems that undermined efficient organization. Beyond capacity building, network management, customer care, FLL cultivates ownership and incentives, and financial viability. The key elements of driven by an internal vanguard of staff at the FLL approach involve creating a safe all levels, rather than external facilitators space for problem solving; encouraging or experts. entrepreneurial individuals to emerge 52 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 and self-organize into informal groups; Ethiopia. The Government of the Neth- and supporting these informal groups of erlands is working with the Municipality change leaders to implement improve- of Beira, Mozambique, to implement FLL ments, enhance community outreach, across municipal service delivery in 10 and assume more aggressive results districts. Beyond water supply and sani- targets. Importantly, GWSP is supporting tation, GWSP is supporting the applica- both a rigorous evaluation of the process tion of FLL to the irrigation sector with the and results as well as documenting the Ministry of Agriculture in Uganda and the methodology for replication. Ministry of Irrigation and Regional Irriga- tion Cooperatives in Morocco. Early results achieved in 2020 in AAWSA show signif icant impact, such as: (1) tangible evidence of culture change and SCALING UP CITYWIDE increased motivation, including a 60 INCLUSIVE SANITATION percent drop in staff who reported late for duty; (2) significant increases in water billing (up to 30 percent) and revenues (up to 47 percent) in the branches that utilized the approach; and (3) increased water supply to the most underserved areas Challenge: The Citywide Inclusive Sani- through revisions of water delivery sched- tation (CWIS) initiative was introduced ules, reducing the percentage of customers in the GWSP annual report of FY19. This receiving water less than two days per week initiative continues to shift the paradigm by 11 percent. Because of their enthusiasm of urban sanitation to focus on delivering and dedication, the FLL leaders have been sanitation as a service and providing deputized to lead AAWSA’s response to access for all, especially the poor. While COVID-19 in Addis Ababa. progress is being made on urban sanita- tion, population growth and the declining Building from the documentation and eval- quality of urban infrastructure continue uation underway, GWSP is supporting the to present a challenge to achieving the finalization of an FLL manual and theory SDG target of safely managed sanitation of change, an information paper, and an for all. Only 43 percent of urban residents online learning and sharing platform. globally have access to safely managed sanitation. As the world urbanizes, the Additionality: The FLL approach is now challenges of urban sanitation increase, being amplif ied through the work of with urban population growth dramati- other donors, extended to other sectors cally outpacing gains in sanitation access. and subsectors, and applied in other Total global costs of inadequate sanita- countries. WaterWorx has been a partner tion are estimated at $260 billion annually, and cofinancier in applying FFL first at and reaching the SDG urban sanitation AAWSA, and, based on its success there, targets will require over $45 billion each at the Ghana National Water Company. year. If only conventional sewerage and WaterWorx is also supporting the estab- wastewater treatment are considered as lishment of the first FLL Training Center solutions, we will not reach universal safely in Africa, now operational in Legedadi, managed sanitation. Annual Report 2020 53 Approach: CWIS looks to shift the urban A number of knowledge products were sanitation paradigm, aiming to ensure developed during FY20, including: that everyone has access to safely managed sanitation by promoting a range 6 Fecal Sludge and Septage Treatment of solutions—both on site and sewered, Engineering Design Book. This engi- centralized or decentralized—tailored to neering design manual responds to the realities of the world’s burgeoning the urgent need to guide engineers cities. CWIS focuses on service provision in how to design treatment works to and its enabling environment, rather appropriately handle the increasing than on building infrastructure. This shift volumes of fecal sludge and septage in paradigm requires a shift in mindset. collected in the rapidly expanding Governments and development agen- towns and cities of the world, filling cies increasingly recognize that historic an important global knowledge gap. approaches to urban sanitation have The book includes detailed design not always worked and new approaches, recommendations and design stan- such as CWIS, are required. By promoting dards for a range of appropriate fecal a range of technical solutions across the sludge and septage treatment tech- sanitation service chain, and integrating nologies. Following the English orig- the f inancial, institutional, regulatory, inal, the French version of the book environmental, and social dimensions of was finalized and published during urban sanitation service provision, CWIS FY20; the book is now being translated approaches improve equitable sanitation into Spanish and Portuguese. access. They also support environmental protection and water resource planning 6 Urban Sanitation Rapid Assessment through appropriate waste management Guide and Sanitation Mapping and and reuse. The work supported by GWSP Prioritization Framework. These on CWIS thus contributes primarily to tools provide service providers with sustainability, but also to inclusion, insti- a means to assess sanitation service tution building, and financing solutions. gaps and plan for short-, medium-, and long-term solutions—and to do In FY20, the CWIS team contributed so at far greater speed than traditional to multiple knowledge products and approaches to assessments and feasi- worked with task teams, government bility studies. The first tool was devel- decision-makers, and other stakeholders oped and implemented in 22 cities to help initiate CWIS approaches and in Ethiopia, where it has identif ied influence the design of urban sanita- no-regret investments for short-term tion projects in over 25 countries around f inancing under Bank operations. the globe, f rom Angola to Indonesia, It has since been adapted for use in Uruguay to Yemen. Despite the restric- small towns and rural areas in Nigeria tions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and for countrywide assessments in the CWIS team has continued to support Kenya, where it will inform the design task teams virtually, including by joining of new investment operations. The virtual missions, safe space discussions, second tool was developed in Yemen and workshops. A series of webinars was to assess the status of urban sanitation created to share knowledge outputs with in the country’s two major cities, while a wider audience. they were being ravaged by a combi- 54 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 nation of war, cholera, and—more Connect to Sewerage Networks” was recently—COVID-19. The Yemen assess- revised and prepared for publication ment has supported the identification in FY20; the guide is designed to assist of appropriate urban sanitation invest- governments and Bank task teams to ments and sustainable solutions and is increase household connection rates directly informing the implementation to sewer networks. In partnership with of ongoing projects and the design of WaterAid, WHO, and the International new operations in the country. Labour Organization (ILO), a report on the “Health, Safety and Dignity of Sani- The CWIS team also supported knowledge tation Workers” presents findings from products related to inclusion, intended nine case studies of sanitation workers to help service providers and deci- in LMICs. The analysis highlights action sion-makers consider vulnerable popu- areas to ensure that efforts to reach the lations while implementing sanitation sanitation SDG targets do not compro- projects. “Connecting the Unconnected: mise the dignity, health, and rights of the Approaches for Getting Households to sanitation workforce. Annual Report 2020 55 Additionality: The CWIS team directly and policies in select states, sanitation supported governments in enhancing activities will be implemented in urban and s a n i t a t i o n a cce s s fo r l ow- i n co m e rural areas as well as small towns and will and vulnerable populations, and also align with the principles of local govern- supported World Bank operational activ- ment areawide inclusive sanitation. ities that support this aim. For example, in Ethiopia the team is helping develop In Bolivia, GWSP and the CWIS team have inclusive guidelines for public toilet assisted the government in advancing infrastructure, as well as supporting the its urban sanitation agenda, including design and management of these facili- on CWIS strategic planning, fecal sludge ties by microenterprises run by women management, piloting the use of condo- and people with disabilities; in Yemen and minial/smart sewers, and connecting the Turkey, the CWIS team is supporting the unconnected to sewer systems. In Uruguay, development of sanitation solutions for the CWIS team has supported the National refugees and internally displaced people Water Directorate (Dirección Nacional de (IDP) camps in ongoing or proposed proj- Agua, DINAGUA) in advancing the oper- ects; and in Bangladesh, the team has ationalization of its recently approved influenced the design of a project compo- National Sanitation Plan, particularly in nent to improve sanitation services for identifying institutional, legal, and regu- Dhaka’s urban poor. latory gaps in Uruguay’s sanitation sector. This plan recognizes the need to use a In Nigeria, the team is supporting the wide menu of sanitation options, including government’s “Clean Nigeria” campaign to sewerage networks, fecal sludge manage- achieve an open-defecation-free nation by ment, and on-site sanitation solutions, and 2025. As part of the preparation of a results- recommendations on how to adapt the based operation that aims to increase current legal and regulatory framework to access to WASH services through the this new concept will feed into the discus- development of infrastructure, institutions, sions on a new Sanitation Law. 56 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 Water and the Circular Economy WASTEWATER: FROM WASTE conclusions with stakeholders and prac- TO RESOURCE titioners involved in wastewater planning, financing, and management (including water utilities, policy makers, basin orga- nizations, and ministries of planning and finance) to encourage a paradigm shift in which the value proposition of waste- Challenge: Traditionally, wastewater treat- water in a circular economy is recognized. ment focused on removing contaminants The report highlights the findings and and pathogens to recover water and safely conclusions from six technical background discharge it into the environment. Today, papers and several case studies. Four key wastewater treatment plants must be actions are being recommended if coun- viewed as water resource recovery facil- tries are to mainstream circular economy ities that recover elements of the waste- in wastewater treatment: (1) make waste- water for beneficial purposes: water (for water plans at the level of the river basin; (2) agriculture, the environment, industry, move from wastewater treatment plants to and even human consumption), nutri- water resource recovery facilities; (3) imple- ents (nitrogen and phosphorus), and even ment innovative financing and business energy. These resources can generate models; and (4) work on policies, institu- revenue streams for the utility, which tions, and regulations. The case studies would potentially transform the sanitation analyze a series of successful projects by sector from a heavily subsidized one to looking at the determinants for success one that generates revenue and is sustain- from institutional and regulatory angles, able. The challenge is thus to help build and by presenting business and financial the utilities of the future by realizing the models. The case studies provide clear value of wastewater. recommendations for projects that want to incorporate circular economy principles Approach: GWSP has supported an in wastewater treatment. The initiative initiative called “Wastewater: From Waste involved a participatory process, including to Resource,” launched in 2018 to raise multiple consultations and workshops with awareness among decision-makers of key stakeholders working on wastewater the potential of wastewater as a resource. management projects in the LAC region. In FY20, a follow-on report entitled “From Waste to Resource: Shifting Paradigms for Additionality: Since it was launched, the Smarter Wastewater Interventions in Latin report has been downloaded more than America and the Caribbean” was published 29,000 times. There has been an increase by GWSP. The purpose of this report is to in demand f rom clients, development share the knowledge created and the partners, and World Bank staff for Annual Report 2020 57 support in mainstreaming the concept the design and construction of climate- of the circular economy in projects and smart and resilient shared facilities and in policy design. An interesting example services, including wastewater treatment can be found in the case of the Bangla- to supply process water to industries and desh Private Investment and Digital potential reuse and desalination options Entrepreneurship Project (a $500 million to support water demand. Given the dollar project approved in June 2020). risk of natural disasters in the area, the This project aims at promoting private inf rastructure will be developed with investment, job creation, and environ- enhanced resilience to climate impacts. mental sustainability in participating Private partners, when feasible, will cofi- economic zones and software technology nance capital investments and contribute parks in Bangladesh. One of its objec- business and technology expertise. tives is to mainstream sustainable and climate-resilient practices in economic The work on shifting f rom a waste to zones. The Waste to Resource initiative resource approach is allowing the World has influenced several subcomponents of Bank team to provide project support the project, including those that support in Tanzania, India, and Indonesia, and to 58 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 support the Government of Colombia in GWSP support, it has since been rolled the drafting of national policy integrating out into several countries in Latin America, the circular economy in the water sector. in partnership with other agencies, and is now being introduced in Af rica and Central Asia. BUILDING INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR SUSTAINABLE To date, data f rom over 34,500 rural communities in 12 countries are in the RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND system, the vast majority of which have SANITATION (SIASAR) been published on the public website. The data collected can be used to assess the sustainability of services by scoring water and sanitation coverage in communities, including households, schools, and health centers; functioning of WSS systems and Challenge: In many countries, systems to the service levels they provide; the perfor- regularly monitor the O&M performance mance of service providers in O&M; and of services are scarce or even absent. the capacity and performance of local Governments lack the information they government, nongovernmental organi- need on coverage and system function- zations (NGOs), and others in providing ality in order to plan investment, under- technical assistance. National and local stand gaps in delivery, and prioritize and governments, NGOs, and academic target support interventions. There is a institutions are using the data to inform need for systematic, reliable, and publicly investment planning and targeting, iden- accessible information that will allow tify the capacity gaps of rural water service governments to undertake evidence- providers, and evaluate and augment the based decision-making for the rural WSS quality of technical assistance to address sector, and allow local stakeholders and these gaps. citizens to be engaged. SIASAR includes targeted questions to Approach: The Rural Water and Sani- identify climate-related impacts on water tation Information System (Sistema de supply, such as water availability and Información de Agua y Saneamiento seasonality. SIASAR also helps govern- Rural, SIASAR) is an innovative, web-based, ments ensure that interventions are open-data platform that uses data inclusive, as it can produce data disag- collected on smartphones and tablets gregated by gender and minority group. to monitor rural WSS services. SIASAR Panama, for example, has used SIASAR to can be used to identify capacity gaps collect and analyze data on more than 25 among rural service providers, evaluate percent of the Indigenous communities the quality of available technical assis- in the country, and has used these data to tance, and monitor coverage. SIASAR was inform plans and policies to reach Indig- developed under the World Bank’s Water enous people. Partnership Program and Water and Sani- tation Program (precursors to GWSP), in GWSP, working in partnership with the response to requests for assistance from Education and Health GPs, supported Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. With enhancements to provide data on WASH Annual Report 2020 59 in health centers and schools—essential guage capability, as it is available in both components in the response to COVID-19. Russian and Kyrgyz. SIASAR has been As a result, policy makers are better able to introduced as the sector’s monitoring and target resources toward those public insti- evaluation system, providing data on the tutions most in need of emergency WASH system status and service provider perfor- interventions to combat the spread of the mance of almost one-third of its 1,800 pandemic. This information has been used remote and mountainous villages. to develop policy notes on Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia, and Brazil. As a re s u l t o f a G WS P - s u p p o r te d South-South Knowledge Exchange, the Additionality: SIASAR continues to Government of Uganda has recently expand in the LAC region. The govern- learned f rom experience in Colombia ments of both Colombia and Paraguay and prepared a road map for piloting formally recognized the system and, SIASAR. GWSP is supporting this work to alongside the Dominican Republic and strengthen the capacity of local govern- Nicaragua, have been supported in using ments to manage rural water and sani- SIASAR to better target inf rastructure tation systems. SIASAR tools have been investment. In Nicaragua, SIASAR data adapted and linked to existing manage- have been used for the Impact Evalua- ment information systems in the country. tion of the Sustainable Rural Water Supply Stakeholders in the Ugandan water sector and Sanitation Sector Project. In Brazil, appreciate the fact that SIASAR can incor- SIASAR is being used as part of the Rural porate data from other databases, and Development Project (a joint project therefore can be used as a “hub” to aggre- between the Agriculture and Water GPs), gate data, facilitating collective action and in Ceara, SIASAR has been adopted as and collaboration. part of the state’s information system. In Panama, SIASAR has proven instrumental There are plans to expand the use of in reporting progress within the results SIASAR into Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Chile, framework of the National Indigenous Eswatini, and Ethiopia (through the Ethi- Peoples Development Project. opian government’s large One WASH program). Tajikistan has expressed SIASAR has been designed to facilitate interest in the system, in part based upon rapid adaptation to new contexts. Its a presentation at a regional conference in implementation in the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyz Republic on that country’s experi- in particular, demonstrates its multilan- ence with SIASAR. 