WaterLinks Strengthening Utility Capacity through Peer-to-Peer Exchange World Water Forum 5 Istanbul, March 20, 2009 John Pasch Regional Water Policy Advisor United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

about WATERLINKS Regional partnership network to facilitate WOPs in Asia Founded by ADB, IWA and USAID in August 2008 Aims to coordinate, develop and implement joint WOPs support programs Leverage comparative advantages to achieve something greater than individual partner inputs Avoid duplication of efforts and facilitate effective cooperation

Support regional capacity building initiatives and facilitate selected water operator twinning partnerships Support dissemination and knowledge sharing, and promote and broker twinning partnerships Establish and facilitate water operator twinning partnerships, develop website, contribute to regional capacity building initiatives partner ROLES

WaterLinks HOW DOES IT WORK? Brokering and facilitating twinning partnerships Strengthening capacity through regional training and toolkits Disseminating best practices via publications, events and a website (

Facilitating over 15 twinning partnerships Most are intra-regional partnerships Involve mentor water operators from Maldives to Korea Benefit recipients in 10 countries Many focus on NRW and operational efficiencies Water quality, continuous water supply, and service expansion also covered Fewer sanitation twinning partnerships facilitating TWINNING

twinning PRINCIPLES Direct practitioner-to-practitioner exchange is foundation of twinning Partnership benefits are mutual, but not necessarily equal All partnerships operate on a non-profit basis Partnerships could involve both public and private organizations Partnerships should result in real improvements and tangible outcomes Partners cost-share through funds and in-kind

twinning ACTIVITIES Technical assistance Class & on-the-job training Short internships Study tours Technology demonstration Workshops

twinning HOW DO WE GET RESULTS? Written twinning agreements linked to results Focused approach Partner commitments (upstream and downstream) Demand driven

Over 65,000 people now have continuous water supply in Badlapur Utilities in Bac Ninh, Davao, and Cebu reduced NRW in pilot DMAs and are now expanding to other service areas Medan adopted a pro-poor service model from Manila benefiting over 3,500 poor households Phnom Penh conducted its first ever WASH campaign based on experiences in Iloilo. PWA developed SOP for water quality management now being applied in Nakorn Nayok twinning IMPACTS

twinning LESSONS LEARNED Three “R”’s of Twinning Reciprocity Results Replicability

Thank You John R. Pasch, P.E. Regional Water Policy Advisor USAID Asia