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GPOBA organized a parallel session during the World Bank's Sustainable Development Network Week (February 19-29, 2008) entitled "Mainstreaming OBA in the World Bank".

This short session provided an update on the use of OBA in the World Bank, including challenges and lessons learned to date. The session focused on two case studies in the Urban sector: Morocco Urban Water, and Armenia Heating and Gas. Both projects involve providing basic services to the urban poor through performance-based subsidies to help make access more affordable. The Morocco project, fully funded by GPOBA, involves providing affordable access to water and sewerage in the slums of Casablanca, Meknes and Tangier. Pier Francesco Mantovani, Sr. Water and Sanitation Specialist working in the MENA region of the World Bank, and Christophe Cluzeau from Lyonnaise des Eaux de Casablanca (LYDEC) described the project and why OBA approaches are being considered more widely in the Moroccan context. The Armenia project involves providing access to heating and gas to poor households that live in apartment complexes in various urban centers, and is a joint IDA-GPOBA project. The presentation was made by Sr. Infrastructure Specialist Gevorg Sargsyan, currently working in the Bank's Moscow office.

Mainstreaming OBA in the Bank: Urban and Energy Examples,
by Patricia Veevers-Carter (GPOBA)

Morocco: OBA Subsidies to Water & Sanitation Connections in Poor Peri-urban Areas: The Casablanca, Meknes, Tangiers pilots,
by Pier Francesco Mantovani (MNSSD), Xavier Chauvot de Beauchene (GPOBA)

Morocco: OBA Subsidies to Water & Sanitation Connections in Poor Peri-urban Areas: The GPOBA pilot and the full scale INMAE project in the Greater Casablanca,
by Christophe Cluzeau, LYDEC, Alain Mathys (Suez Environment)

Armenia: OBA Scheme for Provision of Gas and Heating,
by Gevorg Sargsyan (ECSSD)

OBA to date: Lessons, Challenges and Mainstreaming,
by Yogita Mumssen (FEU)