International water charity Just a Drop and The Sun newspaper have launched a new travel auction to raise funds for water and sanitation projects.

The Sun Big Charity Auction is offering more than £200,000 [US$ 333,000] of holiday prizes in a reverse auction, in which the lowest unique bid wins.

Contestants pay 50p [US$ 0.83] to enter a bid. Fiona Jeffery, founder and chairman of Just a Drop, said: “Given the harsh economic climate we adopted ‘a gift in kind’ strategy”. The Sun and auction organiser Bidclever are providing free support and travel & tourism companies have donated over 30 holiday prizes.

Just a Drop was launched in 1998 at the World Travel Market and continues to receive support from worldwide travel & tourism companies whilst also increasingly now from other business sectors. Over 11 years to date, the charity says they have undertaken over 65 water aid projects and helped over 1 million children and their families in 29 countries.

Source: Breaking Travel News, 03 Dec 2009

Photo: FoodBev.com

UK-based Life Pure Water is offering its Bottle for Life charitable concept to restaurants, following a successful pilot scheme. The initiative sees restaurants filling reusable glass bottles with filtered tap water and serving them to diners at £1 [US$ 1.70] each.

The money raised then goes to Life’s ‘drop4drop’ charity, which provides children in developing countries with clean drinking water. The scheme has been piloted by Due South in Brighton and Birmingham’s Kitchen Garden Café.

Over a five-month period, Due South has raised enough funds to provide more than 4,000 children with drinking water.

Drop4drop raises money for water projects being implemented by its charity partners, including Christian Aid, Water.org, Concern, Global Angels, Abaana and Potters for Peace.

Source: Medina Bailey, FoodBev.com, 03 Dec 2009

Marin, P. (2009). Public-private partnerships for urban water utilities: a review of experiences in developing countries. (Trends and policy options ; no. 8). Washington, DC, USA, World Bank, Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF). xvi, 191 p. : 13 boxes, 28 fig., 5 tab. Bibliography: p. 159-176. Includes index
ISBN 978-0-8213-7956-1. eISBN: 978-0-8213-7957-

Download full publication

This study examines the understanding of the performance of public-private partnerships (PPP) projects in urban water utilities in developing countries.

It focuses on projects in which a private operator is introduced to run the utility, consequently excluding build, operate, and transfer (BOT) projects and similar arrangements limited to the construction and operation of treatment facilities.

It reviews the overall spread of urban water PPPs during the past 15 years and seeks to respond to the questions of whether and how they have helped to improve services and to expand access for the populations concerned.

The study analyzes performance data from more than 65 large water PPP projects that have been in place for at least five years (three years in the case of management contracts), a sample that represents a combined population of about 100 million people – close to half of the urban population that has been served by private water operators sometime between 1990 and 2007. This sample represents, by size of population served, close to 80 percent of the water PPP projects that were awarded before 2003 and that have been active for at least three years.

Four dimensions of performance are analyzed: access (coverage expansion), quality of service, operational efficiency, and tariff levels. The analysis focuses on the net improvements and actual impact for the concerned populations, rather than whether contractual targets were met. Based on what worked and what did not, conclusions are then drawn on how governments can better harness private initiative to improve water supply and sanitation services in the developing world.

The key findings are:

• water PPPs are a viable option in developing countries
• the most consistent contribution of private operators has been improved efficiency
• contractual arrangements for water PPPs have evolved differently in different regions

The findings of this study suggest that a new approach is emerging for maximizing the potential contribution of private water operators in the developing world. The focus of PPP should be on using private operators to improve operational efficiency and quality of service, instead of primarily trying to attract private financing.

On 25 November 2009, the DAC welcomed South Korea as its newest member.

Korea joined the OECD in 1996 and a decade later began motions to join the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee.

A team of experts from the DAC Secretariat visited Korea in June 2009 to verify that its aid programme meets DAC standards. They noted, among other things, Korea’s sound aid volumes, strategies, policies and institutional frameworks, as well the country’s reliable system for monitoring and evaluating performance.

The Korean government has pledged to increase its aid from the present 0.09 per cent of its GDP to 0.15 per cent of GDP by 2012 and 0.25 per cent by 2015.

In 2008, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) spent US$ 11.7 million on water and sanitation activities, of which US$ 4.5 million in Asia, US$ 3.6 million for Africa and US$ 2.9 million for Latin America. Roughly half of the activities were training courses.

