WASH News Finance
This blog contains news related to the financing of water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in developing countries, collected by Cor Dietvorst, the editor of Source Weekly published by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
Dominican Republic: GTZ donates US$12.9mn to preserve water resources
13 Apr 10
The German cooperation agency (GTZ) has approved a 9.5mn-euro (US$12.9mn) donation for the Dominican Republic to be invested in a water program, paper Hoy reported.The so-called Progeren program aims to protect the country’s water basins to guarantee long-term potable water supply in the Dominican Republic.The resources will be used to carry out the project’s third [...]
Venezuela: Govt to sanction excessive water use
13 Apr 10
Venezuela’s environment ministry Minamb will implement measures to restrict water consumption in the country starting March 1, 2010.The restrictions will apply to households, commercial offices and factories, but on different scales, a Minamb official told BNamericas.Authorities will implement changes in the tariff structure and suspend services when consumption is excessive, state news agency ABN reported.The [...]
Uruguay: OSE implements measures to increase domestic sewerage connections
13 Apr 10
Uruguayan state-owned water utility OSE is implementing measures to increase domestic sewerage connections in the country, local paper El País reported.Household connections have increased 15% since 2005, but an estimated 160,000 people are still not connected to the utility’s sanitation network, OSE general secretary Daoiz Uriarte said.To help these people connect to the system, OSE [...]
Ecuador: CAF loans US$100mn to expand water, sanitation
13 Apr 10
The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) has approved a US$100mn loan to Ecuador to improve potable water and sanitation services, CAF reported in a release.The funding will partially finance the country’s environmental sanitation for community development program (Promadec), which is run by state bank Banco del Estado (BEDE), in coordination with the urban development and housing [...]
Haiti: Spanish fund earmarks US$ 125mn for water, sanitation
13 Apr 10
The Spanish international cooperation agency for development (AECID) is carrying out water and sanitation projects worth 91.5mn euros (US$125mn) in Haiti following the earthquake that devastated large parts of the country on January 12, 2010.AECID’s water and sanitation cooperation fund (OFCAS) has made an agreement with the Haitian government to ensure a potable water supply [...]
El Salvador: Anda announces new water rates
13 Apr 10
El Salvador’s national aqueduct and sewerage authority Anda has announced new rates for potable water services, the presidential website reported.The new tariff structure will be applied gradually and additional subsidies will be granted to people with the lowest incomes. The subsidies range from 2.6% to 35% and the new rates will be applied retrospectively from [...]
Netherlands development aid 2011-2015: mixed results for water NGOs
09 Apr 10
Two water-related alliances have been selected to submit a full grant proposals to the Netherlands Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) for the period 2011-2015. Proposals submitted by the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA) and Aqua for All were among the 23 rejected in the first round of submissions. The WASH Alliance and the International Water, Energy [...]
UK: fund proposed for households suffering from “water poverty”
07 Apr 10
Ministers are considering setting up a £500m fund to support the growing number of households that are suffering from “water poverty”.The condition — defined as when water bills make up more than 3% of household spending — has been largely ignored until recently. However, the number of people unable or unwilling to pay has soared [...]
Fundraising: travel agency raising money for Kenya water project
07 Apr 10
In celebration of Earth Month this April 2010, Gap Adventures will be focusing its efforts on raising awareness for global water quality initiatives and supporting community-based water projects through its foundation Planeterra.Gap Adventures aims to raise US$ 3,500 through its ongoing ‘dollar-a-day’ project to buy water tanks for the non-profit Planeterra Foundation’s Kenya Community Tourism [...]
Invest like a billionaire: water is the new gold
02 Apr 10
Last year, legendary investor Warren Buffet bought a water treatment provider, Nalco Holding Company, adding to other water-related investments in his wildly successful portfolio. (As of March 30, 2010, a single share of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, could be bought for $122,459.)The move sent ripples through the investing community: a clear signal that investing [...]
