The Water and Sanitation Trust Fund UN-HABITAT established the Water and Sanitation Trust Fund in 2003. This was in answer to the call in the United Nations Millennium Declaration “to reduce by half, between now and 2015, the proportion of people who lack sustainable access to adequate sources of affordable and safe water”, and the Plan of Implementation adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which added a new target on reducing by half the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation by 2015. The UN-HABITAT Water and Sanitation Trust Fund seeks to create a hospitable environment for pro-poor investment in water and sanitation in urban areas of all sizes in the developing world and thus provide a vehicle to improve significantly the volume and effectiveness of the Official Development Aid and local financial flows into the water and sanitation sector. The water and sanitation programme addresses this objective through four inter-linked sets of activities: - Three regional water and sanitation programmes in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean which facilitate pro-poor, gender sensitive investments in partnership with regional development banks and the World Bank;
- Replicable model-setting initiatives in Africa and Asia, notably through the Lake Victoria secondary towns initiative and a similar initiative in the Mekong region;
- Normative activities which focus on developing pro-poor and gender sensitive governance frameworks; global assessment of the state of water and sanitation in cities and towns; water operators partnerships; and advocacy, public awareness and education.
- Monitoring progress towards the achievement of MDG and WSSD targets related to water and sanitation.
A mid-term review of the Water and Sanitation Trust Fund was undertaken in 2007 to assess the effectiveness of operations. The Review concluded that the Trust Fund’s work is to be appropriately directed towards the water and sanitation goals by focusing on the vulnerable and neglected populations in small urban centres and poverty pockets in large cities. A policy of consolidation rather than expansion was considered prudent in the immediate term. Among the findings were that country programmes show promise, and that community development models are innovative, work well and complement conventional Multilateral Development Bank approaches. The Review noted that the approach that combines infrastructure rehabilitation and development with capacity-building can ensure good operation and maintenance and create a sustainable revenue base for service providers. It was found that delivery is good where there are strong local partners, and the review emphasised the need to further develop pro-poor governance systems and the poverty targeting of activities. Capacity-building for government officials and elected local representatives was appreciated, as were public awareness activities. Water Demand Management is working well and is viewed by utilities, the banks and some private entities to be of considerable value. The Review found that partnerships with the African and Asian development banks are working well and are among the programme’s core strengths. The Water and Sanitation Trust Funds strategic plan (2008-2012) The UN-HABITAT Trust Fund Strategic Plan 2008-2012 presents the overall strategic framework for the development and implementation of the water and sanitation programme. The plan supports the implementation of Focus Area 4 of the of the UN-HABITAT Medium-Term Strategic and Institutional Plan 2008-2013 (MTSIP) on “environmentally sound basic urban infrastructure and services”. This focus area reflects a vision of water and sanitation as part of a wider sustainable human settlement development process. This vision is carried through to the innovative approaches of activities under the UN-HABITAT Water and Sanitation Trust Fund, where development of water and sanitation services are seen as part of wider processes of settlement development and improvements in the living environment of, in particular, the urban poor. The focus on all types of urban areas, large cities, peri-urban areas and small towns, has been reflected in the development of different initiatives under the Water and Sanitation Trust Fund. The issues of energy consumption, urban transport and climate change are also noted as integral to this focus area, and the need to include disaster mitigation and climate change mitigation and adaptation within Water and Sanitation Trust Fund approaches. The Plan outlines four strategic focus areas for the period 2008-2012: - Delivering sustainable services for the poor
- Ensuring synergy between the artificial and natural environments
- Monitoring the Millennium Development Goals and beyond
- Integrating infrastructure and housing
Lessons Learned Impact of pilot and demonstration projects Tangible progress has been observed in programme delivery since the establishment of the Trust Fund. Experience in implementing the programme has shown that pilot and demonstration projects give an impact on the ground: stakeholders, partners, beneficiaries, public and private sectors. Indeed the impact of the pilot projects in terms of the number of direct beneficiaries and the demonstration effects of innovative approaches has been substantial given the level of Trust Fund resources. However, the lessons learnt and the sustainability of delivery depends, not just on results on the ground, but also their documentation, dissemination and replication. Efforts have been made to develop these aspects of the programme. Additional effort is also required in capacity building and staffing to maximize the impact of the programme at the regional level through wide exchange of experience and knowledge sharing, In this regard, particular attention is being given to communication and media aspects of the programme. Strategic Partnerships with Development Banks The partnerships with the Development Banks are working well and are having concrete results in terms of increasing the flow of pro-poor investments into the water and sanitation sector. The collaboration with the African Development Bank in Zanzibar and the Lake Victoria Region have demonstrated that Trust Fund activities in pre-investment planning and capacity building and model-setting Initiatives can lead to substantial levels of follow up investments. Similarly in Asia, collaboration with the Asian Development Bank is linked to projected ADB investments of $ 1 billion. As the partnership model with the development banks is now well established, efforts are underway to scale up the model by seeking partnerships with additional development banks such as the European Investment Bank, the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank. Capacity Building for Water Utilities The capacity building programme for water utilities is having a major impact in improving the effectiveness of service delivery in urban areas and this is becoming more important as urbanization rates increase and informal settlements expand. Furthermore, water utilities are under increasing pressure to achieve financial viability as a condition for receiving funding for investments. The capacity-building programmes supported by the Trust Fund continue to place emphasis on helping utilities to improve their management and operating efficiencies as instruments to achieve financial viability. As energy costs typically account for over 60% of utility operating costs, energy audits are also being undertaken as an important focus of capacity building activities. Energy audits are showing that while there is good potential to improve energy efficiency there is need for follow up investments on plant retrofitting and system upgrading. Additionally, there is a need for assistance in developing and applying business planning models and other tools to improve capital budgeting and to identify and package investment proposals. This will also enable utilities to access non-traditional sources of financing, such as capital markets and to make greater use of innovative financing instruments, such as revolving funds. Community Empowerment Programmes Effective water and sanitation programmes must be demand driven and this implies that programmes to empower communities and strengthen participatory approaches to utility management must complement the capacity building of utilities. Community empowerment programmes such as the Google-supported h2.0 Monitoring Services to Inform and Empower Initiative will be expanded in scope and linked more closely to sector investment decision-making and the strategic planning processes of the utilities. The introduction of community-based water quality monitoring systems using low cost testing techniques will also help to expand the knowledge base and further empower communities to make informed choices on their drinking water sources and to articulate their needs to utilities and other sector institutions. Studies on the impact of lack of sanitation on poor women and girls and social marketing programmes for sanitation are considered as important interventions to enhance the demand for safe water and improved sanitation. These innovative programmes will direct the future focus areas of UN-HABITAT in designing WATSAN programmes for cities. Strengthening the Global Water Operators Partnership Alliance The operationalizing of the Global Water Operators Partnership Alliance (GWOPA) is an important milestone, and this has created new opportunities to strengthen the impact of the capacity building activities of the Trust Fund. GWOPA is providing an effective platform to disseminate the normative tools generated from Trust Fund operational activities and will provide an extensive data base of best practices, guidance manuals and knowledge products to improve training and capacity building programmes, especially in the important areas of utility management and operations.
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