Publication:
The Water Portfolio of the World Bank: Insights from a Review of Fiscal Year 2011

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (1.46 MB)
218 downloads
Published
2013-06
ISSN
Date
2015-09-14
Author(s)
Scheierling, Susanne M.
Editor(s)
Abstract
This report presents insights from the FY11 review of the World Bank s water portfolio. The report includes a methodological section followed by reviews of four broad areas: the water related commitments managed by the World Bank Group (WBG) for FY011; the water-related commitments of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and of the International Development Association (IDA) for FY11; water-related projects approved in FY11; and analytic and advisory activities (AAA), in particular economic and sector work (ESW) and technical assistance (TA), delivered in FY11. The focus of the report is on the new IBRD and IDA commitments in FY11, which are analyzed not only based on data provided in the World Bank s project database but also with data generated by reviewing the Project Appraisal Documents (PADs) using a newly developed questionnaire. Some of the key findings of the FY11 review are the following: Water-related IBRD and IDA commitments comprised about 95% of the overall WBG managed commitments for water. From FY02 to FY11 they grew more than five-fold, from US$1.3 billion to US$7.4 billion largely driven by increased commitments for water supply and sanitation. In FY11 a total of 105 water-related IBRD and IDA projects were approved. Commitments by region were largest for the East Asia and Pacific Region (EAP) and the South Asia Region (SAR) with 30% and 29%, respectively. With regard to the number of projects, Africa was by far the leading Region with 33 projects. Of the 105 water-related projects, only 22% were mapped to the Water Sector Board (WAT) and most of these were water supply and sanitation projects.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Scheierling, Susanne M.; Lyon, Kimberly N.. 2013. The Water Portfolio of the World Bank: Insights from a Review of Fiscal Year 2011. Water Papers;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22617 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Water and Development : An Evaluation of World Bank Support, 1997-2007, Volume 2. Appendixes
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010) Independent Evaluation Group
    The amount of available water has been constant for millennia, but over time the planet has added 6 billion people. Water is essential to human life and enterprise, and the increasing strains on available water resources threaten the mission of institutions dedicated to economic development. The ultimate goal is to achieve a sustainable balance between the resources available and the societal requirement for water. In this evaluation the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) examines all the water-related projects financed by the World Bank between fiscal 1997 and the end of calendar 2007. Bank activities related to water are large, growing, and integrated. They include water resources management, water supply and sanitation, and activities related to agricultural water, industrial water, energy generation, and water in the environment. Through both lending and grants, the World Bank (the International Development Association and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or IBRD) has supported countries in many water-related sectors. This evaluation examines the full scope of that support over the period from fiscal 1997 to the end of calendar 2007. More than 30 background studies prepared for the evaluation have analyzed Bank lending by thematic area and by activity type. The evaluation is by definition retrospective, but it identifies changes that will be necessary going forward, including those related to strengthening country-level institutions and increasing financial sustainability.
  • Publication
    Water Resources Management in South Eastern Europe, Volume 1. Issues and Directions
    (Washington, DC, 2003-01) World Bank
    This two-volume report seeks to examine key issues and strategic concerns regarding water resources management (WRM) at the national and transboundary levels in the South Eastern Europe (SEE) region, documents the approach adopted by the SEE countries to address their water challenges, identifies ways of strengthening both WRM regimes and international cooperation to optimize resources management, and makes recommendations for future action. Most of the analysis and assessment included in the report is based on the brief Country Water Notes and Country Water Fact Sheets presented in Volume 2. These notes provide a brief description of the socioeconomic and geographical context and development objectives pursued in each country and their implications for water resources management. WRM includes such crosscutting issues, such as river basin management, flood and watershed management monitoring, institutional management, inter-sectoral water allocation, and water quality management. Volume 1 comprises four chapters. Chapter 1 is a description of the water resource base at the regional level. It includes an assessment of past and present trends in water use by sector. Chapter 2 analyzes key water issues in each of the focus countries, emphasizing problems of common concern, Chapter 3 presents the main water issues at the transboundary level and some emerging trends. Following the national and regional analysis of water resources, Chapter 4 presents key recommendations for improved water management at the national and transboundary levels.
