Water Sector Analysis Study

The objective of this study is to inform a broader access to water agenda about the role of OBA by reviewing lessons from Output- Based Aid projects in the water sector. The study will provide recommendations for mainstreaming OBA as well as reflect on the impact that the projects have made collectively in the sector. Relying on GPOBA’s best practices and lessons, the study will highlight the areas of focus during project identification, structuring and implementation in different sub-sectors, as well as recommend lesson-gathering practices throughout the project cycle.

The activities are completed and the analytical deliverables presented at the Program Council Meeting of GPOBA and approved in June 2016.
The  study  demonstrated  how  OBA  has  been  an answer to challenges in the access to water agenda where sector contexts were conducive on paper but the delivery remained weak, as documented in the IDA/World  Bank   Country   Partnership   Strategies. The  study  also  showed  how  OBA  projects  help discover true cost of access to water for the poor which is often higher than the average cost because the  low-income  families  live  in  remote  or  flood- prone areas. If not documented and explained, this higher-than-average cost can create a bias against providing  access to low-income families. Furthermore, OBA     instrument – with its requirement of delivery of water service before the OBA  subsidy  disbursement  –  pushes  the  client  to find the level of service that low-income families are willing to pay for,  restructuring  the  project  if needed. This was demonstrated when poor people would  be  unwilling  to  pay  for  cheaper  communal water taps but would pay for water connections in their  yards  or  houses.  These  and  other  examples will be used during country dialogues and OBA/RBF project design.