IRC coordinated Waterlines special on financing the water sector

Financing the water sector is the theme of Waterlines, Volume 24, Number 2, October 2005, published by ITDG Publishing. Catarina Fonseca, IRC’s finance and cost recovery specialist, coordinated eight features on this complex subject.

Whatever the outcome of the raging debate about privatisation and financing, it is clear that the water sector in many countries needs to become more efficient and better able to cover its costs through tariffs. Several of the articles in this issue such as García Salaus from Bolivia, make this point. They also demonstrate that if water charges are designed cleverly then it is easier for the poor to pay them.

The article by Richard Franceys, ‘ Charging to enter the water shop’, addresses the severe limitations connection fees pose to the urban and peri-urban poor, based on recent research supported by DFID in four countries. Complementing this piece, ‘ Financing household connections in Cote d’Ivoire’ by Evariste Kouassi-Komlan and Théophile Gnagne, describes a programme developed by a domestic NGO, whereby the NGO pays for connection costs, and users repay the NGO over time.

Articles

The articles are:

Financing the water sector
Authors: Fonseca, Catarina; van Dijk, Meine Pieter; Cardone, Rachel
pp. 2-4(3)

Charging to enter the water shop?
pp. 5-7(3)
Author: Franceys, Richard

Informal savings mechanisms for maintaining a rural water system, Ghana
pp. 8-9(2)
Author: Agbenorhevi, Maxwell

Financing water and sanitation in India – bonds, BOTs and reforms
pp. 11-13(3)
Author: van Dijk, Meine Pieter

Public Private Partnerships and the poor in water supply projects
pp. 15-19(5)
Author: Khan, Sohail M

Financing basic water supply and sanitation in Bolivia
pp. 20-21(2)
Authors: Salaues, Alfonso García

Additional information sources

This Waterlines issue also carries additional sources of information on this subject:

Webwatch
Author: Fisher, Julie
p. 4(1)

Resources guide
Author: Fonseca, Catarina
p. 14(1)

Public-Private Partnerships and the poor in water supply projects (WELL fact sheet)
Authors: Sohail. M. and Cotto, Andrew
Pp 17-19

Waterlines subscriptions

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