60 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 Focus on Inclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the GWSP-supported activities focused on extent to which structural inequalities in maximizing opportunities for female access to health and WASH services are employment and entrepreneurship contributing to higher rates of disease and (including through virtual knowledge larger drops in income among persons events and peer-to-peer networks), and with disabilities, residents of informal used partnership and networks to rein- settlements, Indigenous communities, force support through implementation. and ethnic minorities. Existing gaps A case note was prepared to demystify in access to high-quality employment perceptions of the cost of disability-in- among women combined with greater clusive design, and is helping to diminish household care responsibilities are leading common barriers. By embedding inclu- to larger declines in women’s income. To sion indicators and metrics into core diag- illustrate, a survey concluding in June nostics such as the UoF framework, it is 2020 during the first wave of the disease in hoped that inclusion will be less subject Nigeria found that 44 percent of female- to being viewed as an “add-on” to be owned businesses closed vs. 33 percent pursued when resources are plentiful, but of male-owned businesses. Studies such rather as a core part of doing business and as the GWSP analysis of the gendered addressing structural barriers. impact of flooding in Argentina point to the long-term impact that women’s lack of At the same time, the magnitude of effective voice in deliberative bodies, such economic impacts related to COVID-19, as emergency management committees, combined with constraints in the fiscal is likely to have on their ability to recover space, present tangible risks of significant economically post–COVID-19. These chal- backsliding on gains in inclusion, high- lenges exacerbate existing gaps such as lighting the importance of shoring up lack of adequate menstrual hygiene for these gains going forward. women and adolescent girls, and inad- equate access of female farmers to the same productive and extension advice BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS given to male farmers. FOR WOMEN THROUGH Given the structural nature of exclusion, in EQUAL AQUA FY20 GWSP inclusion activities focused on increasing the measurement of outcomes relevant to women’s equality in water insti- tutions versus tracking only inputs, further anchoring inclusion into institutional processes and building knowledge and Challenge: The GWSP-supported publica- capacity for inclusive COVID-19 responses. tion, “Women in Water Utilities: Breaking Annual Report 2020 61 Barriers,” established the scale of the inclusive and gender-sensitive responses gender gap among water utilities; only to the COVID-19 pandemic. Equal Aqua 18 percent of water utility workers are has connected utility managers to one female, and these women face many another to brainstorm inclusive and barriers to starting and advancing their sustainable responses to the COVID-19 careers. These include biases in the hiring pandemic, including measures to address process, inadequate family-friendly poli- the differential needs of female employees cies, lack of role models, and fewer during the crisis. In addition, close to 90 training and mentoring opportunities. water utilities have participated in bench- These challenges are further exacer- marking activities and received tailored bated by the global pandemic and its scorecards on where they stand in terms impact on women’s access to and ability of gender diversity and inclusion vis-à-vis to remain in the labor market given the regional and global averages. Overall, data increased responsibilities at home. The collected through this exercise show that report provided a framework and range of though there is heterogeneity across solutions to diagnose and address these regions, women’s underrepresentation problems. But, beyond understanding this in leadership positions is a common gap, GWSP has supported the recogni- thread that cuts across virtually all utili- tion of the complexity of the process of ties surveyed, making this an area of work shifting norms (and power) for women that needs more attention going forward. and men in water institutions, as well as Benchmarking has been critical in raising the challenges of finding efficient ways client awareness of this gap. to continue to support these change processes during implementation. Equal Aqua is partnering with academic institutions (for example, the Institute Approach: In 2020, with GWSP funding for Sustainable Futures at the University support, the Water GP launched a global of Technology Sydney has now become client-facing collaboration platform called an active Equal Aqua partner), and is Equal Aqua, with key partners (Sida, exploring collaboration opportunities with USAID, WaterAid, Xylem, and the Global utility associations, such as the Australian Water Partnership), international orga- Water Association and the International nizations, and water utilities. Equal Aqua Association of Water Service Companies provides a framework for tracking and in the Danube River Catchment Area. improving gender equity, has established the first water industrywide comparative Additionality: To date, the framework and benchmark for gender performance in the tools developed with GWSP support have workplace, facilitates peer-to-peer support informed more than $3.6 billion in lending and learning among water institutions, operations, accelerating gender actions and consolidates research on the most and contributing to building more inclu- effective strategies to deepen gender sive institutions and policies and practices. diversity in water sector institutions. Over 40 World Bank client agencies in 19 countries are using the Equal Aqua frame- To date, the platform has attracted 16 work and tools to undertake changes formal partners and has held 7 client-fo- in gender equality in the workplace; cused training sessions and meetings, and as this grows, it will begin to influ- 2 of which were focused specifically on ence industry norms on gender equity. 62 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 Overall, in FY20, as a result of the analyt- 2019, the Lilongwe Water Board has seen ical work under the Women in Water a major shift in its board composition, and Utilities project and subsequent Equal now 60 percent of board members are Aqua platform, more than half of World women. Bank–supported water projects included objectives aimed at improving women’s employment opportunities in the sector, IMPROVING MENSTRUAL a significant increase over prior years. HYGIENE AND HEALTH For example, Ethiopian utilities, supported by the Second Ethiopia Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Project, actively participated in training provided through Equal Aqua, in partnership with USAID Challenge: Millions of women and girls and Tetra Tech, on practical actions to lack access to household-level water and support gender equality and build resil- sanitation facilities and thus have no ience during the COVID-19 pandemic. private space to change and dispose of Twenty-three of these utilities in Ethiopia menstrual materials or wash during their have completed the human resources periods. The impact of social stigma and gender survey, creating a baseline on lack of access to adequately equipped gender diversity—this is the largest sanitary facilities has been shown to number of utilities in a single country affect adolescent girls in terms of higher to have completed the survey to date. school absenteeism, and lower self-es- The data will be used by the Water teem at a critical point in their devel- Development Commission to inform opment. Approximately 50 percent of the implementation of an action plan schools in low-income countries lack that integrates gender considerations in adequate drinking water, sanitation, and project monitoring and evaluation. hygiene, which means that pubescent girls and female teachers are not able to GWSP support has led to innovative manage their menstruation. Improving approaches. In Malawi, the Lilongwe menstrual hygiene and providing access Water Board, supported by the $100 to affordable menstrual materials can million Lilongwe Water and Sanitation help improve girls’ and women’s access Project, used Equal Aqua analysis tools to education, opening more options for to diagnose gender gaps and received jobs, promotions, and entrepreneurship, tailored support from a coach specialized and thus unleashing female contributions in gender and diversity issues. Based on to the overall economy. these assessments, the company initi- ated a process of change, which included, Approach: Capitalizing on a global among other things, reviewing human moment to drive a conversation and resource policies and creating a child- leverage partnerships, the Water GP care facility on premises. This and other participated in Menstrual Hygiene Day in actions have led to an increase in the 2020, for the third year running. The Water percentage of women in supervisory roles GP joined over 500 partners f rom the and management positions to 26 and 22 private and public sector, including WASH percent, respectively. In addition, since United, Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Annual Report 2020 63 UNICEF, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Inter- nanced $115 million Mozambique Urban nationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), Sanitation Project (MUSP) include MHH and the United Nations Population Fund, facilities, and a sanitation marketing and in a worldwide communication campaign hygiene promotion campaign empha- to raise awareness of the importance of sizing the importance of improving access access to menstrual hygiene manage- to menstrual hygiene for girls and women, ment and efforts to address taboos on including training for teachers and pupils. menstruation. A social media package It will finance the construction of 78 public that included internal and external feature sanitation facilities in schools and markets stories, videos, and live interviews was in the two project cities, Quelimane and released on multiple media platforms Tete. The project expects to reach more across the globe. The global campaign than 88,000 female students, and is to reached 411 million people and messaging be scaled up to cover an additional 235 was adopted in over 4,000 online arti- schools in Zambézia, Tete, Manica, and cles and more than 150,000 social media Sofala provinces. These approaches will contributions, making Menstrual Hygiene inform future interventions in schools Day 2020 the biggest ever. across the country. In 2020 GWSP also ramped up its support to operations addressing the menstrual ENSURING WATER SERVICES needs of women and girls, and launched AND RESOURCES REACH an operational Resource Package on Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH). PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES The package was prepared in consulta- tion with the gender group, education, health, f inance, competitiveness, and innovation GPs as part of a larger effort to build cross-sectoral holistic approaches Challenge: More than 1 billion people to MHH in World Bank projects to further around the world have some form of enhance the impact on female empow- disability, 80 percent of whom live in erment. This resource package provides developing countries. People with disabil- user-friendly guidance on how to design ities face multiple barriers in accessing and monitor effective, inclusive, and water and sanitation services. They are sustainable MHH initiatives. also often excluded from water-related decisions and therefore their needs are Additionality: GWSP-supported work often not considered in inf rastructure has influenced the World Bank’s efforts projects. This is not only detrimental to improve MHH for women and girls to their health and well-being, but also around the world through a growing contributes to lower employment rates, number of lending operations. In FY20, lower educational achievements, and 21 percent of new Water GP projects higher levels of poverty among persons included MHH considerations in project with disabilities. documents. Among WSS projects, this percentage was 45 percent. For example, Approach: In FY20, GWSP supported task planned interventions under the IDA-fi- teams to incorporate disability issues into 64 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 2 World Bank–supported projects, and to GWSP and the Water GP have also made embed indicators and recommended a change in their own operations to reflect practices for disability inclusion into their commitment to accessibility: this is sectorwide approaches, such as the UoF the first practice and trust fund at the framework. Two new knowledge notes World Bank Group to change their publi- were published, including a case study cations process to ensure that documents of the Third Water Supply and Sanitation are accessible for persons with disabilities. for Low-Income Communities/Commu- Terms of reference for designers and type- nity Based Water Supply Project in Indo- setters have been updated to make reports nesia, which documents the advantages compatible with adaptive devices used by of adopting a participatory approach persons with visual impairments. to inclusive design. The case study also revealed the fact that taking disabili- Additionality: Since 2018, the percentage ty-inclusive approaches in water projects of World Bank water projects that include involves very small incremental costs; for actions to ensure that water services and instance, the cost of building inclusive resources reach persons with disabilities handwashing facilities under this project has grown consistently. In FY20 a record 25 was only 1 percent more than conven- percent of projects included such actions, tional facilities. So far, a comprehensive an increase from just 4 percent in FY18. disability-inclusive approach has been applied to 4,293 villages in Indonesia and As a result, GWSP’s analytical and knowl- the government agency involved has set edge work has also directly influenced a goal of applying this approach in 10,000 the lending operations of the Bank. For villages by 2021. example, in Ethiopia, with the support of the Second Urban Water Supply and With the support of GWSP, the Water GP Sanitation Project, AAWSA has included has also participated in several capac- inclusive designs that cater to persons with ity-building events and sessions with disabilities in nearly 300 public toilets and external and internal partners, including 438 communal toilets in low-income urban a session during Stockholm World Water areas. Public toilets are operated by asso- Week 2019 that brought together multiple ciations of persons with disabilities and partners for a discussion on inclusive and women’s associations and have become participatory approaches. An overall objec- a source of income for these groups. tive of this session was to bring in people Besides providing WASH services, in order with disabilities into conversations that to provide sufficient income generation, are helping to define WASH priorities and these toilets include corner shops and approaches. The Water GP has also orga- garden areas with tea or coffee vendors. nized multiple sessions with internal part- This approach is being replicated by util- ners, such as the Social Development GP, ities in several Ethiopian cities supported to highlight good practices from water by the project. GWSP funding allowed projects that have adopted inclusive the provision of support to deepen the approaches and to identify entry points for disability inclusion and gender approaches designing disability-inclusive operations. integrated in the project, which also GWSP also supported the publication of involved providing advice on national strat- four project snapshots on inclusion. egies on gender and disability. Annual Report 2020 65 66 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Advancing Results Monitoring results is an integral part of program implementation, a principle well understood by GWSP. The GWSP Results Framework was designed to track how the Partnership helps enhance the World Bank’s water portfolio and achieve measur- able results on the ground. In particular, the Results Framework demonstrates the addi- tionality of GWSP investments—the added value that could not be achieved with World Bank lending resources alone. Annual Report 2020 67 FY20 was a big year for monitoring and a potent combination of resources. assessing the results of GWSP’s program Through new thinking, long-term country implementation. In addition to its regular engagement, specialized knowledge, and grant monitoring, GWSP commissioned just-in-time technical assistance, GWSP midterm assessments in four of nine strengthens institutions as they build up priority countries—Benin, Bolivia, Egypt, to and sustain reform, enhances project and Uganda.1 The purpose of these assess- design, supports agencies with relatively ments is to test innovative interventions low capacity