  • Publication
    Uganda Water Assistance Strategy
    (Washington, DC, 2011-06) World Bank
    Over the past 25 years, Uganda has experienced sustained economic growth, supported by a prudent macroeconomic framework and propelled by consistent policy reforms. Annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth averaged 7.4 percent in the 2000s, compared with 6.5 in the 1990s. Economic growth has enabled substantial poverty reduction, with the proportion of people living in poverty more than halving from 56 percent in the 1992 to 23.3 percent in 2009. However, welfare improvements have not been shared equally; there is increasing urban rural inequality and inequality between regions. Revitalizing economic growth and tackling persistent poverty will require addressing a number of challenges. These include alleviating infrastructure bottlenecks; increasing agricultural productivity; managing land, water and other natural resources; addressing demographic challenges; and confronting governance issues. The development and management of water resources is intimately linked to Uganda's continued development ambitions. Water can be both a positive force-providing productive input to agriculture, industry, energy and tourism, and sustaining human and environmental health-as well as a destructive one-to which the devastating consequences of floods and droughts can attest. The National Water Resources Assessment (NWRA) estimates that Uganda's total renewable water resources are about 43 million cubic meters (MCM), less than was estimated in the Ministry of Water and Environment's (MWE's) Sector Investment Plan (SIP) in 2009. About 13 percent of this is sustainable groundwater (5.67 MCM) and the balance is surface water (37.41 MCM). About one half of all districts in Uganda experience annual rainfall deficits-the difference between evapotranspiration and rainfall-ranging from slightly above zero to 400 mm. The frequency of rainfall anomalies below normal (or long-term annual average) is significantly greater than the frequency of rainfall anomalies higher than normal. The Uganda water Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) aims to assist the Government of Uganda (GoU) in identifying priority actions for building on successful outcomes, tackling remaining challenges, and exploiting opportunities in Uganda's water sector. The objective of the water CAS is to define the World Bank's strategic role in supporting GoU to better manage and develop its water resources. The recommendations of the water CAS are complementary to the World Bank Uganda Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) 2011-15 priorities for Uganda and consistent with the country's development objectives as defined in the National Development Plan (NDP) and water and related sector plans and strategies, which form the foundation of the World Bank Uganda CAS.
  • Publication
    Philippines : Country Water Resources Assistance Strategy 2003
    (Washington, DC, 2003-06) World Bank
    The Water Resources Sector Strategy (WRSS) supports implementation of the Bank's 1993 Water Resources Management Policy, using the experience updated internationally, with water resources and management. This country Water Resources Assistance Strategy (CWRAS) identifies the Philippines principal water resource challenges, the current situation, how the Bank is assisting at present, and what it should in the future. In summary this strategy can be summarized as follows: 1) Bank assistance should translate the rhetoric of water conservation, and sustainability, into practical-realistic programs, and policies; 2) focus should be on promoting cooperation of local government units (LGUs), and water users themselves, and, on following a "bottom-up and top-down" approach, that includes active participation of water users, in addition to developing infrastructure, and management into water resources projects; 3) water resource management (WRM) initiatives should respect cultural practices, which have evolved to provide sustainable WRM in a micro-watershed context. Indigenous water systems provide clues to how WRM should be rooted in the socio-cultural context; and, 4) prioritize support for the use of economic instruments in managing river basins, facilitating private sector participation I the water supply and sanitation sector, and supporting the decentralization of responsibilities for WRM.
  • Publication
    The Future of Water in African Cities : Why Waste Water? Integrated Urban Water Management, Background Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-12) Echart, Jochen; Ghebremichael, Kebreab; Khatri, Krishna; Mutikanga, Harrison; Sempewo, Jotham; Tsegaye, Seneshaw; Vairavamoorthy, Kalanithy
    The primary objective of this report is to provide a coherent and comprehensive review on integrated urban water management (IUWM) approach to assist public authorities to identify and address the future challenges of urban water supply, sanitation and flood management in African cities. This report presents the existing and future challenges in Africa, the possible options for innovative technologies and approaches for their breakthrough and a way forward to achieve the objectives of IUWM. It highlights technical and institutional constraints of the IUWM in Africa. It presents the global and African best practices and trends in IUWM which are linked to urban development and which have very good lessons learnt that can be shared within and among the cities in Africa. The report consists of four chapters. Chapter two reviews the existing condition, future challenges and opportunities in Urban Water Sector (UWS) in Africa. The review covers the current situation of urban water systems and their management approaches; the major future change pressures (climate change, population growth and urbanization, deterioration of infrastructure systems) and their impacts on UWS; and opportunities for implementing the IUWM approach in Africa. Chapter three introduces the key concepts and conceptual framework of IUWM. The framework has been supplemented by appropriate technologies and innovative approaches of IUWM that will be suitable for cities in Africa. This chapter also presents the global experiences and best practices of IUWM that can be shared within the Africa cities. Chapter four presents case studies to demonstrate how the IUWM framework can be operationalized and to select the appropriate technologies and approaches as discussed in chapter 3 based on the different typologies of the cities and development stages in Africa. The typologies include an emerging town in Uganda (Masindi), a city with partially developed infrastructure in Ghana (Accra) and fully developed city in South Africa (Cape Town). Based on the cases, a few recommendations (road map) for the implementation of IUWM approach for other cities in Africa have been presented in chapter four.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Financing Municipal Energy Efficiency Projects
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-07) Energy Sector Management Assistance Program
