Key Players in the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector
This page provides brief information about important international and regional sector organizations. More detailed information can be obtained through clicking on the organizations logo which links to the respective website.
International Development and Research Organizations and their Programs
UN-Water was established to promote coherence and coordination in UN System initiatives that are related to UN-Water’s scope of work and contribute to the implementation of the agenda defined by the 2000 Millennium Declaration and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. UN-Water has 26 members from the UN System and external partners. The website provides information on the different UN Water programs and events, e.g. World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC), UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) and WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme on Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP).
The UNSGAB's Hashimoto Action Plan (HAP) identifies "Your Action, Our Action" for achieving breakthroughs in vital areas of water management, water supply and sanitation. Global Water Operators Partnership Alliance (GWOPA) is one of the six priority themes of the HAP and its aim is to strengthen the capacities of local water operators who are key players for attaining the Millennium Development Goals on drinking water supply and sanitation". GWOPA is implemented by UN HABITAT and its secretariat in Nairobi cooperates with regional WOP initiatives worldwide. In Asia WaterLInks coordinates and supports WOPs. 
The World Health Organizations (WHO) works on aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene where the health burden is high, where interventions could make a major difference and where the present state of knowledge is poor, i.e. drinking water quality, water, sanitation and hygiene development, water supply and sanitation monitoring, waster water use and water related diseases. WHO provides various publications on these topics on its website. The regional WHO offices provide technical and financial support through their water and sanitation programs.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was founded in 1961 and has 30 member countries from around the world. OECD’s aim is to support sustainable economic growth, boost employment, raise living standards, maintain financial stability, assists other countries' economic development and to contribute to growth in world trade. It facilitates the comparison of policy experiences, seeks answers to common problems, identifies good practice and coordinates domestic and international policies. The Water Department of OECD publishes policy briefs and reports on prevalent water policy issues, i.e. water pricing and financing, private sector participation, water efficiency and aid to the water sector. 
In the water sector the World Bank Group (WB) finances rehabilitation and extension of WSS infrastructure and helps countries select and implement customized sector reform options, operator institutional arrangements, institutional frameworks, and pricing and subsidy policies. The World Bank Institute (WBI) is one of WB’s main instruments for developing individual, organizational, and institutional capacity through the exchange of knowledge among developing countries. WB has been financing numerous water supply and sanitation projects in SEAWUN Member Countries and supported SEAWUN programs and events.
WB provides through its website various publications on urban and rural water supply, i.e. utilities performance, private sector participation and regulation among others.
The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) is a multi-donor partnership administered by the World Bank to support people in obtaining affordable, safe and sustainable access to water and sanitation services. WSP is currently engaged across four regions: Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, and South Asia. The program focuses on five topics: Financing the Sector, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation, Strategic Communications, Sanitation and Hygiene, Urban Water Supply and Sanitation.
WSP works with SEAWUN on topics like Benchmarking and Private Sector Participation.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) is an international development finance institution whose mission is to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people. In pursuing its vision, ADB’s main instruments comprise loans, technical assistance, grants, advice, and knowledge.
Water for All is the Asian Development Bank's vision and policy for the Asia and Pacific region. Through the Water Financing Program 2006-2010, ADB works to increase investments and support reforms, capacity development, and regional cooperation. ADB is an implementing Partner of WaterLinks.
ADB has been supporting SEAWUN since 2002 through financial support of operations and funding of its focus programs, selected conferences and regional events.
International and Regional Water Networks
The International Water Association (IWA) is an international member driven organization that connects water professionals to lead the development of effective and sustainable approaches to water management. With three member types: Individual, Corporate and Governing Members, IWA involves and represent approximately 10,000 individuals worldwide. It is a non-profit organization, self-governing and responsible to its Governing Members. The IWA portfolio includes “IWA Utilities”, a program that focuses on services to individual and corporate utility members to enhance networking opportunities for all those involved with or interested in utilities matters. Water Operators Partnership (WOP) as a component of this program, and IWA is implementing partner of WaterLinks, the WOP platform for Asia. The regional IWA office for Southeast Asia is housed at the WaterHub of PUB, Singapore’s national water agency. IWA and SEAWUN have been organizing joint events.
The International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities (IBNET) is an initiative to encourage water and sanitation utilities to compile and share a set of core cost and performance indicators, and thus meet the needs of the various stakeholders. It sets forth a common set of data definitions; a minimum set of core indicators, and provides software to allow easy data collection and calculation of the indicators, while it also provides resources to analyze data and present results. IBNET is funded through the United Kingdom Department of International Development in partnership with WB and WSP.
SEAWUN has been applying the IB-Net benchmarking toolkit, and benchmarking data of more than 160 utilities from SEAWUN Member Countries are available through the IB-Net Database.
The Asia Pacific Water Forum (APWF) is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan, non-political network of about 40 organizations, such as national government organizations, research and education institutions as well as development and financing organizations from the Asian region.
The goal of the APWF is to contribute to sustainable water management in order to achieve the targets of the MDG's in Asia and the Pacific. Priority Themes of APWF are Water Financing and Capacity Development, Water-related Disaster Management, and Water for Development and Ecosystems. 
WaterLinks is a regional network that supports Water Operator Partnerships (WOPs) between water and wastewater utilities in Asia to promote improved access to safe water and basic sanitation in Asia. WaterLinks develops and implements three principal activities: twinning of water utilities, regional capacity building through trainings and toolkits, and information sharing and networking. Implementing partners are ADB, USAID und IWA. Regional partners are SEAWUN, SAWUN and ADFIAP.
Bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) – SEAWUN Partners
This section provides links to organizations and programs that have been directly cooperating with SEAWUN.
Environmental Cooperation-Asia (ECO-Asia) is a regional program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that promotes improved access to clean water and sanitation; sustainable management of natural resources and biodiversity conservation; improved tsunami response and reconstruction; and investment in clean energy technologies.
The water and sanitation component works in four program areas: enabling water services delivery to the urban poor, demonstrating sustainable sanitation solutions, improving performance of water services utilities, enabling access to finance for water services. ECO-Asia is an implementing partner of WaterLinks.
USAID has been supporting the SEAWUN secretariat and SEAWUN utilities since 2002.
Centrum für internationale Migration und Entwicklung (CIM) is a joint operation of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH and the International Placement Services of the German Federal Employment Agency (BA), and works in more than 75 countries. Through the Integrated Experts Program, CIM links up partner country organizations needing qualified employees with highly qualified experts from Germany and other European Union countries. Since 2007 CIM Integrated Experts have been working for SEAWUN. 
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH is an implementing agency of German ODA. It is a federal owned enterprise that supports the German Government in achieving its development-policy objectives by implementing technical assistance programs in more than 130 countries. The GTZ Program “Wastewater and Solid Waste Management for Provincial Centres” in Vietnam is a partner of SEAWUN.
The Bremen Overseas Research and Development Organization (BORDA) is a non-profit organization from Bremen, Germany, whose programs are programs supported by the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation & Development (BMZ). BORDA facilitates together with local partners basic-needs service projects in Indonesia, China, India, Vietnam, the Philippines and neighboring regions. The portfolio includes Decentralized Water Supply, Decentralized Energy Supply, Decentralized Wastewater Treatment, Community Based Sanitation, Decentralized Solid Waste Management and Quality and Knowledge Management. BORDA cooperates with SEAWUN in the field of decentralized waste water treatment.
Bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) - with Water Programs in Southeast Asia
This section provides a selection of links to Ministries or Departments of countries that provide ODA to the water supply and sanitation sector in Southeast Asia.
Australia
Denmark
Germany
Japan
Netherlands
