NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, September 10, 2018

By Sophie Edwards

With new data revealing how far off target the water and sanitation sector is in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, advocates are grappling with the question of how to catalyze more funding.

While many say there is new momentum building around innovative financing streams, discussions at the recent Stockholm World Water Week conference made clear that more focus is needed on building up the “demand-side,” rather than solely on developing what one delegate described as “sexy” financial instruments.

“What we really need to do is look at the technical and financial efficiency of the service provider as well as the policy, institutional, and regulatory arrangements,” according to Joel Kolker, head of the Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership at the World Bank.

“We have to get these foundational issues squared away before we can really start talking about how we’re going to leverage in more blended and private financing,” he added.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.