    Improving the energy efficiency (EE) of municipally owned buildings, such as schools and hospitals, and municipal infrastructure, such as public lighting, water supply, and district heating, offers budgetary savings on energy bills and a wide range of environmental and socioeconomic benefits. But relatively few municipal EE projects have been developed and implemented successfully. The challenges that limit EE investments in municipal buildings and facilities can be grouped into three broad areas: (i) a lack of awareness and incentives; (ii) insufficient implementation capacity; and (iii) limited access to financing. All three sets of challenges need to be addressed to scale up successful implementation of municipal EE projects. This Guidance Note focuses on the key issues faced by municipalities in accessing financing for EE investments, particularly for projects in the following four areas: indoor lighting, building retrofits, public lighting, and municipal utilities. The guidance note discusses the following potential financing mechanisms that can be used by municipalities to finance EE measures: budget financing, Funds developed specifically to address energy efficiency, public support to leverage commercial financing, and commercial financing.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 2014
    (Washington, DC, 2013-10-06) World Bank
    The past 25 years have witnessed unprecedented changes around the world—many of them for the better. Across the continents, many countries have embarked on a path of international integration, economic reform, technological modernization, and democratic participation. As a result, economies that had been stagnant for decades are growing, people whose families had suffered deprivation for generations are escaping poverty, and hundreds of millions are enjoying the benefits of improved living standards and scientific and cultural sharing across nations. As the world changes, a host of opportunities arise constantly. With them, however, appear old and new risks, from the possibility of job loss and disease to the potential for social unrest and environmental damage. If ignored, these risks can turn into crises that reverse hard-won gains and endanger the social and economic reforms that produced these gains. The World Development Report 2014 (WDR 2014), Risk and Opportunity: Managing Risk for Development, contends that the solution is not to reject change in order to avoid risk but to prepare for the opportunities and risks that change entails. Managing risks responsibly and effectively has the potential to bring about security and a means of progress for people in developing countries and beyond. Although individuals’ own efforts, initiative, and responsibility are essential for managing risk, their success will be limited without a supportive social environment—especially when risks are large or systemic in nature. The WDR 2014 argues that people can successfully confront risks that are beyond their means by sharing their risk management with others. This can be done through naturally occurring social and economic systems that enable people to overcome the obstacles that individuals and groups face, including lack of resources and information, cognitive and behavioral failures, missing markets and public goods, and social externalities and exclusion. These systems—from the household and the community to the state and the international community—have the potential to support people’s risk management in different yet complementary ways. The Report focuses on some of the most pressing questions policy makers are asking. What role should the state take in helping people manage risks? When should this role consist of direct interventions, and when should it consist of providing an enabling environment? How can governments improve their own risk management, and what happens when they fail or lack capacity, as in many fragile and conflict-affected states? Through what mechanisms can risk management be mainstreamed into the development agenda? And how can collective action failures to manage systemic risks be addressed, especially those with irreversible consequences? The WDR 2014 provides policy makers with insights and recommendations to address these difficult questions. It should serve to guide the dialogue, operations, and contributions from key development actors—from civil society and national governments to the donor community and international development organizations.
  • Publication
    Digital Africa
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13) Begazo, Tania; Dutz, Mark Andrew; Blimpo, Moussa
    All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
  • Publication
    Investing in Water Infrastructure : Capital, Operations and Maintenance
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-11) Rodriguez, Diego J.; van den Berg, Caroline; McMahon, Amanda
    This paper provides background information for development practitioners in the water and other infrastructure sectors. It outlines the major challenges related to financing the gap in global water infrastructure, including those systems that provide urban and rural water supply, and sanitation and irrigation services. Water infrastructure finance includes costs for capital works as well as the operations and maintenance costs that motivate sustainable service delivery. Section one introduces the linkages between water infrastructure and growing global challenges, including food and energy security as well as climate change. Section two describes investment needs in the sector and details various traditional funding sources. Section three proposes a five step reform cycle for making better use of limited funding in the sector. Tools for making these improvements are outlined in section four. The paper concludes with section five, a summary of the challenges and recommendations for the way forward.
  • Publication
    Approaches to Conducting Political Economy Analysis in the Urban Water Sector
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-09) Manghee, Seema; Poole, Alice
    Progress in urban water supply and sanitation has been slow over the past few decades. The sector suffers from issues of equity and efficiency. Today, more than 780 million people are still without access to improved sources of water, and 2.5 billion lack improved sanitation. Those average figures mask huge disparities between the rich and the poor, the poor consistently have less access to reliable services than the non-poor. Even those who do have networked service often suffer from irregular service and poorly maintained infrastructure. A search of more than 12,000 observations on the water utility benchmarking website, the International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities (IBNET), indicates that 37 percent of water utilities in the developing world do not even cover operations and maintenance costs from their internal revenue. Overall, political economy analysis provides a practical and useful operational tool that World Bank task team leaders and other urban water specialists can employ in their sector and project work.