BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) is expanding its water operators partnership program to
enhance the resilience of utility services, Norio Saito, the Senior
Director of the Water and Urban Development Sector Office at the
Asian Development Bank, said during the Providers Stakeholder Group
alignment meeting held within the framework of WUF13 in Baku,
Trend reports.
According to him, the ADB launched its own Water Operators
Partnerships (WOPs) program back in 2007, which predated the
creation of the Global Water Operators' Partnerships Alliance
(GWOPA). He noted that to date, the bank has supported 92
"twinning" (partnership) programs across 30 countries, aimed at
developing water and sanitation services.
"A distinctive feature of the ADB approach is the close linkage
of these programs with the bank's investment projects, which allows
water utilities to simultaneously modernize infrastructure and
strengthen institutional and human capabilities," Saito
explained.
"In 2023, the program was renamed the Water Organization
Partnership for Resilience (WOPAR). Concurrently, its scope was
expanded to include not only water utilities but also river basin
organizations, water sector regulators, and, in certain cases,
private utility operators with the support of ADB's private sector
operations," the director added.
He noted that substantial attention is being paid to
strengthening the monitoring and evaluation of results to clearly
record the achievements and effectiveness of the partnerships
during the 1–2 years of program implementation.
According to Saito, the key focus areas of WOPAR include
reducing non-revenue water (NRW), ensuring financial
sustainability, wastewater management, as well as digitalization,
the implementation of smart water supply systems, and improving
asset management.
He added that over nearly 20 years of implementing the
initiative, the twinning approach has proven its effectiveness in
capability development.
