Promoting urban water demand management - the programme focuses on all aspects of demand management ranging from economic, social, technical, legal and administrative to institutional. Priority will be given to reduction of unaccounted water; pricing and public-private partnerships; equity in distribution of services; regulation and reallocation of resources.

Promoting integrated urban environmental sanitation - priorities include development of appropriate technological options; promoting public, private, NGO partnerships for scaling up sanitation provision; and innovative financing mechanisms for mobilization of local funds for sanitation services.

Income generation for the urban poor through community-based water and sanitation services - the focus here is to develop and implement strategies for the provision of water and sanitation services that maximizes the income and employment earning opportunities of the urban poor. Special attention is given to active community involvement and ownership in the provision and management of services.

Pro-poor urban water governance - priority is given to promoting institutional and policy frameworks that could focus on the needs of the poor; decentralized, simplified and transparent procedures accessible to the poor; rights-based approach (including rights to tenure) to the provision of water and sanitation; and specific attention and mechanisms to address the needs of the women.