in project implementation, and approaches that, complemented and helps country institutions quickly by World Bank lending investments, are respond to changing circumstances. This expected to significantly shift the trajec- process is illustrated in figure 3.1. tory of outcomes in the sector. This chapter highlights the results THE GWSP RESULTS observed in FY20. A complete set of tables FRAMEWORK listing the indicators, targets, and prelim- inary measures of the year’s progress on three components (Blocks A, B, and C) of The GWSP Results Framework streamlines the Results Framework is presented in the tracking and reporting of results using appendix B. Summaries of the midterm standardized indicators across five priority assessments of the four priority countries themes. Indicators are grouped into three mentioned above (Block C) can be found components, or blocks. Block A looks at in chapter 4. the multiyear knowledge and technical assistance activities supported by GWSP. Block B considers how newly approved GWSP AS AN AGENT OF and active World Bank lending operations CHANGE IN WATER REFORMS in the water sector have been influenced by GWSP-supported knowledge and tech- AND INVESTMENTS nical assistance. Block C reports qualita- tive and quantitative assessments of the GWSP effectively acts as a “think tank,” influence and impact of knowledge and providing client countries, other develop- technical assistance on lending operations ment partners, and World Bank staff with of the Water Global Practice (Water GP) in global knowledge, innovations, and coun- nine priority countries, based on agreed- try-level technical support while also lever- upon indicators, at intervals over the life aging World Bank Group resources and of the Partnership (see figure 3.2). financial instruments. This dual approach of combining analytics, technical assis- tance, and knowledge with large invest- KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNICAL ments through World Bank lending is one ASSISTANCE SUPPORTED BY of GWSP’s unique features and provides GWSP (BLOCK A) 1 The other five countries designated as a priority by the Partnership are Bangladesh, This component comprises intermediate Ethiopia, Haiti, Pakistan, and Vietnam. outcomes that are directly achieved by 68 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 3 FIGURE 3.1: HOW GWSP’S “KNOWLEDGE INTO IMPLEMENTATION” BRINGS ABOUT RESULTS ACROSS ALL WATER SUBSECTORS GWSP knowledge, analytics, and technical assistance INCREASE THE CAPACITY of water sector officials, the World Bank, and its partners, to implement water sector reforms and design projects. INFLUENCE reform programs and infrastructure projects in the water sector, financed by the World Bank and others. LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS, POLICIES, PROGRAMS can be designed to facilitate sustainable water management and service delivery; and can be implemented through a broader range of financing options. EVERYONE HAS ACCESS to sustainable water services (as defined by SDG 6 and other water-related SDGs) Annual Report 2020 69 FIGURE 3.2: THE THREE COMPONENTS OF THE GWSP RESULTS FRAMEWORK BLOCK C COMBINED RESULTS 6 Results from technical assistance, knowledge work, and lending operations in nine priority countries (Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Pakistan, Uganda, and Vietnam). 6 Baseline data reported in FY18, and results reported at midterm (FY20 and FY21) and end of term (FY22). Qualitative updates provided on an annual basis.                     BLOCK BLOCK A B KNOWLEDGE, ANALYTICS, INFLUENCE ON AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE WORLD BANK LENDING 6 Institutions and/or policies strengthened in 6 Design features of the World Bank’s Water support of the five priority themes. Global Practice lending that address GWSP’s 6 Amount (in US dollars) of World Bank five priority themes (sustainability, inclusion, lending influenced by GWSP-supported finance, institutions, and resilience). knowledge and technical assistance. 6 Access/availability of services and number of strengthened institutions across all water subsectors, reported by the active World Bank lending portfolio in the water sector. 70 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 3 GWSP activities. Indicators under Block primary theme to which it was expected A are intended to present a picture of to contribute results; most contributed how funds have been used during the to additional, secondary, themes as well. reporting year, looking at only the active portfolio of grants. The activities consid- When analyzing the makeup of the active ered include global, regional, national, and portfolio based on primary themes, 40 subnational analyses, as well as technical percent are tagged as contributing to assistance provided to country counter- sustainability, 24 percent to institutions, parts. Monitoring Block A also involves 19 percent to resilience, 11 percent to tracking the dollar amount of World Bank financing, and 6 percent to inclusion (see lending influenced by GWSP-supported figure 3.3, a). Inclusion and financing are knowledge and technical assistance—that often pursued as part of an overall focus is, the approved and pipeline lending proj- on sustainability and institutions. When ects informed by active GWSP grants in a looking at secondary themes, the repre- given fiscal year. sentation of both these themes substan- tially increases—to 17 percent for inclusion The indicators under Block A measure and 16 percent for f inancing—and the the influence that the active grant port- portfolio’s overall contribution toward folio has on policies and institutions in the f ive priority themes appears more client countries and are supplemented balanced (see figure 3.3, b). by qualitative analyses and narratives, as illustrated in chapter 2 of this report. Block A also includes 19 indicators that Results manifest in the short, medium, measure expected results across the five or long term; some technical assistance priority themes. A detailed breakdown of may address short-term institutional the results achieved under component bottlenecks, while policy advice may A is included in appendix B, table B.1. take longer to show influence. Accord- Based on the FY20 portfolio, figure 3.4 ingly, as a grant enters its second and shows where results are observable or third year, the likelihood of reporting expected across the five priority themes, results increases. Given that grants exit highlighting the diversity of GWSP’s the monitoring process once funding portfolio. In FY20, more than 60 percent has concluded, the percentage of results of the active grant portfolio under the achieved under Block A tells only part of priority themes of sustainability, inclu- the story. Outcomes achieved at later sion, financing, and institutions, and more stages are captured by monitoring the than 50 percent under resilience, reported processes and indicators listed under achieving intermediate outcomes. The Blocks B and C. remaining 40 percent of activities are expected to achieve results by FY22. In FY20, the GWSP portfolio contributed results across all f ive priority themes. In addition to the number of activities Each GWSP activity was assigned a reporting results under each theme, Annual Report 2020 71 FIGURE 3.3: PORTFOLIO BREAKDOWN BY PRIMARY AND SECONDARY THEMES, FY20 A. PRIMARY THEME B. SECONDARY THEME 6% 11% 16% 25% 17% 19% 40% 17% 24% 24% FIGURE 3.4: NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES CONTRIBUTING TO RESULTS UNDER EACH THEME, FY20 120 100 80 38 36 60 67 69 25 18 37 40 39 40 40 20 0 Reported results achieved in FY20 Results to be achieved in FY22 72 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 3 FIGURE 3.5: BLOCK A: EXAMPLES OF RESULTS ACHIEVED IN FY20, BY THEME 44 water institutions across 23 countries (six more institu- tions and two more countries than in FY19) across Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean were supported to sustain- able infrastructure assets 46 policies/strategies across 26 countries (compared to 27 policies/strategies across 18 countries in FY19) enhanced social inclusion in the management of water resources or service delivery 25 countries (compared to 10 countries in FY19) across the world saw their institutions supported to improve financial viability and creditworthiness 37 countries (compared to 19 in FY19) across Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Middle East and North Africa had policies/strategies and/or regulatory frameworks informed to strengthen the institutional environment for improved water resources management and/or water service delivery 32 countries (compared to nine in FY19) with water-related institutions were supported to build resilience in water resource management or service delivery (Angola, Bangladesh, China, Kenya, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Uganda) Annual Report 2020 73 f igure 3.5 outlines the types of results customer engagement strategies that achieved. A detailed breakdown of the take into account the language and acces- results achieved under Block A is included sibility needs of different groups, adopting in appendix B, table B.1. human resource strategies focused on attaining gender parity at all leadership FY20 saw an increase in the number of levels, or conducting training programs expected results achieved across the 19 for underrepresented groups (like women indicators. This year, two global diagnos- and minorities), and designing flexible tics—the Policy, Institutional, and Regula- billing and payment schedules that help tory (PIR) Diagnostic and Action Planning customers manage their cashflow. For Tool, and the Utilities of the Future (UoF) more details on both diagnostics, please Diagnostic and Action Planning Tool— see chapter 2. contributed to a higher number of water sector policies and institutions supported across the five priority themes. Specifi- GWSP INFLUENCE ON WORLD cally, the support was to build sustained BANK WATER LENDING water resources, improve service providers’ financial viability and creditworthiness, GWSP’s unique value proposition enables enhance social inclusion, build resil- the Partnership to influence, through ience, and strengthen the institutional knowledge and technical assistance, the GWSP informed $13 billion in lending operations in FY20 environment for improved management design and implementation of water of water resources and service delivery. sector reforms and infrastructure projects Both diagnostics directly address insti- financed by the World Bank Group. tutional bottlenecks that are preventing the achievement of sustainable and resil- Since its inception, GWSP repor ts ient water supply and sanitation (WSS) the amount of World Bank lending 2 services for all, and offer institutional interventions to remedy the identified bottlenecks. The UoF f ramework also focuses on strengthening water institu- 2 Influenced lending is calculated based on tions’ capacity to undertake more inclu- approved and pipeline lending projects that sive approaches, for example, through were informed by active grants. 74 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 3 directly influenced by GWSP-funded the same project for more than one grants every year, based on information year. However, that additional influence collected through the annual monitoring is not counted in subsequent years. For process. For the purpose of reporting, example, FY20’s reporting reflects only the analysis focuses on whether influ- those projects influenced for the f irst ence was achieved and the dollar value time in FY20, and not those previously of the projects that were influenced. reported in FY18 or FY19. In FY20, we If GWSP-supported knowledge was observe that the proportion of the influ- used in the design or implementation enced lending across global practices of a World Bank operation, the value of beyond water has markedly increased that operation is counted in its totality. (from 35 percent in FY19 to 59 percent). This is explained by the cross-sectoral The amounts reported every year reflect work advanced by the Water GP teams, World Bank lending projects that were and a growing preference observed influenced for the first time that year. among client countries to engage in As mentioned earlier, GWSP grants are bigger lending projects that seek to multiyear; thus, grants usually influence transform more than one sector at a time. FIGURE 3.6: $13 BILLION IN WORLD BANK LENDING INFLUENCED BY GWSP, FY20 $0.5 Agriculture and Food $1.4 Energy and Extractives Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy $1.1 Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Governance Health, Nutrition and Population $5.4 $0.5 Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment $0.4 Poverty and Equity Social Protection and Jobs $0.9 Transport Urban, Resilience and Land $0.9 Water $1.4 $0.2 Annual Report 2020 75 FIGURE 3.7: GWSP INFLUENCE ON GLOBAL WATER-RELATED WORLD BANK LENDING, BY REGION, FY20 4 projects 7 projects    MNA ECA $0.7B $0.9B         LAC AFR SAR EAP    $0.9B $5.6B $4.1B $0.9B                      8 projects 35 projects 20 projects 4 projects Source: GWSP Portfolio Monitoring Data. Note: AFR = Africa; EAP = East Asia and Pacific; ECA = Europe and Central Asia; LAC = Latin America and the Caribbean; MNA = Middle East and North Africa; SAR = South Asia. 76 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 3 INFLUENCE ON WATER GP specific actions tracked in the Results LENDING PORTFOLIO SHIFT Framework during implementation. In addition, 25 percent of new proj- AND OUTCOMES (BLOCK B) ects approved in FY20 (compared to 13 percent in FY19) identified persons Block B reports on the Partnership’s with disabilities as an excluded influence on World Bank water-related group, and included actions related lending. It does so first by tracking new to making the project more inclusive lending across the five priority themes. and accessible. This provides for the monitoring of port- folio shifts and commitments to priori- 6 Resilience: Eighty-eight percent of new tize one or more themes. Second, it tracks projects incorporated resilience in the the results of active lending operations, design of water-related activities. In most of which were influenced by activi- addition, the climate change co-ben- ties funded by GWSP or its predecessors, efits of projects in countries supported the Water Sanitation Program (WSP) by the International Development Asso- and Water Partnership Program (WPP). ciation (IDA)—some of them among A detailed breakdown of the results the world’s poorest countries—jumped achieved under this block is included in from 40 percent in FY19 to 74 percent appendix B. in FY20. This means that the portion of project financing that delivers either climate change mitigation or adapta- NEWLY APPROVED LENDING tion benefits to project beneficiaries PROJECTS has substantially increased. This year also saw an increase in the number of FY20 saw an improvement across all indi- fragile and conflict-affected situations cators tracked for newly approved lending (FCSs) supported with a resilience lens, projects in the Water GP, with most indi- with projects approved in five places cators exceeding the f ive-year target experiencing FCS: Kiribati, Kosovo, established for FY22. In FY20, 24 projects Somalia, Timor-Leste, and the West were approved by the World Bank under Bank and Gaza. three main business lines: water supply and sanitation (13 projects), water resource 6 Financing: There was also an increase management (8 projects), and water in in the percentage of projects that agriculture (3 projects). GWSP supported supported reforms/actions improving the following achievements: financial viability (from 74 percent in FY19 to 88 percent in FY20), and of 6 Inclusion: In FY20, 95 percent of proj- projects with explicit focus on lever- ects were gender tagged, meaning aging private finance (from 11 percent they demonstrated a results chain by in FY19 to 19 percent in FY20). In both linking gender gaps identified in the cases, the year’s performance is far analysis during the design phase to greater than its share of the overall Annual Report 2020 77 FIGURE 3.8: ONGOING LENDING OPERATIONS 150 ongoing lending operations in the World Bank water-related portfolio reported the following results achieved in FY20, influenced by activities funded by WSP, WPP, and GWSP. 11.4 million people 1.2 million hectares have access to an improved water under sustainable land/water source (of which 5.5 million female) management practices 8,994 tons/year BOD pollution 1 million hectares (biochemical oxygen demand) loads of land with new or removed by treatment plants improved irrigation services 3 million farmers 2.2 million people adopted improved agricultural tech- in areas covered by water risk nology (of which 0.9 million female) mitigation measures 78 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 3 targets set for the period FY17–22 (84 percent and 14 percent, respectively). 