Water Supply

Water is at the center of economic and social development; it is vital to maintain health, grow food, manage the environment, and create jobs. Despite water’s importance, globally, 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water and 3.6 billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation.

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However, increasing access is not enough. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Water and Sanitation proposes a broader agenda: By 2030, universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all, and access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. This goal reflects the growing importance of water and sanitation as a human right. Additional targets that go beyond access are also being considered, such as improving water quality by reducing pollution, and substantially increasing water-use efficiency.

The scale of the challenge is large and becoming more complex. Climate change, population growth and economic development are pushing the limits of the world’s finite water resources. In some cases water scarcity is already constraining economic growth. Lack of access to improved water supply and sanitation services impose huge costs on society, especially for the poor. Even where access exists, services have been characterized for decades by poor management, inadequate financing and low levels of investment. Very few water or wastewater utilities in the developing world recover adequate operation and maintenance costs from customers and only a handful recovers debt service and depreciation. Despite the importance of water for development, African countries allocate no more than 0.5% of their GDP to the sector. The uncertainties brought about by political economy and climate change only add to this sector’s already considerable challenges. Not surprisingly, world leaders now rank water as one of their top critical issues.

Over the past ten years, the World Bank Group (WBG) — the largest multilateral source of financing for water supply and sanitation (WSS) in developing countries — has approved 262 water projects, amounting to US$31.2 billion, of which US$21.3 billion, or 68 percent, are categorized as WSS projects.

Last Updated: Oct 05, 2022

The World Bank Group (WBG) has been addressing water issues globally with large-scale finance and technical assistance to countries. 

WSS has traditionally been a very large part of the water portfolio, and currently accounts for about 49% of the total portfolio, with about one-third of the portfolio devoted to urban water supply and 24% on rural water supply. 

WBG water supply projects take a multi-sector and integrated approach across three broad areas:

1. Governance, the State and Citizen Engagement: the framework of behavior change, policies, institutions, regulation, financing, and incentives that support or undermine achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals;
2. Service Provider Performance Improvement: building the institutional capacity and skills needed by managers and staff to deliver services in an efficient, resilient, innovative, and sustainable manner; and
3. Water and Sanitation Security and Resilience: Expanding inclusive and reliable water and sanitation services is key to building more equitable communities, resilient livelihoods, and climate-smart economies. Circular economy approaches, for example, can substantially contribute to reduce water scarcity by increasing the menu of water resource options. This includes minimizing waste, maximizing resources, and contributing to building resilient urban water supply and sanitation systems, while helping cities transition from a traditionally linear approach (in which freshwater is extracted, used, treated, and disposed) to a more sustainable, circular one to achieve urban water and sanitation resilience.

In addition, knowledge dissemination is at the core of WBG water projects. Besides the many publications, blogs, speaking engagements and learning events it produces annually, the World Bank Group regularly partners in a variety of forums at the global, regional and country levels with key agencies (UN Water, UNICEF, WHO, etc).

The World Bank Group is also an active partner in a number of water supply and sanitation networks — such as the International Water Association, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, Sanitation and Water for All, Stockholm International Water Institute, AMCOW, and others.

Last Updated: Oct 05, 2022

By combining global knowledge with country investments, the World Bank Group generates more firepower for transformational solutions to help countries grow sustainably into the 21st century. These are some highlights from our work on water supply:

• WSS has traditionally been a very large part of the water portfolio, and currently accounts for about 49% of the total portfolio.

• Between Fiscal Year 2013 and Fiscal Year 2022, the World Bank provided 136.3 Million people with improved access to water and 231.11 Million people with improved access to sanitation services. 

• In Benin, in collaboration with IFC, the World Bank helped develop Public-Private Partnerships to extend water supply into rural areas to increase access for the poor.  For the first time in Benin, bankable long-term commercial agreements allowed private operators to raise private funding to undertake the necessary investments. In Senegal, WSP strengthened capacity of regulators to effectively manage PPPs to support water sector reforms. Meanwhile in Liberia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo, WGP worked to assess and strengthen rural water service delivery pathways.

Last Updated: Oct 06, 2022