In 2011, Korea will host the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, where progress on global efforts to make aid more effective in reducing poverty and promoting economic growth will be assessed.

Source: OECD, 25 Nov 2009 ; KOICA statistics

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has signed an agreement with the Cuban government to loan the country 4.4mn Kuwaiti dinars (US$15.4mn) for a project to rehabilitate the water supply system in Holguín city, the financial entity reported on its website.

The project will involve rehabilitating and modernizing wastewater treatment plants, potable water distribution networks, pumping stations and storage tanks in Holguín, located in the province of the same name.

The work will be carried out over four years, the report said.

The 20-year loan has a grace period of five years, and an annual interest rate of 2.5%. This is the second agreement the fund has signed with Cuba, the first being a loan of 3.1mn Kuwaiti dinars for a project to rehabilitate the potable water supply system in Santiago de Cuba.

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development was founded in 1961 and began aiding the Caribbean region in the 1990s. Since its inception, it has given over 12bn Kuwaiti dinars (US$42bn) in loans to more than 100 countries around the world.

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 23 Nov 2009 ; Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, 25 Nov 2009

WaterAid is offering a free  iPhone application “ToiletFinder UK“, which it hopes will encourage users to make a small donation via their web site.

The application locates the nearest public toilet(s) and displays them in map or list format.

It is also a User Generated Content (UGC) application, as the toilet database is created entirely by users, who can add new or flag missing toilets.

The application can be downloaded from the Apple Store using iTunes, or directly on your iPhone (search for “ToiletFinder”).

ToiletFinder UK was created for World Toilet Day by French agency BeTomorrow and is currently only available on the iPhone.

Earlier, the US NGO Africare, developed an iPhone application as part of its “Pass It On! fund raising campaign.

At the first IWA Development Congress that was held in Mexico City from 15 till 19 November 2009, IWA President Dr David Garman and Professor Damir Brdjanovic of UNESCO-IHE signed an agreement on IWA/UNESCO-IHE Water Supply and Sanitation Fellowships.

The fellowships agreement is an important milestone in the cooperation between IWA and UNESCO-IHE. Dr Garman invited potential donors to contribute to the fund and set up a target of 50 fellowships for the next two years.

Fellowships will be divided between the three water supply and sanitation related specialisations at UNESCO-IHE, namely Sanitary Engineering, Water Supply Engineering and Water Services Management.

More information about the fellowships will soon be made available on the website of IWA.

Source: UNESCO-IHE, 25 Nov 2009

Thanks to US$ 50 million in grants from Spain and US$ 50 million in loans from the Inter-American Development (IDB) Guatemala will expand safe water and sanitation services to approximately 600,000 people in 280 rural communities and 60 urban and periurban areas that today lack those services.

In addition to enhancing and expanding water and sanitation services, the program will foster organized participation by the rural communities and the municipalities in order to ensure that the systems constructed are sustainable over time. The funds will also serve to consolidate and strengthen the institutions needed for the planning, regulation and delivery of the services.

The program will lend support to a comprehensive plan drawn up by the Government of Guatemala to reduce the shortfall in coverage of these services. Current water and sanitation service coverage, nationwide, is 75 percent and 47 percent, respectively, which means that nearly 3 million Guatemalans still lack public water services and approximately 6 million lack sanitation services.

In the rural areas of Guatemala, water coverage is 60 percent, sanitation 36 percent. The worst shortfalls are found in areas with predominantly indigenous populations. According to Government estimates, only 15 percent of the water distributed in the country can be considered potable and barely 5 percent of the sewerage systems properly treat wastewater prior to disposal. To achieve United Nations Millennium Development Goals, Guatemala would have to invest an estimated $1,602 million in improving these services.

This is the fourth project financed jointly by the IDB and the Spanish Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Spanish Fund), an entity established in 2009 at the initiative of the President of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

[...]

Apart from the project in Guatemala, the IDB and Spain are co-financing projects in Haiti, Bolivia and Paraguay, and between now and mid-2010 they are expected to finance projects located in Brazil, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru and Uruguay. All in all, Spain will donate US$ 407 million to those projects, while the IDB will contribute US$ 213 million in grants and loans, in addition to defraying the bulk of the their preparation and implementation costs. Some 4 million people living in low-income urban and rural communities are expected to benefit directly from these projects.

Initially, the program will be executed by the National Peace Fund (FONAPAZ) with the support of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance. Nineteen months into the Program, responsibility for executing it will pass to the Municipal Development Institute (INFOM/UNEPAR).