6 Institutions: Compared to last year, there was a slight decrease in the percentage of projects that support reforms/actions that strengthen institutional capacity, from 100 percent in FY19 to 96 percent in FY20, although still above the FY22 target of 90 percent. This slight decrease is explained by one new additional financing project that was not counted toward the indicator. However, the original project to which this additional financing is linked, does include measures to support the strengthening of regional water resource management, in line with the indicator. GWSP INFLUENCE ON WATER GP LENDING OPERATIONS IN SELECTED PRIORITY COUNTRIES (BLOCK C) GWSP’s work includes a focus on nine priority countries—Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Pakistan, Uganda, and Vietnam. GWSP invests strategically in these countries. The influence and impact of knowledge and technical assistance, coupled with large-scale lending supporting policy reforms and infra- structure investments, is measured in these nine countries as the Block C component of the GWSP Results Framework (see appendix B for lists of relevant indicators). As agreed by the parties to the Partnership, in FY20 midterm progress assessments were conducted in four of the nine priority countries. The remaining five countries will be assessed, and the results reported, in FY21. A summary of the emergent global lessons learned can be found in chapter 4. The summary of the four Block C country assessments is available in appendix C. Annual Report 2020 79 80 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Moving the Needle HOW GWSP IMPROVES IMPLEMENTATION GWSP seeks to ensure that its analytics, technical assistance, and policy advice are of the highest quality, and of value to clients and other development partners. In effect, this entails “moving the needle” to improve policies, delivery, and capacity. As part of the GWSP Results Framework, highlighted in chapter 3, the Partnership undertakes peri- odic assessments of its work in nine priority countries—Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Pakistan, Uganda, and Vietnam. Annual Report 2020 81 GWSP investments in these countries GWSP, the World Bank, and other provide the opportunity to test innova- development partners. tive interventions and approaches that, when combined with World Bank lending Independent water sector consultants investments, are expected to signif i- conducted the assessments, drawing on cantly shift the trajectory of outcomes stakeholder interviews, desk reviews of in the sector. The influence of GWSP available documentation, and analysis knowledge and technical assistance in of data. The assessments focus on the these nine countries is measured as the relevance, coherence, and effectiveness Block C component of the GWSP Results of GWSP-supported work in alignment Framework. with the evaluation criteria of the Organ- isation for Economic Co-operation and As part of GWSP’s monitoring and evalua- Development’s Development Assistance tion, midterm progress assessments were Committee. Interviews were designed to conducted in fiscal year 2020 (FY20) in a capture the views of a wide range of stake- subset of these countries. Using a set of holders (from across government minis- indicators specific to each, assessments tries, nongovernmental organizations, of Benin, Bolivia, Egypt, and Uganda development partners, and the World examine the contribution of GWSP- Bank). Each assessment looked at a set of funded support to the achievement of indicators specific to each country, and the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG outcomes represented by these. Because 6) and other water-related SDG targets. of the recent start of the projects, quanti- The balance of the Block C countries will tative midterm values were not available at undergo similar assessments in the future. the time the assessments were conducted. However, the assessments provided quali- The midterm progress assessments have tative descriptions of progress toward each three objectives: indicator. (These descriptions are included under the “Midterm Results Achieved” 6 Assess progress, focusing on the pace sections of this chapter.) Summaries of the of change and the ability to sustain midterm progress assessments carried out that progress. in Benin, Bolivia, Egypt, and Uganda are available in appendix C. 6 Document how the support provided by GWSP and the World Bank is Country visits were possible in Uganda, helping governments achieve trans- but the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic formative change in the water sector. meant that interviews in Benin, Bolivia, and Egypt were carried out remotely. A 6 Identify emerging lessons learned summary of lessons learned and of the four to inform future support offered by country assessments can be found below. 82 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 4 EMERGING GLOBAL LESSONS partnership. It is also important to recog- nize that context matters. While work in While GWSP support to Block C countries other countries and regions can inform is tailored to government water strate- solutions, they cannot be applied without gies, the midterm progress assessments further contextualization. In GWSP’s work have provided an opportunity to identify in Bolivia, lessons f rom a fecal sludge common themes and trends across all management pilot in the city of Santa four countries. These emerging global Cruz were enormously influential in lessons are an important part of GWSP’s shaping the design of efforts in neigh- commitment to advancing knowledge in boring cities, yet it quickly became very the sector. clear that the pilot’s plans would require tailoring to better address their needs. The problem is not always what it seems. The pressure to achieve results Investments in data and analysis often results in a rush to design a solution complement inf rastructure lending before the problem and context are fully and increase its effectiveness. There understood. This can lead to a misdiag- is a historic bias in the water sector for nosis of the actual problem that needs building infrastructure over addressing solving. GWSP’s work in Block C coun- the “softer” aspects of the water sector, tries shows that a deep understanding such as policy reform and stakeholder of a country’s most pressing challenges engagement. Clients are often hesitant in the water sector and the root causes to borrow for analytics and technical assis- behind them is a necessary first step in tance, but infrastructure alone cannot designing solutions that work. achieve results. The midterm progress assessments demonstrate the value of Starting discussions with clients in parallel grant resources from GWSP for technical with the GWSP resource planning process assistance in contributing to the in-depth is one way of addressing this challenge. understanding of problems and contexts Brainstorming sessions and desk research needed to design effective solutions. can build client buy-in while informing the design of the grant. Investing in coor- By focusing initial project activities on dination with other development part- addressing data gaps and assessing ners and stakeholders in the sector up key sector challenges, GWSP support front can also pay significant dividends. has played a catalytic role in increasing In Uganda, the study launched a series of the effectiveness of World Bank lending discussions with the United Nations High and enhancing governments’ strategies. Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) GWSP work in supporting utility-based and other humanitarian organizations, water supply for refugee settlements in leading to a unique and highly impactful Uganda, for example, was informed by an Annual Report 2020 83 initial service delivery study that informed tion. Achieving universal coverage requires partners and identified opportunities for a concentrated focus on these groups and change. And in Benin, the gender gap their unique needs, with resources specifi- assessment supported by GWSP strength- cally allocated to address these challenges. ened the gender components of the Rural Yet, too often, marginalized populations Water Supply Universal Access Program are treated as an afterthought, due in (AQUA-VIE). part to the bias for infrastructure invest- ment as well as a focus on wealthier and Making inclusion a core part of develop- more politically connected urban popu- ment leads to better outcomes. Women lations. As seen from GWSP’s support, a and girls, poor households, and other more inclusive approach is often a more marginalized populations are most likely effective approach. As the Partnership to lack access to water supply and sanita- raised the prof ile of gender issues in 84 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 4 Benin’s water sector, service improved. Initial support should be directed In Uganda, GWSP’s support for sustain- toward entry points to build the foun- able water supply in refugee settlements dation for more ambitious reform. is contributing to the government’s Governments and development partners commitment to integrating refugees often plan broad, sweeping reforms that into the host population. More broadly, an attempt to address too many different inclusive approach to engagement is one challenges at once. However, the window that listens to a diverse group of stake- for reform is usually small and by being holders early and often improves project overly ambitious they risk losing the design and builds the buy-in critical for chance to achieve lasting change. effective policy reforms. For example, GWSP’s support for procurement and A more effective approach centers around citizen engagement processes in Egypt a narrower focus on the binding constraints was driven by extensive feedback from in the water sector, using a process of stakeholders—leading to better results. In problem identification with clients to prior- Bolivia, a codesign process with govern- itize activities that have high potential for ment, businesses, and households was a impact in a short time frame. This builds core part of GWSP’s work on developing immediate traction through quick wins, inclusive sanitation strategies. increasing the space for more complex, longer-term investments in transforming GWSP technical assistance can also the sector. For example, Benin’s focus on a u g m e n t Wo r l d B a n k l e n d i n g by specific government priorities in the rural supporting gender activities that go water sector ensured client buy-in, while beyond disaggregating indicators and targeted efforts to address challenges in expanding access to service. GWSP’s private sector engagement will contribute gender mainstreaming work in Benin, for to better service delivery. example, is helping increase the number of women employed in the water sector. Flexibility enables plans to be adapted The Partnership’s assistance can also as circumstances change. While plan- amplify the impact of World Bank loans ning project activities based on a solid through support for grievance redress foundation of problem identification is mechanisms and citizen feedback tools. an important part of effective technical While these are mandatory in World Bank assistance, one of the main advantages of loans, the level of rigor may vary. GWSP GWSP support is that it can be adapted support can encourage better design much more easily than large infrastruc- and use of these important instruments, ture investments when the situation which can provide valuable feedback and changes. As seen in Bolivia, where the improve project results. For instance, focus shifted from rural to urban water GWSP’s work with citizen engagement supply, government priorities can change processes in Egypt provided valuable over time, and GWSP-support was re-ori- customer feedback for water utilities, ented. GWSP’s approach is to work in close which have now adopted the tools as part partnership with governments across all of their customer service strategies. stages of policy reform and to maintain Annual Report 2020 85 the flexibility and willingness to modify not impossible task. Even in cases where or even cancel activities when needed. a more tangible impact has already been achieved, these gains are often fragile— The opportunity to align with World Bank even more so now during the COVID-19 lending is also an important advantage of pandemic. In Egypt, for example, GWSP’s GWSP’s approach and can lead to better work on citizen engagement and capacity outcomes. Close coordination across the building for water utility management has World Bank project cycle and coherence led to improvements across a number of with previous investments are critical key performance indicators. As of the end to achieving these benef its. In Egypt, of FY20, declining tariff revenues due to for instance, GWSP technical assistance the pandemic put this progress at risk. drew on lessons from a long history of World Bank engagement in the country For transformative change in the water to address key challenges in the sector sector, governments and development and was closely linked with the design partners must have a continued, long- and implementation of the current World term focus on the problem to be solved, Bank–financed project. As seen in Bolivia, along with a willingness to course-correct it is also important to remain flexible and adapt plans when needed. An inclu- and be ready to shift focus if projects are sive approach builds ownership and helps canceled or delayed. lock in policy reforms. Meaningful inter- mediate indicators, such as the number Good development takes time and direct of refugee settlements with commercial attribution is difficult. GWSP support to service delivery tracked in Uganda, can these four countries is making important also help make the case for maintaining contributions to policy reform and efforts. Building on previous work by the amplifying the impact of World Bank Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) lending. However, there is often a long and the Water Partnership Program gap between technical assistance, policy (WPP)—precursors to GWSP—is also shifts, and ultimate outcomes. Interviews an important aspect. In Benin, GWSP’s from the midterm progress assessments work on improving private concessions demonstrate the high value that clients was informed by a long track record of place on GWSP support, and the relevance support from WSP and the International of this work to planned policy reforms. Finance Corporation. Additionally, as seen However, much of the results achieved to in Uganda, working with other develop- date are qualitative in nature, and linking ment partners on a common problem can the impact of a single activity on sector- increase the likelihood of seeing results level outcomes is an extremely difficult if more quickly. 86 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 4 Annual Report 2020 87 88 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership Knowledge to Go Further Pursuing the vision of a water-secure world for all requires that we learn from the lessons of experience and turn knowledge into a force that shapes policies, informs implementation, and guides investments. While often under appreciated, the ways in which knowledge is shared and disseminated are indeed as important as the processes of generating or curating that knowledge. In effect, dissem- ination is the equivalent of pumping water through the pipes—without that, all other investments go to waste; without dissemi- nation, knowledge is underutilized. Annual Report 2020 89 GWSP’s approach to knowledge manage- made a push for better management ment is three-pronged: of water data. This codified knowledge is being used to inform the advice and 6 Leverage an internal network of insights provided to operational teams experts as well as world-class interna- and World Bank clients. tional experts to deliver just-in-time cutting-edge advice, 6 Learning from experience, from others, and through innovation: Knowledge 6 Systematically capture and codify is shared with clients, donors, devel- analytical breakthroughs and the opment partners, and staff through lessons of implementation, and a program of webinars, study tours, and workshops that have progressively 6 Create the space for continuous moved online. These different knowl- learning where both codified and tacit edge-sharing activities enrich codified knowledge can be shared. knowledge with tacit lessons coming from participants’ experience. To cover the last mile between knowl- edge and implementation, GWSP has continued to expand knowledge-sharing GLOBAL DIAGNOSTICS opportunities and deliver value from its robust knowledge architecture. GWSP uses global diagnostics to bring analytical rigor and cutting-edge analytics 6 Global diagnostics: GWSP created a into implementation through lending comprehensive series of scoping, advi- operations and shares these with key sory, and diagnostic products, with the policy makers, technicians, and other explicit purpose of ensuring that our partners. These diagnostics provide strategic priorities are mainstreamed solutions that can be tailored to specific into Bank operations. country circumstances, in recognition that a one-size-fits-all approach seldom 6 Just-in- time exper tise: To work works. The Partnership ensures that the through design and implementation learning feedback loop also works in both challenges with teams, GWSP mobi- directions, so that the specific demands lizes just-in-time expertise through and knowledge gaps revealed through a service desk, informal “safe space” our country analytics, operations and meetings, formal peer reviews, highlighted by in-country Water Global ongoing operational advisory tools, Practice (GP) staff, can inform our critical and small grants prioritizing strategic analytical work. priorities and innovations. GWSP’s approach to global diagnostics 6 Codified knowledge: GWSP produces was kicked off with the Water Supply, Sani- over 50 pieces of analytical work per tation, and Hygiene (WASH) Poverty Diag- year, comprising global diagnostics, nostics of 18 economies. The approach is evaluations, and lessons learned, all also being applied in a series of policy, insti- of which undergo a rigorous quality tutional arrangements, and regulations assurance process. In FY20, GWSP also reports (PIRs) in Brazil, India (Chennai), 90 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 5 Uzbekistan, Mozambique, and Bosnia a thousand requests from World Bank and Herzegovina; and in Water Security project teams, with more complex imple- Diagnostics in China (2018), Pakistan and mentation hurdles being discussed in “safe Vietnam (2019), Colombia and Moldova space” clinics among a roster of specialists (2020), and Argentina and Indonesia curated by GWSP. AskWater also taps into (forthcoming). vast databases of reports, lessons learned, and other analytical pieces sponsored by GWSP to find the necessary experts, and JUST-IN-TIME EXPERTISE potential solutions to the most pressing policy and implementation challenges in GWSP has honed mechanisms connecting the water sector. local and global challenges to a wide range of international professionals. Through the While the AskWater knowledge architec- “AskWater” service desk, staff gain access ture helps GWSP tap internal resources, to an internal network of 250 subject the Water Expertise Facility (WEF) is the matter experts—the Water GP technical service helping operational task teams cohort—and the knowledge and learning contract resources outside the World Bank. team, who respond to technical and opera- The WEF functions as a small grant facility tional challenges. Over time, the AskWater with a fast turnaround: World Bank task service desk has addressed more than teams can apply for seed money—typically The Water Expertise Facility in the Time of COVID-19 The Water Expertise Facility (WEF) offered the perfect instrument to address the needs created by the global health crisis. In Ecuador and Uruguay, seed funding from GWSP via the WEF was used by a team to pilot wastewater surveillance with Biobot Analytics, a spinout of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that leverages wastewater-based epidemiology to map population health in communities. The pilot project is building local capacity for laboratory analysis, especially around monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic, including early detection of new waves of infection. The outcome of this effort is a model illustrating geographic and population incident rates that enables medical resources to be allocated according to weekly variations. Lessons learned will inform a guidance note on best practices in applying wastewater surveillance to developing countries and emerging economies. Annual Report 2020 91 around $30,000—to respond to unforeseen briefs capturing a best practice or local implementation challenges, strengthen a success to comprehensive country diag- strategic activity, or fund a pilot. nostics; and from specific policy advice at the request of a client country to ambi- Through the WEF in FY20, GWSP supported tious regional or thematic frameworks teams across 27 countries and a wide intended to shape the global response range of technical challenges. A total of 31 to water challenges. Importantly, GWSP WEF grants supported initiatives touching publications cover not only geographic on gender, for example, in Kenya, Mauri- priorities, but also a vast array of technical tania, and Tanzania, contributing to issues including water quality, water scar- the establishment of water monitoring city, climate change, dam safety, water and evaluation systems in the Domin- supply and sanitation (including in fragile, ican Republic, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, the conflicted, and violent countries), sanita- Solomon Islands, and Kiribati; strength- tion, transboundary water, the circular ening dam safety in Brazil and Zambia; economy, and nature-based solutions. and supporting a series of studies related The “Featured Publications” section high- to COVID-19 in Ecuador, Uruguay, Nigeria, lights some of the most recently produced and the West Bank and Gaza. analytical pieces. CODIFIED KNOWLEDGE: DATA MANAGEMENT PUBLICATIONS AND DATA Having recognized early the need for more and better data on water, GWSP and the The ongoing analytical work of GWSP World Bank invests in comprehensive and the Water GP is compiled in the fifth benchmarking initiatives for urban and edition of Knowledge Highlights f rom rural water utilities (International Bench- the Water GP and GWSP (2016–2020) that marking Network for Water and Sanitation showcases over 180 analytical pieces and Utilities [IBNet] and the Rural Water and knowledge products, ranging in scope Sanitation Information System [SIASAR]). and ambition f rom quick knowledge This year GWSP delivered a new portal 92 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 5 aggregating open data on water, not only sensor for real-time monitoring of biolog- from the World Bank, but also from major ical wastewater treatment to operational development partners and academic decision-making platforms designed for institutions. The first phase of this project data-poor settings and a compact suit- offers a comprehensive catalog of datasets case-sized water treatment system using searchable by strategic priorities and coun- ceramic ultrafiltration and ultraviolet disin- tries. Subsequent phases will include data fection for mobile deployment, primarily visualization apps and curated collections in disaster zones or remote communities. by theme (http://wbwaterdata.org). In addi- tion, in the coming year, GWSP will support Historically, one of the most effective the restructuring of IBNET, including by mechanisms by which GWSP shares new assessing its business model and gover- knowledge with selected clients, part- nance options, and updating its indicators ners, technical experts, academics, the to further their relevance in the context of private sector, nongovernmental organi- current water and sanitation issues. zation partners, and World Bank staff has historically been the World Bank Water Week. This highly regarded event typi- LEARNING FROM cally includes a host of technical sessions EXPERIENCE, FROM OTHERS, on the sector’s most pressing challenges. As a result of the pandemic, the FY20 AND THROUGH INNOVATION event required a dramatic rethinking. GWSP solicited inputs and it became To layer codif ied knowledge with the apparent that the most pressing priority tacit lessons of experience and disruptive was how best World Bank staff could use technologies, a comprehensive learning the tools of the institution to meet the program notably looks for water inno- enormous pressure that COVID-19 was vations across institutional approaches, placing on the water sector. An inter- f inancing options, and technologies. nally focused Water Week was quickly Importantly, the program facilitates organized, with inputs f rom outside clients, donors, development partners, technical experts, and branded as Water and staff to learn from one another. GWSP Online Week (WOW!). With over 2,000 has developed relationships with inno- staff participations and outside experts vators and tech incubators, whose solu- across 11 sessions, WOW! was the first- tions are regularly shared with clients and ever virtual, large-scale learning event World Bank staff. at the World Bank and proof that staff and leadership teams find ways to come For example, GWSP supported a flag- together to focus on water and knowl- ship regional event entitled “A New Wave edge sharing despite the challenging of Water Innovators for the Asia Pacific,” times and fragmented spaces. In June, which accelerated the matchmaking of WOW! gave way to online water learning water innovations deployed by start-ups sessions (OWLS), a series of webinars, and f rom around the world with f rontline a catalog of over 200 on-demand virtual implementation in Asia. The technology learning opportunities that completed solutions presented during the event the transition of the Water GP learning ranged, for example, from a bio-electrode program into virtual spaces. Annual Report 2020 93 GWSP also contributed to an institu- process of communicating key messages. tion wide effort to ramp up the capacity This entails ensuring that high-quality around remote project preparation knowledge work reaches key audiences and oversight. With $30 billion in active to shape debates and that the impact projects in over 60 countries, and strict on operations is captured and shared. fiduciary and safeguard responsibilities, Communications efforts—which include the inability to travel raises unique chal- feature stories, blogs, speeches, videos, lenges in terms of working face to face infographics, advocacy, campaigns, with clients and visiting sites to develop and social media, among other tools— new programs and verify progress. The aim to help position GWSP as a leading GWSP Knowledge and Learning Team is global solutions provider that harnesses directly supporting the effort to quickly knowledge and evidence to achieve a gain knowledge and resources aligned healthy and water-secure world for all. with the new way of working. The team The communications function creates is notably coordinating knowledge greater awareness and deepens the sharing on remote preparation and over- understanding of GWSP’s contributions, sight using technology (drones, satellite amplif ies stories of impact with clear imagery, virtual reality, etc.), third-party messages that promote GWSP’s strategic monitoring, and virtual technical assis- priorities, and intersects with the Partner- tance activities. The team promptly issued ship’s knowledge and learning functions guidance on providing remote technical in order to maximize outreach and ensure assistance to clients, based, for instance, that our work reaches the right stake- on the successful approaches of Ugan- holders through the right channels. The da’s Micro-scale Irrigation Program and past year has seen the Partnership reach the knowledge and learning events of the people worldwide via a combination of Citywide Inclusive Sanitation initiative. comprehensive communications pack- ages, face-to-face and then virtual events, This year presented a host of new chal- digital influencing, and strong storytelling lenges and diff iculties but GWSP’s and messaging. knowledge management efforts quickly adapted to the “new normal.” This has been critical in enabling the Partnership HARNESSING KEY GLOBAL to not only move forward with its agenda MOMENTS and enhance delivery, but also signif i- cantly increase GWSP staff participation in learning events. Global moments are those occasions when an issue can break through a crowded communications environment GWSP COMMUNICATIONS and utilizing them is among the most effective tactics for drawing attention to While the curation of knowledge is at the crucial subjects in a strategic manner. core of GWSP’s mandate and managing For Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020, GWSP knowledge in an ever-more-complex worked as part of a coalition with the environment is essential, another vital nongovernmental organization WASH aspect of the Partnership’s role is the United and over 500 partners f rom 94 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 5 around the world to raise awareness ENGAGING AT HIGH-LEVEL and catalyze action around this crucial EVENTS issue for women’s health. In 2020, under the tagline “Periods Don’t Stop for Pandemics,” GWSP supported a global Over the course of the year, GWSP campaign video, a feature story, a live convenes and participates in events interview with global experts, and a social tailored to diverse technical topics and media campaign. audiences. At the UN General Assembly, GWSP representatives spoke about These were key elements of the coali- the importance of water in the Global tion’s outreach, which saw over 114,000 Commission on Adaptation’s work and contributions on social media, delivered affirmed continued support for this initia- 724 events in 74 countries, and utilized a tive. This event also included sharing global moment to drive a conversation GWSP’s successes at an event hosted and strengthen partnerships. It also high- by Rockefeller Foundation on rethinking lighted the linkages between GWSP knowl- food systems. A month later, GWSP partic- edge and lending operations by drawing ipated in the University of North Carolina attention to projects in Mozambique, Tajik- Water and Health Conference, where istan, and Tanzania, among others, with our experts led and joined more than menstrual hygiene components. a dozen panels, strengthened partner- Communications Impact: From Waste to Resource On World Water Day 2020, GWSP supported the launch of a report, “From Waste to Resource,” calling for smarter wastewater management, including reuse and resource recovery, and highlighting findings from various wastewater projects. The launch included a web feature (www.worldbank.org/wastetoresource), a press release, an animated video, four country blogs, and two videos. The web feature has received nearly 20,000 views and the video over 34,000 times. The hashtag created for the launch, #Waste2Resource, was mentioned by over 1,300 other accounts, generating a potential reach of 27.2 million. The report was shared on social media by a number of partners including the United Nations, WaterAid, and the World Wildlife Fund. Annual Report 2020 95 ships through joint initiatives, and met limit the spread of the virus. GWSP and with graduate students to guide them in the World Bank participated in more their careers in water. than 20 sessions, including “Increasing Water Supply Resilience in Mega Cities,” “Achieving Universal Access to Sanita- MEETING THE DEMAND FOR tion,” and “Finance and Governance,” all CONTENT of which are captured within the GWSP’s five themes. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, GWSP has rolled out a series of feature stories WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP demonstrating how the Partnership FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT analy tics have enabled faster and improved decision-making and shaped the Water GP and World Bank’s COVID-19 GWSP supported the World Health Orga- response. A bespoke webpa ge—a nization, the International Labour Orga- one-stop-shop resource for practitioners, nization, WaterAid, and the World Bank policy makers, and the public—was to launch a “Health, Safety and Dignity” quickly published to provide up-to-date report for World Toilet Day. The accom- information, articulate priorities, and share panying video has been viewed more country examples and links. A short brief than 60,000 times and, in collaboration capturing GWSP’s contributions to the with UN Water, photographs f rom the COVID-19 response was also produced, report were displayed at the UN Palace published, and shared with key audiences of Nations. Driving the global conversa- to specifically highlight how GWSP was tion on this day as part of this partnership shaping the response. helped position GWSP as a key player in the sanitation debate and secured media coverage in top-tier outlets including the GWSP AND STOCKHOLM BBC, The Economist, El País, and NPR. WATER WEEK: INNOVATING IN GWSP also continues to support engage- INFLUENCING ment with Sanitation and Water for All, a key organization that convenes water and This year’s Stockholm International sanitation ministers, finance ministers, Water Institute World Water Week was and senior leaders from multilateral insti- rebranded as World Water Week At tutions to galvanize government commit- Home, with all sessions conducted virtu- ments and advance strategic dialogue on ally so that returning and new partici- delivering the Sustainable Development pants could engage in productive and Goals. GWSP support has helped deliver meaningful discussions around global on key advocacy asks and fund research water challenges while also helping that shapes debates. 96 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 5 Featured Publications COVID-19 FINANCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR WATER AND SANITATION PROVIDERS In response to the demands that COVID-19 has placed on water and sanitation providers in emerging markets, GWSP developed a simplified financial planning tool to help utilities and providers quantify the financial impact on their operations. The tool looks at revenue, debt, operational expenditures, and additional costs associated with the crisis such as chemicals, personal protective equipment, additional water points, and tanker services. The tool is available in English, Spanish, French, and Bahasa and was used by partners and World Bank staff around the globe. WATER IN THE BALANCE: THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND WATER SCARCITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST—SUMMARY FOR POLICY MAKERS This report applies an economic model to assess the impacts of water scarcity in six Middle Eastern countries. The paper also exam- ines how water-use efficiency improvements and trade can miti- gate these impacts. It emphasizes how the growing dependence on shared water resources reinforces the need to manage water across boundaries. The message is clear: promotion of new and transformative policies for sustainable, efficient, and cooperative water management is essential for the region’s economic prospects, including its human and natural capital. FROM WASTE TO RESOURCE: SHIFTING PARADIGMS FOR SMARTER WASTEWATER INTERVENTIONS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Resource recovery from wastewater facilities in the form of energy, reusable water, biosolids, and other resources, such as nutrients, represents an economic and financial benefit that contributes to the sustainability of water supply and sanitation systems and the utilities operating them. This report summarizes the work of the World Bank initiative “Wastewater: From Waste to Resource,” launched to raise awareness among decision-makers of the potential of wastewater as a resource. The report provides an in-depth analysis of several case studies and the feedback received from key stakeholders. Annual Report 2020 97 TESTING, PILOTING, AND VALIDATION OF THE RURAL WATER INDICATOR GLOBAL FRAMEWORK IN THE AFRICAN CONTEXT This document presents the findings of a pilot conducted in Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Sierra Leone to determine the feasibility and utility of the indicators proposed in the Rural Water Metrics Global Framework. Through standard indicators, the framework facilitates improvements in national and global reporting and analysis. The report describes the pilot—its methodology, findings, and limitations—and offers recommendations regarding the indicators themselves, suggests an implementation approach, and proposes a pathway for collecting data integrated with the national monitoring framework. GOVERNANCE IN IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE: CONCEPTS, CASES, AND ACTION- ORIENTED APPROACHES—A PRACTITIONER’S RESOURCE Improving irrigation performance is a priority strategy in addressing rural poverty and mitigating climate-change impacts, especially for the most vulnerable. Irrigation and drainage governance is emerging as a key focus for improved performance. Institutional failures and poor performance have been blamed on low capacity, perverse incentives, misdirected policies, and weak implementation but these are only contributing factors. The key message of this resource book is that functions, processes, and related capabilities must be the priority of all irrigation-focused institutional interventions. WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE (WASH) AND COVID-19: CRITICAL WASH INTERVENTIONS FOR EFFECTIVE COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE One of the most cost-effective strategies for increasing pandemic preparedness, especially in resource-constrained settings, consists of investing to strengthen core public health inf rastructure, including water supply and sanitation systems. Consistently applied WASH and waste management practices serve as essential barriers to human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 virus. This brief provides a menu of options on critical WASH interventions for effective COVID-19 pandemic response and building resilience to future risks. 