Water for Life: the UK working as one Ravi Narayanan Director, WaterAid

WaterAid centred on field experience -15 countries, 250 local partners, 7.8m beneficiaries -watsan & hygiene integration, local partners & DRA -twin track strategy: pro-poor projects and advocacy public and private partners within UK water sector -Chairman, Vic Cocker, retired Severn Trent Ch.Exec. 50% income growth last year -hitting targets early, reviewing strategy -approach to IWRM a major issue though context is: -domestic 50 litres per day = 18m 3 per annum -compare 1000m 3 for 1 tonne of wheat -or 1000m 3 threshold for scarcity, 1700m 3 for stress

Total: 1.16 billion Data: UNDP Human Development Report 2003 The Unserved: Safe Water

Total: 2.36 billion Data: UNDP Human Development Report 2003 The Unserved: Sanitation

Targets – Delivery Gap

Barriers I - Finance Identifying the gap -Options for poor countries -Debt relief, trade -Cost recovery: pro-poor subsidies where necessary Harmonising resources -ODA and internal resources Cost-effectiveness of expenditure -Policy – untying Aid, Budget support, PRSPs -Appropriate technology

BotswanaIndia South AfricaSenegal Barriers 1 – Finance: policy gap Other SSA and South Asia countries do not have credit ratings – they do not issue bonds and so there is no demand for their ratings. These countries are just about “unbankable” – there is no commercial appetite to lend to them or, without copious amounts of aid, to projects over $10,000 in them. *From Camdessus Report

Barriers II - Technology Appropriate -Operations & maintenance Affordability -Technology ladder Scalability

Barriers III - Governance Clarity of Purpose -Avoid compartmentalisation – water/education/health Demand Creation -Use of media, social marketing (esp. for sanitation) Ethical application of policy -Concentration on poor communities/regions -Similarly for suppliers: local private sector Transparency of Information Monitoring Impact

Conclusions Long way to go and poorest are already off-track Challenge is to translate knowledge into action Priorities need to be set: -Financiers: focus on doubling public funds -Business: sustainable service delivery systems -Governance: get data for ethical service expansions WaterAid launching Flush Out Poverty campaign -pressure on DFID to prioritise water once more and reassert its international leadership on these issues