Of the loans granted to the program by the IDB, US$ 40 million will be for a 30-year term, with a 5.5 year grace period, at a variable interest rate based on Libor, while the remaining US$ 10 million will be for a 40-year term with a grace period of 40 years, and an interest rate of 0.25 percent. The IDB could eventually consider financing a second phase of the program with an additional US$ 100 million loan.

Project information: IDB – Water and Sanitation Program for Human Development-Phase I

Related web sites:

• IDB – Spanish Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean
• IDB – Water & Sanitation

Source: IDB, 23 Nov 2009

See below an IDB video on the Spanish Water and Sanitation Cooperation Fund

Donors have committed over $94m (about sh180b) in the next five years to improve the water, sanitation and environment sectors. This was revealed by the Danish ambassador, Nathalia Feinberg, who was representing the sector’s development partners.

She thanked the ministry of water and environment for having improved water coverage to more than 1 million people.

Feinberg, however, said shortage of funding had made it difficult to attain the targeted 77% national coverage.

Denmark, Feinberg added, would increase funding to address the effects of climate change and help in the reduction of green gas emissions.

Speaking about the review of the water and environment sector taking place at the Commonwealth Resort Munyonyo, water and environment state minister Maria Mutagamba said the meeting would provide a forum for performance assessment and policy guidance in developing the sector.

She said progress had been made in the provision of water, now standing at 65% in rural areas and 66% in urban areas.

Latrine coverage in rural areas, she added, also increased from 62% to 68% which is the highest since 1997.

“This is mainly due to the enforcement of bylaws at district levels, as well as other sanitation promotion activities carried out throughout the country. In urban areas, 73% of households have access to toilets,” Mutagamba said.

Source: Cyprian Musoke, New Vision / allAfrica.com, 13 October 2009

Schuen, R. and Parkinson, J. (2009). Study for financial and economic analysis of ecological sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nairobi, Kenya, Water and Sanitation Program-Africa. xi, 32 p. : 14 fig., 9 tab.

Download document [PDF, 5 MB]

This study on financial and economic analysis of ecological sanitation (ecosan) in Sub-Saharan Africa focuses on a comparison of sanitation technologies suitable for urban settlements.

It compares ecosan with conventional sanitation systems in terms of financial and economic costs and benefits based. An analytical framework and a computer model were developed to assess and compare different technologies in terms of financial and economic Net Present Value (NPV).

The economic benefits derived from improved sanitation include health and environmental benefits, as well as those which are associated to excreta reuse.

The study is based on three case studies, which all promoted Urine Diverting Dry Toilets (UDDTs):

• Kabale, Uganda
• eThekwini, South Africa
• Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

The economic and financial performance of these projects is compared with traditional sanitation technologies such as ventilated improved pits (VIPs) and sewerage. The model uses capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX) data, assigned to different elements of a sanitation system. These include costs for both hardware, such as the cost of the latrine itself and software, which includes all promotional, training and other capacity building activities.

The results show that operational and maintenance costs determine the financial performance (in terms of NPV) from a household perspective in situations where latrines are heavily subsidized. However, when subsidies are removed and overall project costs are taken into account, the picture changes remarkably, as the capital costs become the most critical factor which influences the financial performance of each option.

By reusing excreta, households with ecosan toilets can generate monetary benefits and increased crop production can have a positive impact on them financially. The key factors influencing the viability of ecosan in urban environment are the amount of land available, and the agricultural conditions.

The results indicate that the benefits from crop production can offset the higher capital and operational costs, but the benefits may not be sufficient to cover additional costs required for implementing ecosan.

The study also points towards the need to reuse excreta as close to the point of generation as possible, whilst keeping the costs of installation down. Where this is not viable, a communal excreta reuse system becomes economically attractive, provided the project management and capacity building costs associated with the promotion of ecosan can be lowered.

Based on the case study analysis, none of the currently implemented systems are seen to provide an obvious model for scaling up without considerable external support. Much research is still required to assess the costs of marketing ecosan compared with conventional sanitation, and to assess the costs of different management arrangements. A communal excreta management system such as that in Burkina Faso may overcome some of these constraints, and is more appropriate in denser urban environments.

There is need to look in more detail, at the different management arrangements and costs for setting up and operating house-to-house collection services. There may also be ways of introducing more cost effective technologies to enhance the efficiency of the operation.