Ten Years of Water Sector Reform in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia

This report evaluates how well EECCA countries have done in ensuring people’s access to adequate water supply and sanitation services since their Economic, Finance, and Environment Ministers adopted the Almaty Guiding Principles to support such efforts in 2000.



Besides looking at trends in the technical and financial performance of the water sector, the report analyses the results of institutional reforms at different levels of governance, as well as financing arrangements.
Analysis focuses mainly on urban areas, but some of the challenges in rural areas are also examined. The report draws policy recommendations to help countries stem the decline in the sector’s performance that has occurred over the last decade, despite opportunities provided by rapid economic growth in many EECCA countries in this period.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Chapter 1: Setting the scene
Chapter 2: Recent trends and current status
Overview of the chapter
Initial condition of the water supply and sanitation sector
Defining relevant performance indicators in the EECCA region
Urban water sub-sector: Key technical performance indicators
Urban sanitation sub-sector: Key technical performance indicators
Key financial performance indicators for urban water utilities
Rural water supply and sanitation
Consequences of service quality on health and the environment
Chapter 3: Institutional reforms
Overview of the chapter
Overall water sector reform performance
Finding the optimal scale of operations
Setting up national regulators for water supply and sanitation
Introducing private sector participation in water sector operations
Reducing corruption and improving transparency in the sector
Chapter 4: Financial sustainability
Overview of the chapter
Revenues from tariffs on water supply and sanitation services
The role of domestic public spending
Official development assistance
Repayable financing from private sources
Going forward: Where is the money going to come from?
Chapter 5: Policy recommendations
Overview of the chapter
Why it is opportune to act now
What can be done?
Annex: Key statistics by country
Bibliography