98 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership CHAPTER 5 Annual Report 2020 99 100 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Financial Update Annual Report 2020 101 GWSP Donor Contributions GWSP was designed as a $200 million, five- fundraising priority over the next year will year program. In fiscal year 2020 (FY20), be to fill the $16.9 million gap needed to the GWSP Council agreed to extend meet the $200 million target set for the the Partnership for an additional eight first five years of GWSP. years through December 31, 2030. As the Council reviews the strategy in light of the FY20 saw changes in the composition of upcoming evaluation that will take place in active donors to GWSP. Three new donors 2021, it will be important to renew commit- were welcomed to the GWSP Council: ments and set new fundraising targets Austria, Denmark, and the United States. that will enable GWSP to maintain its Two legacy donors from WPP and WSP, momentum through this extended period. Ireland and Norway, formally departed GWSP in FY20, and the Rockefeller Foun- As of June 30, 2020, 11 donors contributed dation also formally exited after a change $175.2 million in new funding, comple- in its strategy. The Department for Inter- menting $7.9 million rolled over from the national Development (DFID) announced Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) and that it would depart GWSP in early FY21 as Water Partnership Program (WPP). The part of its reorganization process. FIGURE A.1: FUNDING STATUS ($, MILLIONS) Raised WSP/WPP Rollover $175.2 $7.9 $16.9 To be raised 0 50 100 150 Note: WPP = Water Partnership Program; WSP = Water and Sanitation Program. 102 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership APPENDIX A TABLE A.1: GWSP DONOR CONTRIBUTIONS 2020 Donor Name $ million Percentage Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) 59.96 33% Netherlands—Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation 39.34 21% Australia—Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 19.16 10% Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 18.00 10% Denmark—Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs 10.83 6% Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) 10.66 6% Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) 10.14 6% United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 4.25 2% United Kingdom—Department for International Development (DFID) 3.52 2% Austria—Federal Ministry of Finance 3.33 2% Norway—Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2.37 1% Rockefeller Foundation 1.56 1% Ireland—Minister for Foreign Affairs/Irish Aid 0.02 0.01% Total Commitments 183.15 100% Annual Report 2020 103 FY20 Disbursements In FY20, GWSP disbursed over $28 million country levels. GWSP disbursed over $13 to support its work program activities. million directly for activities in the regions in FY20. The Africa region accounted for Eighty-two percent of disbursements the largest percentage of disbursements went to knowledge and analytics that in all three fiscal years and accounted for are either global, regional, or country 14 percent of total FY20 disbursements. based. The balance was disbursed for the core functions of knowledge sharing In FY20, GWSP funded a total of 123 knowl- and dissemination, communications, and edge and analytic activities in 52 coun- program management and administration tries and regions. Of this, 54 are newly (including monitoring and evaluation). approved activities and 69 are existing activities from previous fiscal years that Of the disbursements for knowledge received additional funding. All activities and analytics, the majority (47 percent contributed to one or more of the GWSP of overall disbursements) was disbursed themes: sustainability, inclusion, institu- by regional units. Thirty-five percent was tions, financing, and resilience. disbursed for global knowledge and analytics. However, these figures only tell The majority of GWSP activities address part of the story. GWSP’s global analyt- more than one theme, which makes ical work is based on sound country-fo- capturing actual disbursements by cused experience and used to build global theme challenging. To avoid double messages. In effect, global knowledge counting, disbursements are recorded is grounded in regional, national, and based on the primary theme associ- subnational experiences. For example, ated with the activity. However, activities the Global Study on Subsidies was built often also make signif icant contribu- on 10 in-depth country-based reports that tions to a secondary theme(s) that are directly contributed and were central to not captured in the financial reporting. the overall global findings. Furthermore, some themes are broadly defined, covering a wide range of activ- GWSP disbursed $9.8 million for activities ities and others, such as financing, are categorized as global in FY20. These activi- more narrowly defined, resulting in activi- ties included developing and refining tools ties being tagged to them less frequently. for use by country teams, and curating and expanding cutting-edge research When looking at knowledge and analytic that is directly applicable to the current activities based on the theme that is indi- challenges our clients and partners are cated as primary, disbursements were as facing. As mentioned above, while these follows: sustainability (31 percent), institu- activities are managed globally, they draw tions (19 percent), resilience (15 percent), heavily on expertise at the regional and financing (10 percent), and inclusion (7 104 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership APPENDIX A FIGURE A.2: FY20 DISBURSEMENTS BY REGION AND THEME Knowledge Sharing Communications and Dissemination 7% 2% PMA 9% Knowledge and Analytics 82% ECA 4% Sustainability Inclusion 31% GLOBAL 7% MNA 4% 35% SAR Financing 8% 10% EAP Resilience Institutions 9% LAC AFR 15% 19% 9% 14% KNOWLEDGE AND ANALYTICS KNOWLEDGE AND ANALYTICS BY REGION BY THEME Note: AFR = Africa; EAP = East Asia and Pacific; ECA = Europe and Central Asia; LAC = Latin America and the Caribbean; MNA = Middle East and North Africa; PMA = program management and administration; SAR = South Asia. Annual Report 2020 105 percent). As noted above, the majority of an important role administering the these activities contributed to more than trust fund operations and monitoring one theme. and reporting results. In FY20, the GWSP Council met in Australia in November 2019 Communications, partnerships, learning, and held a virtual meeting in April 2020 in and knowledge dissemination activi- lieu of coming together during the World ties are critical to getting cutting-edge Bank’s Water Week. PMA functions also research and analytics into the hands of include monitoring and evaluation. FY20 clients, partners, and World Bank opera- work included the commissioning of five tional staff. Chapter 4 highlights many of Block C assessments. the key achievements in these areas. Altogether, the communications, knowl- Program management and adminis- edge dissemination, and PMA functions tration (PMA) functions keep GWSP accounted for less than $5 million of running smoothly. GWSP has a lean disbursements from GWSP in FY20. program management team that plays Financial Trends Demand for GWSP assistance and support GWSP disbursements support activi- has never been stronger or more critical. ties implemented by global as well as regional units. The majority of the increase Disbursements over the past three fiscal in disbursements took place in regions. years have increased (see figure A.3). In Funds disbursed by regions have steadily FY20, disbursements increased nearly increased over the past three fiscal years 17 percent over previous f iscal year (see figure A.4). The ratio of regional to disbursements, despite the COVID-19 global disbursements has also increased. pandemic. The increase in disburse- ments reflects the increasing demand GWSP is on a good track toward achieving f rom project teams for GWSP support, its objectives, and demand for its support the new challenges arising f rom the among World Bank teams remains high. COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a deeper Maintaining the current level of activities understanding of the degree of complex will require sustained commitment and challenges facing the sector. funding from our partners. 106 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership APPENDIX A FIGURE A.3: GWSP ANNUAL DISBURSEMENTS FY18 $24,448,504 FY19 $24,559,421 FY20 $28,045,044 FIGURE A.4: GWSP DISBURSEMENTS BY REGION AND FY Global FY18 ECA MNA FY19 SAR EAP LAC FY20 AFR 0 0.0 20% 0.2 40% 0.4 60% 0.6 80% 0.8 100% 1.0 AFR LAC EAP SAR MNA ECA GLOBAL Note: Global disbursements include knowledge management, communications, monitoring and evaluation, and program management and administration. Disbursements to nine Block C countries: AFR (Benin, Ethiopia, and Uganda); LAC (Bolivia and Haiti); EAP (Vietnam); SAR (Bangladesh and Pakistan); and MNA (Egypt). AFR = Africa; EAP = East Asia and Pacific; ECA = Europe and Central Asia; LAC = Latin America and the Caribbean; MNA = Middle East and North Africa; SAR = South Asia. Annual Report 2020 107 108 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Results Progress Annual Report 2020 109 Block A: GWSP-Funded Knowledge and Analytics Activities TABLE B.1: SUMMARY OF RESULTS ACHIEVED AS OF JUNE 30, 2020, REPORTED BY 129 ONGOING GWSP-FUNDED ACTIVITIES IN FY20 RESULTS TO BE ACHIEVED BY FY22 REPORTED RESULTS ACHIEVED IN FY20 % of Projects Indicator with Indicator Sustainability Policies/strategies/regulatory frameworks informed to strengthen: (1) sustainable 43  management of water resources and/or (2) built infrastructure assets. 23  Tools and monitoring systems supported to strengthen: (1) the sustainable 27  management of water resources at the national, basin, and/or aquifer level, and/or (2) built infrastructure assets. 18  Water-related institutions supported to sustain: (1) water resources and/or (2) built 42  infrastructure assets. 25  39  Knowledge products generated on sustainability. 26  Inclusion Policies/strategies generated or refined to enhance social inclusion in the 22  management of water resources, or service delivery. 12  Initiatives that develop approaches, including integrated cross-sectoral approaches 18  where relevant, to address water, sanitation, and/or nutrition issues. 13  Water-related institutions trained in gender and/or inclusion issues and/or human 15  resource practices related to diversity and inclusion. 6  15  Knowledge products generated on inclusion. 14  110 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership APPENDIX B % of Projects Indicator with Indicator Institutions Policies/strategies/regulatory frameworks informed to strengthen the institutional 44  environment for improved water resource management and/or water services delivery. 27  Fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV)–affected states supported to develop and/or 4  implement a water sector transition strategy. 4  Water-related institutions supported to strengthen capacity for managing water 49  resources, or service delivery. 29  37  Knowledge products generated on institutions. 24  Financing 29  Policies/strategies/regulatory frameworks developed to improve financial viability. 15  13  Institutions supported to improve their financial viability and creditworthiness. 11  20  Knowledge products generated on financing. 17  Resilience Policies/strategies/regulatory frameworks developed or implemented to strengthen 29  resilience of freshwater basins, and/or the delivery of services for communities dependent on them. 11  Diagnostics conducted or implementation undertaken to promote principles of 24  building freshwater resilience. 11  Water-related institutions supported to build resilience in water resource 30  management, or service delivery. 16  23  Knowledge products generated on resilience. 13  Annual Report 2020 111 Block B: Water GP Outcomes TABLE B.2: PORTFOLIO INFLUENCE INDICATORS Baseline Progress Target1 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY22 New approved projects 29 27 27 28 22 24 Indicators % of new projects that promote sustainable and 69 63 74 75 86 96 80 efficient water use Sustainability % of new rural water supply and sanitation lending projects that measure functionality of 0 50 25 60 100 67 80 water points % of new projects that are gender tagged2 N/A N/A N/A 50 81 95 55 Inclusion % of new projects with other social inclusion 3 19 11 50 59 63 60 aspects3 % of projects that support reforms/actions for 67 88 81 77 74 88 85 improving financial viability4 Financing % of projects with explicit focus on leveraging 6 6 10 14 11 19 14 private finance Institutions % of projects that support reforms/actions that 72 100 100 100 100 96 90 strengthen institutional capacity % of projects incorporating resilience in the design 69 74 74 75 82 88 80 of water-related initiatives Resilience % of fragile and conflict-affected states supported 5 5 5 2 4 5 15 with a resilience lens5 % of new World Bank lending commitments with 29 18 31 54 52 60 50 climate-change co-benefits 1 Total targets: The total targets are estimated based on a weighted average of 45 percent operations in water supply and sanitation, 45 percent operations in water security and integrated water resource management (WRM), and 10 percent operations in water for agriculture. N/A = not available. 2 Social inclusion “gender tagged”: Measures the percentage of projects that demonstrate a results chain by linking gender gaps identified in analysis to specific actions tracked in the results framework. 3 Other social inclusion aspects: Projects that target the poor, vulnerable, or underserved communities or areas. Excludes citizen engagement, which we are reporting on as part of corporate monitoring. 4 Financing: Total percentage estimated based only on relevant projects since this is not relevant for the “Water Security and Integrated WRM” theme. 5 Fragile and conflict-affected states supported with a resilience lens: This refers to the number of fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCSs) supported over the next five years. In FY20, 36 countries and 1 territory were classified as FCSs as per corporate guidelines. Source: Analysis of the FY20 Water Global Practice approved portfolio by GWSP Monitoring and Evaluation team. 112 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership APPENDIX B TABLE B.3: SECTOR RESULTS INDICATORS Baseline Progress Indicative Targets Yearly Yearly Water Supply and Sanitation FY13–17 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY18–22 Average Average People with access to improved water 1.1 72 14 12 15.7 13.1 11.4 70 14 sources (million) Females 7.9 6.6 5.5 People with access to improved sanitation 1.2 Yearly 6 8 11.5 172 4.2 80 16 (million) Females 5.7 86 2.1 BOD pollution loads removed by treatment 1.3 15,000 3,000 3,900 8,300 12,900 8,994 25,000 5,000 plants (tons/year) 1.4 People trained in hygiene behavior (million) 11.7 2.3 2.5 4.3 3.2 1.87 13 2.6 Females 2.1 1.7 0.96 1.5 Utilities with improved working ratio 86 17 16 27 28 19 90 18 Yearly Yearly Water for Agriculture FY13–17 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY18–22 Average Average Area with new/improved irrigation services 2.1 4.3 0.8 1.2 0.5 0.7 0.99 4 0.8 (million hectares) Farmers adopting improved agricultural 2.2 6 1.2 0.8 2 2.9 2.9 3.5 0.7 technology (million) Females 0.4 0.6 0.9 Water user associations created/ 2.3 17,900 3,580 3,000 4,900 3,050 2,422 20,000 4,000 strengthened Water users with improved irrigation 2.4 5.6 1.1 1.3 1.8 2.2 0.63 5 1 services (million) Females 0.5 1 0.18 Yearly Yearly Water Security and Integrated WRM FY13–17 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY18–22 Average Average People in areas covered by water risk 3.1 mitigation measures (flooding/drought) 15.3 3 4 3.7 5 2.2 16 3.2 (million) Basins with management plans/stake- 3.2 85 17 30 22 20 9 140 28 holder engagement mechanisms 3.3 Institutions with WRM monitoring systems 110 22 26 30 21 15 120 24 Area under sustainable land/water 3.4 1.2 0.24 0.2 0.32 0.5 1.2 1.3 0.26 management practices (million hectares) Source: Original compilation. Note: BOD = biochemical oxygen demand; WRM = water resource management. Annual Report 2020 113 114 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Midterm Progress Assessment Annual Report 2020 115 Benin In Benin, municipalities provide water 6 Conducting a gender gap assessment services themselves or delegate this and recommending gender-specific responsibility to another entity, such as activities and results indicators for a small private operator or a communi- greater equity in the water sector ty-based organization. Since 2007, munici- palities have been encouraged to delegate 6 Mobilizing commercial finance for the water supply service delivery to private rural water and urban sanitation sectors operators. A little more than half of all to address the challenges in accessing rural systems were managed privately as capital faced by private water operators of 2017. This work complemented two World Bank World Bank research has identif ied loans worth nearly $300 million: the Rural existing gender imbalances as a major Water Supply Universal Access Program constraint to growth in Benin. This is (AQUA-VIE) and the Small Town Water a particularly visible issue in the water Supply and Urban Septage Management sector, where women and girls are dispro- Project (PREPAU). portionately affected by the burden of collecting water. In addition, women are severely underrepresented in labor MIDTERM RESULTS ACHIEVED markets, especially in the water sector. A midterm assessment found that the reforms in the rural water sector benefited GWSP SUPPORT from GWSP support. Interviewees noted the ambitious nature of the strategy and In Benin, GWSP is responding to the the magnitude of the capacity challenges government’s water priorities and ampli- facing the government, and that GWSP fying the impact of World Bank lending support is helping address. Strengthening through support for: the private sector’s service delivery model is a core part of the government’s strategy 6 Launching institutional reforms and for expanding rural water coverage. capacity-building efforts to maximize As part of the government’s efforts to the impact of the government’s invest- leverage private sector involvement in the ment in the water sector water sector, GWSP supported the recruit- 116 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Households in rural Benin struggle to access water: nearly four out of ten lack even basic access to water supply. At the same time, there is strong political will to address this challenge. Benin’s National Water Strategy established the Rural Water Supply National Agency and pledged $400 million to expand rural water coverage to an additional 2.5 million people. Fulfilling the promise of this ambitious strategy requires a comprehensive package of reforms and greater government capacity. ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 117 ment of regional private water operators LESSONS LEARNED in rural areas. With many rural areas in Benin lacking businesses with sufficient Emerging lessons from Benin are influ- capacity to bid on local water affermages, encing GWSP’s partnership approach regional operators offer a more effective going forward and are relevant for other path for sustainable service delivery. development partners as well. In support of the government’s institutional 6 Tightly focused technical assistance in reforms, GWSP also carried out a compre- the rural water sector can effectively hensive evaluation of human resource “move the needle” by addressing needs in rural water supply. The study led critical bottlenecks. GWSP activities to the development of a capacity building focused on a small set of specif ic strategy and supported the development government priorities, including of training courses for a new generation of private sector engagement and distribution network operators and electro- capacity building for rural water tech- mechanical technicians, as well as an invest- nicians. These efforts achieved outsized ment plan for a national water training impact due to existing government center, leveraging capacity in existing buy-in and narrow scope. training institutes to build the next gener- ation of rural water professionals. 6 Gender and other social issues often have a bigger impact on the develop- GWSP-supported work to understand ment process than initially anticipated, gender gaps in the water sector and iden- particularly for infrastructure projects. tify solutions also influenced the design of Lack of access to water in rural areas has World Bank lending. outsized impacts on women and girls. In nine out of ten households in rural Launched in 2018, AQUA-VIE is a World Benin, women and girls are respon- Bank f inanced project focused on sible for fetching water, often over increasing access to water through long distances. The GWSP gender gap the construction and rehabilitation assessment provided insight for policy- of over 600 rural piped water supply makers into the challenges they face systems, benefiting 1.6 million people in and informed the design of World Bank Benin. GWSP completed a gender gap lending to encourage gender equity in assessment during the preparation of water. GWSP is continuing to provide AQUA-VIE, strengthening the gender support to the Government of Benin components of the project. The findings for greater gender inclusion through of the assessment led to the integration professional training in the water of gender-specific initiatives to address sector. Initial investment in under- these challenges, and results indicators standing gender barriers is leading to to track progress. more impactful implementation. 118 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Benin Improving Private Sector Engagement in the Rural Water Sector Private sector engagement has been a key pillar of Benin’s rural water sector for several years. However, while private management of water supply was expected to improve service efficiency and quality, results have been mixed. This is due to limited capacity in municipalities to design and manage contracts, as well as the chal- lenges of finding professional operators in rural areas. To address these issues, GWSP funded the development of bidding documents for an innovative 10-year private affermage contract with three larger regional water operators to rehabilitate and manage water systems. This support allowed for a much more tailored approach to private sector participation, better responding to the needs of rural Benin while ensuring that local authorities were engaged throughout the entire process. To mitigate the risk of any potential negative environmental or social impacts, GWSP also prepared guidelines to define the operators’ required processes for environmental and social management. The bidding process was faster and more efficient than previous efforts, and although it was temporarily delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the final selection of bidders recently restarted. ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 119 Bolivia Although the country has abundant water, GWSP SUPPORT much of it is far from major population centers, which are experiencing signifi- In 2016 the World Bank and the Govern- cant water scarcity. Water quality has also ment of Bolivia agreed to renew lending deteriorated in recent years due to mining, and technical assistance in the water deforestation, and urbanization. Climate sector after a 15-year gap. Between 2017 change is expected to increasingly stress and 2019, GWSP support focused on three water resources through more extreme government priorities: weather, changes in rainfall patterns, and glacier melting. At the same time, 6 Improving the sustainability of water demand for water continues to increase supply to build resilience to the impacts due to population growth. of climate change on water resources The Ministry of Environment and Water 6 Piloting innovations in wastewater and Vice-Ministry of Drinking Water and treatment and reuse to improve Sanitation are responsible for water and on existing levels of treatment and sanitation policies, technical standards, address water quality challenges and budgeting. Service delivery is the responsibility of municipal governments, 6 Learning from other Latin American which can provide service directly or countries to address potential solu- through a separate utility or cooperative. tions to critical water issues 120 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Bolivia has made significant progress in improving access to water supply and sanitation, although quality remains a challenge. While over 90 percent of households have piped water coverage in urban areas, access to safely managed sanitation is much lower. Due to high connection costs, sewerage networks are often underused. In addition, two of the country’s largest cities have no wastewater treatment facilities. Improving wastewater management will be critical to improving the sustainability of Bolivia’s water resources. ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 121 These activities were designed to influ- strategy, which calls for universal access ence a portfolio of four World Bank loans to sustainable rural water and sanitation, for the water sector, totalling nearly $400 and included close collaboration with key million. However, two of the projects, stakeholders in the sector, including the which addressed irrigation and rural water United Nations Children’s Fund, Water for supply, were dropped when the govern- People, and the Spanish Agency for Inter- ment’s focus shifted to urban water and national Development Cooperation. sanitation. The remaining two projects are still under preparation, with a planned A fecal sludge management pilot in the approval date in 2021. city of Santa Cruz (see page 126) funded by GWSP and the German government has shown promising results in addressing the MIDTERM RESULTS ACHIEVED city’s wastewater treatment challenges. Stakeholders worked together to develop A midterm assessment of GWSP support a comprehensive strategy to expand to Bolivia’s water sector found that it was decentralized sanitation and launched an highly responsive to the country’s needs, extensive and highly successful commu- and well aligned with national policy. nications campaign. Under the pilot, The assessment also noted that activi- GWSP also funded studies exploring the ties supported by GWSP were strongly safe reuse of treated wastewater in agri- focused on the most vulnerable. However, culture following the concept of a circular the assessment found that the effective- economy, informing the government’s ness of GWSP-funded activities linked to national strategy on wastewater. World Bank lending was hindered by the shifting government priorities during the To promote cross-country learning, GWSP span of the grant. facilitated several visits by international experts, including a Brazilian team experi- As a contribution to the preparation of the enced in designing condominial sewerage National Strategy for Rural Water Supply systems, in addition to supporting a study and Sanitation, and the Rural Water Access tour to Dakar, Senegal, to learn about that Project, GWSP supported a baseline study country’s experience with decentralized of access to water in remote rural commu- sanitation. A delegation from Bolivia also nities, leveraging the Rural Water and Sani- participated in the Inclusive Sanitation tation Information System (SIASAR). The Workshop in Brasilia in 2018. As a result of information from SIASAR directly contrib- this visit, two municipalities started citywide uted to the development of the national inclusive sanitation planning exercises. 122 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership LESSONS LEARNED holders actively participated in the design and implementation of the Lessons from the fecal sludge manage- project through a technical coordi- ment pilot, in addition to knowledge nation committee. Equally important, around how the grant was implemented, households needed to be involved are a valuable resource for GWSP to throughout every step of the project. apply globally. Community awareness campaigns and engagement at the grassroots 6 When government priorities shift, level were essential to successful flexibility is critical to achieving implementation and encouraged impact. While the government initially participation and buy-in. had a broader set of water challenges to address, during the life of the 6 There is no single solution to the GWSP grant the scope of the govern- urban sanitation challenge. As the ment’s strategy narrowed, focusing fecal sludge management pilot primarily on urban water and sanita- started yielding promising results, tion and dropping two planned World nearby municipalities showed Bank projects. This required a shift in an interest in joining the project. GWSP’s own funding strategy, but the However, it quickly became apparent global nature of the program allowed that tackling the problem in these for lessons f rom other countries to areas would require a diverse set of be quickly transferred to the Bolivian solutions uniquely adapted to their context. By adapting the strategy and own context. The citywide inclusive activities, GWSP was able to continue sanitation planning exercises facili- engaging with the government with tated by GWSP have helped munici- targeted support. palities tailor the experiences of Santa Cruz to meet their needs. Sharing 6 Effective fecal sludge management experiences across countries and requires strong stakeholder coordi- cities is an important f irst step in nation and intensive engagement building buy-in to address the urban with households. Building a sense sanitation challenge. However, what of shared responsibility between the worked in one place is unlikely to government, local businesses, and work in another, and understanding households was a key ingredient in a city’s unique context is important to the success of the Santa Cruz fecal developing an effective urban sanita- sludge management pilot. Stake- tion strategy. ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 123 Bolivia Advancing the Urban Sanitation Agenda Santa Cruz is one of the fastest-growing development of Bolivia’s National Strategy cities in Latin America. Rapid population for Wastewater Treatment, and generating growth has outpaced the efforts of the alternative models for improved and safe national government, municipalities, operation and maintenance of decentral- and water utilities to provide sanita- ized services. tion through piped sewerage networks. The lack of adequate inf rastructure is The pilot helped the municipal govern- creating multiple challenges, including ment develop protocols that improve health hazards due to overflowing septic the containment of fecal sludge through tanks, and environmental risks, such improvements to the maintenance of as the contamination of groundwater septic tanks and a certification program aquifers. Less than half of households for septic tank construction. The initia- have access to sewer networks, with the tive also worked on the development of remainder being served by septic tanks operating procedures and training for or latrines—a figure lower than in other small businesses working in fecal sludge countries in the region. management. The pilot informed the development of a Municipal Law on waste- Decentralized sanitation focuses on water and fecal sludge management that strengthening the service chain for was approved in 2019, and the update of collecting, transporting, and treating administrative procedures to issue oper- fecal sludge from septic tanks and smaller ational environmental licenses for small container-based systems. Emerging businesses working in sanitation. evidence is showing that they are a viable, cost-effective alternative to sewerage in A thriving urban economy is not possible urban areas. With support f rom GWSP without safe sanitation. By providing and the German Agency for Interna- evidence-based technical assistance and tional Cooperation, the government, local aligning a diverse set of stakeholders utilities, and small businesses worked around a common goal, the pilot has together to launch a three-year decen- strengthened the institutional environ- tralized sanitation pilot to improve fecal ment and capacity for inclusive sanita- sludge management in Santa Cruz. The tion services in Santa Cruz, in addition to pilot focused on improving conditions of generating demand to replicate the work decentralized sanitation, informing the in other cities in Bolivia. 124 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership Chapter 1 Annual Report 2020 125 Egypt In response, the Government of Egypt delivery and operations and maintenance. launched the National Rural Sanitation In 2004, MHUUC established a National Program in 2013 to expand access to Holding Company to centrally manage household sanitation and improve water these assets under 25 subsidiary water quality. The program is targeting universal and sanitation companies (WSCs). As part coverage of sustainable rural sanitation of its efforts to reform the sector, MHUUC services, to ultimately reach about 45 is transitioning to a more decentralized million more people. In addition, it includes approach, with more funding and respon- a suite of policy reforms to strengthen local sibility devolved to the WSCs. water utilities and improve their account- ability and financial sustainability. GWSP SUPPORT The Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities (MHUUC) is responsible for The World Bank has been closely involved policy and strategy in the sector, as well as in Egypt’s rural sanitation sector since the supervision of public sector organiza- 2008. In support of the National Rural tions responsible for the construction and Sanitation Program (NRSP), in 2015 maintenance of water and sanitation infra- the World Bank f inanced the Sustain- structure. These include the National Orga- able Rural Sanitation Services Program nization for Potable Water and Sanitation (SRSSP)—a $550 million program that Drainage (NOPWASD) that covers most of initially focused on three governorates. the governorates, the Cairo and Alexandria With $300 million in cofinancing from Potable Water Organization (CAPWO), and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New Urban Communities Authorities SRSSP has since expanded to three more (NUCA) that is responsible for developing governorates with $300 million in addi- water and sanitation facilities in new cities. tional financing bringing the total size of the program to $1.15 billion. The African Before 2004, NOPWASD managed the Development Bank has also f inanced construction of treatment plants and a program for the Luxor Governorate in other inf rastructure and then trans- support of the NRSP. Resources provided ferred their ownership to the governor- by the GWSP have augmented SRSSP, ates, which were responsible for service focusing on two main objectives. 126 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Heavily dependent on the Nile River, Egypt’s limited water resources face increasing pressure due to a rapidly growing population. While the country has achieved near-universal access to water and basic sanita- tion services, only about one-third of rural households are connected to a sewer network. Others use on-site sanitation systems that are often poorly maintained. Most of the wastewater collected by sewers is treated, although some treatment plants do not meet Egypt’s treatment stan- dards. As a result, a significant amount of raw sewage directly flows into irrigation canals. In addition to being a public health hazard, Egypt’s rural sanitation challenges are a major source of river pollution and a threat to the sustainability of the country’s water resources. ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 127 6 Building WSCs’ capacity to improve Progress against these plans is being their operational performance and tracked against 12 key performance deliver sustainable water and sanita- indicators (KPIs) covering f inancial, tion services operational, procurement, and citizen engagement parameters, which have 6 Supporting the establishment and been adopted by many of the partici- providing capacity building support pating WSCs as a tool of their internal to the government’s SRSSP project management. A performance review management unit (PMU) within the found that the three governorates MHUUC to coordinate sector activities initially involved in the program have and expand reform efforts to WSCs. met or exceeded many of their initial targets, and have shown improve- ments in contract implementation, MIDTERM RESULTS ACHIEVED customer engagement, and financial sustainability. GWSP also financed a A midterm assessment of GWSP’s support baseline assessment of these 12 KPIs in Egypt found that it was highly relevant to for three other governorates included the country’s rural sanitation strategy and in the additional financing. has effectively contributed to the imple- mentation of the National Rural Sanitation 6 I m p rove m e n t o f l a n d a cq u i s i - Plan. In interviews, government represen- tion procedures. Land acquisition tatives and other stakeholders highlighted processes for new plants and pumping the responsiveness of GWSP support, stations, were a major bottleneck in which adapted to address challenges as the sector. GWSP provided technical they emerged during implementation. support to the MHUUC in the design of a fair and transparent system for land To support the launch of SRSSP, GWSP acquisition with a set of standard oper- provided technical assistance to the ating procedures which have consid- government counterparts on critical erably streamlined the process. As a start-up activities, taking into account result, 96 percent of land acquisition lessons learnt from previous interventions has been in line with the improved and the need to address recurrent issues principles under SRSSP. and barriers in the sector, which included: 6 Contribution toward standardized 6 Development of the annual perfor- procurement procedures. To address mance plans and assessments. procurement challenges faced by The annual plans to improve perfor- previous construction projects, GWSP mance identif ied critical capacity contributed to the standardization of gaps and defined actions to address procurement procedures including them while the annual performance the development of the Procure- assessments def ined the f rame- ment Procedures Manual and stan- work for their monitoring and yearly dard bidding documents. GWSP also reporting. These plans are linked to supported technical advice in the program disbursement indicators and development of a complaint-han- have been successfully executed since dling mechanism for bidders, a first the early implementation of SRSSP. for Egypt. These contributed toward an 128 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership improved procurement and contract as core parts of a project, but rather administration systems. These process as auxiliary requirements. governing documents have proven to be extremely helpful in the imple- 6 Changing ineff icient processes mentation of SRSSP and are periodi- requires buy-in from all stakeholders. cally revised based on the emerging Processes for land acquisition and lessons learnt. The benefits from these procurement were complex, lengthy, reforms are likely to persist beyond the and poorly defined, severely hampering duration of the Program and have the construction projects before the imple- potential for scaling up beyond the mentation of SRSSP. GWSP support WSCs participating in the Program. demonstrated that these processes Many of the good practices from the can be made more standardized, effi- procurement procedures manual are cient, and transparent. However, doing reported to have been adopted by so required extensive investment in WSCs that are not part of SRSSP. building trust and gathering feedback from citizens (in the case of land acqui- GWSP also funded efforts to standardize sition) and contractors (for procure- and scale up citizen engagement ment processes). processes developed by the MHUUC (see next page). The support of GWSP in the 6 While it is important to address development of technical designs and procurement challenges, the effec- adjustments to the monitoring and eval- tive management of contracts once uation system, was also noteworthy. they are awarded is equally important. GWSP’s support to the project manage- ment unit in improving government LESSONS LEARNED procurement processes has had signif- icant impact. Yet as the number of Egypt’s SRSSP demonstrates the value of contracts awarded increases, additional combining GWSP assistance with World efforts to strengthen their manage- Bank lending. Lessons from this work are ment will be needed—a future area of informing GWSP engagement in other GWSP support. countries and are also relevant to other development partners. 6 Building stronger water utilities is possible but suff icient time and 6 Tightly integrating citizen engage- funds are needed to shift to a culture ment and grievance redress mech- of performance and customer focus. anisms into project implementation GWSP’s work with the WSCs on perfor- can lead to better outcomes. Citizen mance improvement has begun engagement and grievance redress to show results, but it required an mechanisms are mandatory in all intense and comprehensive technical World Bank–financed projects and are assistance program. Maintaining this intended to protect people living in hard-fought progress will require project areas and to enhance the voice continued focus on performance, of citizens in the processes of project staff retention, and financial sustain- design and implementation. Often, ability—challenges further exacerbated however, these tools are not viewed by the pandemic. ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 129 Egypt Improving Accountability with Better Citizen Engagement In planning the transition f rom a tracked has increased dramatically, with centralized infrastructure management citizens now able to flag issues that approach to one that transferred more may have been previously ignored. The power to the WSCs, the Government review also found that the time required of Egypt realized that increased power to resolve these complaints had dropped would need to be accompanied by significantly. With the support of GWSP heightened performance and account- on design and rollout, standard operating ability. Without stronger systems for procedures for community engagement citizens to hold WSCs responsible for have been developed and are now being high-quality, cost-effective service, the tested by WSCs. potential benef its of decentralization were unlikely to be achieved. GWSP also funded technical assistance on the creation of an appeals process at In addition to strengthening the process the national level to review complaints for acquiring land, GWSP activities that were not addressed satisfactorily provided technical assistance to the by the WSCs. In addition, with GWSP Ministry on the development of SRSSP’s support the Ministry launched the Citizen grievance redress mechanism—a process Engagement Local Committees, one of enabling citizens who believe they have the main channels for linking communi- been or could be negatively impacted by a ties to the work of SRSSP. The program World Bank financed project to raise their is making efforts to make these more concerns. GWSP also supported efforts to inclusive by bringing in more women increase WSCs’ customer focus and ability and youth as members. During inter- to effectively address customer service views for the midterm progress assess- issues. The three initial Governorates’ ment, WSC managements emphasized WSCs have now developed comprehen- the importance of these citizen engage- sive complaints management systems, ment tools­ — not just for eff icient and and frontline staff received training on inclusive implementation of SRSSP but resolving complaints. A recent review of also for their ability to drive improved the complaints management systems performance through a stronger focus found that the number of complaints on customers. 130 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 131 Uganda The Ministry of Water and Environment 6 Transitioning to a utility-based approach (MWE) is responsible for water develop- to water supply in refugee settlements ment policy, as well as the regulation of and host communities to support more water resources and water supply and sustainable service delivery sanitation services. The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), an 6 Strengthening Umbrella Authorities so autonomous public utility, is, as of 2020, they can better manage the transition responsible for water supply and sanita- into regional utilities tion services in 280 towns. 6 Developing sanitation diagnostics and In rural areas and small towns where fecal sludge management strategies NWSC management is not feasible, the to address the large gaps in coverage MWE intends to transfer management responsibility of most piped systems to 6 Introducing an innovative monitoring regional “Umbrella Authorities.” These platform for rural water and sanitation were initially created to provide operations to improve the availability of data on and maintenance support to local author- the sector ities running water systems. To improve sustainability and expand coverage, the 6 Incorporating solar power into rural government is now restructuring these water systems in refugee-hosting organizations into six regional utilities districts and refugee settlements for and giving them responsibility for direct greater efficiency management of water supply. These priority interventions have also influ- enced the design and implementation GWSP SUPPORT of the World Bank financed Integrated Water Management and Development GWSP has responded to government Project (IWMDP)—a $280 million project priorities by supporting: working to expand access to water and 132 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership Despite considerable progress, the Ugandan water sector still faces many challenges. Most of the country still relies on community point sources and many people still travel long distances to fetch water. Access to sanitation lags behind the Sub-Saharan average, due to low levels of rural coverage. Only 1 percent of the population is connected to sewers, and current levels of wastewater treatment and fecal sludge management are inadequate. ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 133 sanitation in the vulnerable Northern training and study tour in Colombia for and Eastern regions of Uganda, districts Uganda officials to learn about SIASAR— hosting refugees, and areas with low levels a mobile phone and internet-based system of coverage. for monitoring rural water and sanitation access and systems. Through IWMDP financing, MWE plans to launch SIASAR in MIDTERM RESULTS ACHIEVED Uganda, although this is currently delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A midterm assessment found that GWSP support has been well-aligned with the In addition, to address low levels of government’s priorities and directly sanitation coverage in Uganda, GWSP contributed to the design and imple- provided support to town authorities to mentation of IWMDP. While the work is develop town sanitation plans, leading still ongoing, stakeholders interviewed to the development of memoranda of as part of the assessment noted that understanding between local businesses completed activities were effective in and local governments. This has led to achieving their goals. the development of innovative service delivery models, enabling the private Through GWSP support, a set of checklists, sector to work alongside local author- questionnaires, and financial templates ities for fecal sludge management in were developed to assess water systems in small towns. Finally, GWSP funded Engi- refugee settlements and have been used neers Without Borders’ review of design to begin the process of transferring to a standards for solar-powered rural water utility-based approach to water supply. supply in Uganda, advancing innovation A utility-based pilot in the Mid-Western in the sector. region was successful and provided several useful lessons for other refugee settlements and host communities. LESSONS LEARNED In support of a MWE initiative to profes- GWSP-funded activities have generated sionalize the six regional Umbrella Author- valuable lessons relevant for future work ities, which are responsible for over 1,200 in Uganda and beyond. water systems, GWSP funded efforts to design the technical assistance program, 6 It is possible to shift from emergency which is now being financed by IWMDP as systems to utility-based approaches part of a broader $5.5 million institutional to water in refugee settlements. strengthening component. To address Leveraging Uganda’s progressive the challenges in gathering accurate and refugee policy, GWSP support has timely data on such a large number of shown that it is possible to shift the water systems, GWSP also supported a thinking on how humanitarian assis- 134 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership tance is delivered, and how the transi- utility-based approaches in refugee tion from emergency systems to fully settlements. The work in supporting sustainable systems can be made payment for water in refugee settle- (see next page). Open dialogue and ments is also consistent with the World complementary expertise helped Bank’s support to income generation smooth the way for very different orga- in the same settlements. In addition, nizations to work together. GWSP-funded activities on solar-pow- ered rural water systems were coordi- 6 It is possible to develop innovative nated with the World Bank’s Energy models for private sector engage- Global Practice. ment in fecal sludge management, but it is important to address the 6 A l i g n i n g m o n i t o r i n g s y s t e m s entire service chain. GWSP support between GWSP and World Bank brought local governments and the lending can be challenging. Quan- private sector together to test inno- titative indicators of progress are all vative models for service delivery. This aligned with IWMDP, and as disburse- work shows promise in addressing ment has been delayed, these could some of the challenges in scaling not be assessed. A close examination fecal sludge management, with of these indicators suggests that some potential for replication in other coun- are not well designed, and that data tries. However, results have not come availability may be a constraint. The as quickly as expected. Going forward, results framework for IWMDP includes prioritizing collection of fecal sludge an ambitious set of indicators, and it alongside treatment will improve the is not clear where some of the data effectiveness of this work. will come from. It is possible that the data collection ability of local author- 6 Coordination with other stakeholders ities and water service providers is in the water sector is critical. Close more limited than IWMDP’s require- coordination with the government, ments dictate. This poses a challenge donors, civil society, and the private to GWSP work, as all the indicators sector amplifies the impact of GWSP’s used to monitor progress against support. Close internal coordination Block C interventions are selected within the World Bank is also key. f rom the IWMDP indicators. There Stakeholders noted the impact of have been recent revisions to the GWSP’s work with nongovernmental indicator matrix (for instance, to add organizations (NGOs) to harmonize an indicator related to refugees), but data collection and analysis in rural nonetheless, some of the indicators areas through SIASAR, as well as the chosen do not seem well suited to partnerships to facilitate the tran- track the effectiveness and impact of sition f rom emergency systems to GWSP interventions. ChapterReport Annual 1 2020 135 136 Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership Uganda Changing How Refugees Access Water Uganda is host to one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Over one and a half million people, primarily from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have fled to the country. The govern- ment has welcomed them, and grants refugees the right to work, to move freely, and to access social and public services. Uganda is one of the few countries in the world that is piloting UNHCR’s Compre- hensive Refugee Response Framework, which aims to provide a more predictable and sustainable response by linking humanitarian and development efforts. The government has not established refugee camps, preferring to house refugees in or next to host communities. The Framework calls for inclusive service delivery which benefits both refugees and the districts hosting them. To date, humanitarian agen- cies have built over 400 emergency water supply systems in refugee settlements or host communities, serving around 1.3 million people. However, these systems require an ongoing subsidy and are not a viable long-term solution. By shifting to a utility-based approach, where refugees become paying utility customers, refugees receive better and more financially sustain- able services. GWSP contributed to an initial study of six emergency systems in refugee settlements, providing insights into their quality and sustainability. This work started a conversation about transferring responsibility for managing the systems to utilities. GWSP has supported the transition by coordinating dialogue across sectors—described as a “meeting of the minds” by one stakeholder. For humanitarian agencies, such as UNHCR, this represents a major shift in approach. By helping build a partnership between MWE, NWSC, and humanitarian agencies, GWSP has made significant contributions to how humanitarian assistance is delivered. Chapter 1 Annual Report 2020 137 Credits Cover MD Manik/SOPA Images/LightRocket via 60 Nestlé (CC by NC ND 2.0 Getty Images 66 The Nature Conservancy (CC by NC 2.0) x Australian Embassy Jakarta (CC 2.0) 68 Icons from Made, Anton Scherbik, Shocho, fae xiv Sean Sheridan for Mercy Corps (CC by NC 2.0) frey, juliana takeuchi, Vectors Point, ProSymbols xvii Albert González Farran, UNAMID (CC by NC 2.0) from The Noun Project (CC) xx Image courtesy of The Water Project (WASH 72 Icons from Made, Anton Scherbik, Shocho, fae program, Covid-19 Response, Western Kenya) frey, juliana takeuchi, Vectors Point, ProSymbols 2 Icons from counloucon, Made, Becris, Symbolon from The Noun Project (CC) from The Noun Project (CC) 74 Icons from Made, Anton Scherbik, Shocho, fae 4 I_am_zews/Shutterstock frey, juliana takeuchi, Vectors Point, ProSymbols 8 Icons from Made, Anton Scherbik, Shocho, fae from The Noun Project (CC) frey, juliana takeuchi from The Noun Project 78 Icons from conloucon, mungang kim, Luis 13 Jeff Ackley on Unsplash Prado, ProSymbols, Joel McKinney from The 14 Vicki Francis/Department for International Noun Project (CC) Development (CC 2.0) 79 Giacomo Pirozzi/Department of Foreign Affairs 17 UN Photo/Fred Noy (CC by NC ND 2.0) and Trade of Australia (CC 2.0) 21 Asian Development Bank (CC by NC ND 2.0) 80 Rumi Consultancy/World Bank 24 Department for International Development 84 UN Photo/Kibae Park (CC by NC ND 2.0) (CC 2.0) 87 Tom Cheatham/UNDP (CC by NC ND 2.0) 27 UN Photo/Albert González Farran (CC by NC 88 Hamish John Appleby for IWMI (CC by NC ND 2.0) ND 2.0) 30 Marcos Villalta/Save the Children (CC by NC 99 Brian Holsclaw (CC by ND 2.0) ND 2.0) 100 UN Photo/Kibae Park (CC by NC ND 2.0) 34 Joe Ronzio/IWMI (CC by NC ND 2.0) 108 Nestlé (CC by NC ND 2.0) 37 Felix Clay/World Fish (CC by NC 2.0) 114 UN Photo/Albert González Farran (CC by NC 38 Hamish John Appleby/ IWMI (CC by NC ND 2.0) ND 2.0) 43 Hamish John Appleby (CC by NC ND 2.0) 117 Arne Hoel/World Bank 44 Water and Sanitation Collaborative Council 119 Trevor Samson/World Bank (CC 2.0) 121 Li Liu/World Bank 49 Asian Development Bank (CC by NC ND 2.0) 125 Li Liu/World Bank 52 Asian Development Bank (CC by NC ND 2.0) 127 Mohamed Abdel Wahab for USAID (CC by 55 Asian Development Bank (CC by NC ND 2.0) NC 2.0) 56 Almin Zrno / World Bank (CC by NC ND 2.0) 131 Andrea Kirby (CC by NC 2.0) 58 Alex Wynter/KRCS-Climate Centre (CC by 133 UNMISS (CC by NC ND 2.0) NC 2.0) 136 EU/ECHO/Martin Karimi (CC by ND 2.0) 138 Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership