ADB's Work in Water: Overview of Water Operations

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is committed to improving water security and resilience in the region by supporting inclusive, resilient, sustainable, and well-governed services delivery and resource management.

ADB supports its developing member countries in achieving water-related Sustainable Development Goals, including resilience to climate change, access to basic water and sanitation, increased food security, rural revitalization, gender equality, improved health, and a better environment.

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Water is life. It quenches our thirst, powers our progress, and feeds nature.

With countless rivers, vast oceans, and thundering storms, water can seem infinite.

But for over 2 billion people in Asia and the Pacific, their daily relationship with water is one of struggle and hardship.

NORIO SAITO

Despite many achievements in Asia and the Pacific, 1.5 billion people in rural areas and 600 million more in urban areas still lack basic water supply and safely managed sanitation services. ADB is working to improve water security and resilience in the region by supporting sustainable service delivery. From 2014 to 2023, ADB committed a total of 23.5 billion U.S. dollars to the water sector across the region to benefit the lives of 654 million people.

QINGFENG ZHANG

The water-food-energy nexus is emerging as a critical issue in Asia and the Pacific. Agriculture is the biggest consumer of water in Asia. As of 2021, ADB has allocated 2 billion U.S. dollars to irrigation, 1 billion U.S. dollars to water-based natural resources management, and 477 million U.S. dollars to rural flood protection.

SATOSHI ISHII

ADB has been a long-standing partner in finding solutions for our developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific. Attaining the SDGs also means collaborating with other institutions and organizations, opening new channels for financing and encouraging public and private partnerships.

VIVEK RAMAN

80 percent of the wastewater generated in Asian cities is disposed of, untreated into our water bodies, making our sanitation services ineffective and more importantly our water bodies unsafe. In line with SDGs 6 and 11, ADB's work prioritizes the provision of basic sanitation services, wastewater management, urban drainage and flood management, and solid waste management in Asia's cities.

YASMIN SIDDIQI

In already arid countries like those in the Central West Asia region, water scarcity exacerbated by climate change is not only a food and water security issue but a transboundary challenge. ADB's Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program, CAREC, aims to develop a climate resilient framework for member countries in Central Asia region. This will enhance knowledge and technology transfer to support improved water resources and energy management.

NEETA POKHREL

Every year thousands of people are displaced in fragile and conflict-affected situations and small island developing states due to water-related climate and disaster events. How can we make informed investment decisions in this challenging environment? Therefore, ADB applies flexible business processes, we encourage field presence, and we implement in-depth analytics to better understand fragility and help our clients implement these.

FATIMA MABOR BAUTISTA

In 2022, ADB announced the Asia and the Pacific Water Resilience Initiative, an ambition to mobilize more than 200 million financing from internal sources and external partners to leverage 10 billion climate adaptation financing for ADB water sector operations from 2021 to 2030.

TANYA HUIZER

The Water Financing Partnership Facility, or WFPF, supports the Asia and the Pacific Resilience Initiative in accelerating implementation of sustainable development goals. With contributions from financing partners such as the Government of Austria, Spain, and the Netherlands, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, WFPF has helped ADB to do business as unusual.

NORIO SAITO

To achieve ADB's vision of prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, providing sound water management and reliable services to the vulnerable is of vital importance. We at ADB are committed to seeing this vision to fruition.

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