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.
