Current Issue: January 2008

Welcome to the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) Quarterly Newsletter

Best wishes for a Happy New Year! During October 2007 to January 2008, GPOBA has signed five (5)Grant Agreements and approved one (1) project for commitment and one (1) project for eligibility. Details are further described below.

Biogas Support Programme in Nepal
On October 4, 2007, GPOBA signed a grant agreement with the Government of Nepal for US$5.05 million which will co-finance the installation of 37,000 biogas plants to provide access to clean and affordable energy for cooking and lighting purposes to approximately 261,000 poor people. Implemented by the Alternate Energy Promotion Center and funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development’s contribution to GPOBA, the project complements user contributions with an output-based subsidy. The GPOBA funds will add to the Fourth Phase of the Biogas Support Program (BSP- IV), which aims to subsidize biogas plants for up to 200,000 rural households through 2011. For more information, please see http://www.gpoba.org/activities/details.asp?id=50 or contact Jane Nishida.

Reproductive Health Vouchers in Western Uganda
On October 24, 2007, the German Development Bank, KfW, and GPOBA signed a US$ 4.3 million grant for a voucher scheme that provides pregnancy and child birth related care for poor mothers as well as treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. The scheme will target households in rural and poor peri-urban environments in the greater Mbarara region in western Uganda, and it is expected that 255,000 poor people will benefit. It will work with existing private medical service providers, certified to deliver quality care. Participating service providers will benefit from a KfW-funded capacity building component. For more information, please see http://www.gpoba.org/activities/details.asp?id=60 or contact Lars Johannes.

Manila Water Supply (MWC)
On October 19, 2007, Manila Water Company (MWC) of the Philippines and GPOBA signed a Grant Agreement of US$1 million to provide affordable piped potable water to poor households within the East Zone of Manila benefiting approximately 8,800 households. A potential second tranche of US$1.8 million is expected to benefit a further 96,200 poor people. MWC will install booster pumps, reservoirs, infiltration galleries, and secondary or tertiary distribution pipelines in target communities, with GPOBA subsidizing the water service connections for eligible poor households. For more information, please see http://www.gpoba.org/activities/details.asp?id=56 or contact William Kingdom.

Expansion of Water Services in Low income areas of Jakarta
On November 1, 2007, GPOBA signed a grant agreement with the PT Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (PALYJA - a subsidiary of French group Suez Environment), for US$2.6 million, which will subsidize the cost of water supply connections for up to 11,600 poor households in Western Jakarta. GPOBA will be distributing funds based on two measurable outputs – the provision of a working household connection, and the delivery of acceptable service for a given initial period. Furthermore, a number of pilot schemes will be developed to introduce piped water into a number of informal communities where, to date, PALYJA has not been authorized to extend its network. It is estimated that 2,200 of the total of 11,600 households will be located in these informal communities. For more information, please see http://www.gpoba.org/activities/details.asp?id=28 or contact William Kingdom.

Vietnam (EMW)
On November 30, 2007, GPOBA signed a grant agreement with the East Meets West Foundation (EMWF) for US$3 million to provide access to clean water services to 75 low income rural communities (150,000 people) in five provinces located in the central part of Vietnam involving public-private partnerships. The project will test the viability of a well targeted OBA approach with full participation and ownership from the beneficiary community. It will work with the local communities to promote the development of local private operators for water service provision, under an adapted management contract or lease contract. For more information, please see http://www.gpoba.org/activities/details.asp?id=64 or contact Xavier Chauvot De Beauchene.

Project Approved for Commitment

The projects below have received a commitment* for GPOBA subsidy funding.

Expanding Piped Water Supply to Surabaya’s Urban Poor
The aim of this OBA scheme is to extend piped water connections to about 15,500 low-income households (about 77,500 people) in Surabaya, Indonesia. The primary benefits will be significant time and cost savings for households otherwise reliant on alternative supplies, as well as health benefits associated with an improvement in water quantity and quality of service. The proposed scheme supports three outputs: in-fill connections to existing mains, expansion connections to previously un-served areas, and bulk supply or "master meter" connections for particularly poor, dense, or informal communities not otherwise eligible for individual connections. For more information, please see http://www.gpoba.org/activities/details.asp?id=66 or contact William Kingdom.

*Projects receiving GPOBA commitment have been approved for subsidy funding pending conditions precedent being met. Commitment will be confirmed upon satisfaction of internal processing milestones.

Project Approved for Eligibility and/or Technical Assistance

The project below has been deemed eligible** for GPOBA subsidy funding.

Access to water for low income communities ( Ethiopia)
The project aims to improve house water connection affordability for approximately 70,000 low income households in Ethiopia. This project would demonstrate to potential private sector investors in the Ethiopian water sector of capability within the sector regarding institutional arrangements, performance based payments and ability to manage payment risk. The GPOBA project will be a component of a wider Bank project and will specifically focus on the improvement of access to water in low income communities in Addis Ababa and four secondary cities (Awassa, Gondar, Jimma, and Mekelle) covered by the intervention. A portion of the cost of network expansion would be subsidized by GPOBA to reduce the cost of access to end users. For more information, please see http://www.gpoba.org/activities/details. asp?id=69 or contact Yitbarek Tessema.

**Projects receiving GPOBA eligibility have met GPOBA selection criteria and may in the future receive commitment pending results of project design and availability of funding.  

NEWS, OUTREACH ACTIVITIES, and PUBLICATIONS

NEWS

New Donor for GPOBA

As of December 5, 2007, the Swedish International Development Cooperation (Sida) has joined GPOBA as a donor. Sida will contribute approximately US$7 million.

IFC’s contribution

On December 13, 2007, IFC’s Board of Directors approved a further contribution of US$97.8 million to GPOBA.

PIDG Meetings
Members of the Private Infrastructure Development Group met in Vienna on November 6, 2007. GPOBA presented an updated project portfolio through October 2007.

GPOBA Mid-Term Review
A Mid-Term Review of GPOBA was commissioned by DFID. The review’s objectives were to validate emerging success stories and provide guidance on future direction and donor support, and review OBA pilot projects which are beginning to deliver outputs. Ernst and Young conducted the review in August 2007, and GPOBA received a final report in late November 2007. The report was positive in its findings and conclusions. Among these were: increased visibility of OBA at the World Bank, the integration of OBA within World Bank loans, GPOBA’s ability to stimulate very high levels of demand for its support as well as attracting a much wider donor grouping, and significant involvement from the Private Sector. Recommendations for GPOBA towards its success and improvement include enabling and catalyzing the mainstreaming of OBA within the wider development community. For more information regarding this report, please contact GPOBA at gpoba@worldbank.org.

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES