At the core of GWSP’s model is a belief that first-rate research and systematic knowledge is essential to maintaining the high quality of World Bank operations. It is equally essential to shaping the external debate as part of our mission to deliver a water-secure world for all. So the GWSP produces strategic, robust and practical information, insights and ideas to shape both practice and policy.
Knowledge Highlights from the Water Global Practice 2016-2023 (updated May 2023) →
See All World Bank Publications on Water→
 | DROUGHTS AND DEFICITS - SUMMARY EVIDENCE OF THE GLOBAL IMPACT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH Author(s): Zaveri, Damania, Engle, Lee This paper presents new estimates of the effects of dry episodes (rainfall shocks) and droughts on gross domestic product per capita growth rates using state-of-the-art empirical methods. Rainfall and water availability exhibit considerable spatial variability that is almost two times greater than that of temperature. Hence, the analysis needs to be conducted at a high degree of spatial disaggregation to capture the effects of rainfall variations on economic indicators of interest. The findings have several implications for development practitioners. They highlight the need for stewardship of forests and other natural capital that affect the hydrological cycle but are seldom associated with the growth impacts of droughts. They also highlight the need for proactive investment to address vulnerabilities through upgrades in information systems, institutions, and infrastructure that build drought resilience. |
 | UNCHARTED WATERS: THE NEW ECONOMICS OF WATER SCARCITY AND VARIABILITY Author(s): Damania, Desbureaux, Hyland, Islam, Moore, Rodella, Russ, Zaveri This book presents new evidence to advance our understanding of how rainfall shocks, coupled with water scarcity, affect farms, firms, and families. A key message is that water has multiple economic attributes that entail distinct policy responses at each stage in its cycle of use. If water is not managed more prudently— from source, to tap, and back to source—the crises observed today will become the catastrophes of tomorrow. |
 | HIGH AND DRY: CLIMATE CHANGE, WATER, AND THE ECONOMY ALSO AVAILABLE IN FRENCH, SPANISH AND ARABIC Author(s): Water GP | Focus: Water, Poverty and the Economy The impacts of climate change will be channeled primarily through the water cycle, with consequences that could be large and uneven across the globe. Water-related climate risks cascade through food, energy, urban, and environmental systems. Growing populations, rising incomes, and expanding cities will converge upon a world where the demand for water rises exponentially, while supply becomes more erratic and uncertain. They will jeopardize growth prospects in the regions worst affected and in some of the poorest countries. |
 | WATER, WELL-BEING, AND THE PROSPERITY OF FUTURE GENERATIONS Author(s): Chase, Damania |Focus: Water, Poverty and the Economy This discussion paper provides an overview of the poverty-related impacts of inadequate water supply and sanitation and highlights the policy challenges that have emerged in a more populated, polluted, and urbanized world with finite water resources. It highlights the need for sustained changes in individual behavior, more equitable access to services, and incentives for improved water resource stewardship. |
| See All Publications on WATER and the ECONOMY→ |
 | SCALING UP FINANCE FOR WATER: A WBG STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND ROADMAP FOR ACTION Author(s): Rochi, Lopez, Jensen This framework provides a set of strategic directions and a customizable roadmap for the public sector, private sector, international organizations, intermediaries, and others to collaborate towards catalyzing greater financing and innovation for the water sector. This builds on the collective experience and knowledge of the World Bank and development partners on addressing the barriers to mobilizing additional resources in the sector. |
| EASING THE TRANSITION TO COMMERCIAL FINANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER AND SANITATION Author(s): Goksu, Trémolet, Kolker, Kingdom | Focus: Water Supply and Sanitation This report brings together the current state of knowledge on water sector finance and sets out the World Bank’s vision for how countries can finance their water and sanitation goals. It calls for countries to place a greater priority on leveraging commercial finance into the sector while at the same time bolstering public funds. |
| AID FLOWS TO THE WATER SECTOR: OVERVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS Author(s): Winpenny, Trémolet, Cardone, Kolker, Kingdom, Mountsford Focus: Water Supply and Sanitation This report, created for the High-Level Panel on Water, provides data and insights on the role of grant funding and concessional financing and recommendations on how to mobilize financing to achieve the water SDG. It includes an inventory of more than 225 institutions that contribute financing and/or technical assistance to the water sector in developing countries. |
| INTRODUCING COMMERCIAL FINANCE INTO THE WATER SECTOR IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Author(s): Bender | Focus: Water Supply and Sanitation This guidance note offers borrowers, lenders and government officials a holistic approach on how to build a market for commercial finance in the water sector. It takes readers through a step-by-step process for scoping, designing and building the market, and executing, monitoring, and evaluating the deal. |
| See All Publications on FINANCING→ |
 | THE RISING TIDE: A NEW LOOK AT WATER AND GENDER Author(s): Das | Focus: Social Inclusion The relationship between water and gender is important to the overall progress on water security and gender equality more broadly. This report provides a framework that shows how gender relations in water reform can influence gender equality and examines the norms and practices related to water that often exacerbate ingrained gender and other hierarchies. |
 | PROVIDING WATER TO POOR PEOPLE IN AFRICAN CITIES EFFECTIVELY: LESSONS FROM UTILITY REFORMS Author(s): Heymans, Eberhard, Ehrhardt, Riley | Country: Multi-Country The cases studied show that it is possible for rapidly growing African cities to offer the poorest 40 percent of their residents near-universal access to reliable and affordable water. The technical, financial, and managerial techniques used by utilities in these cities are widely applicable. This study recognizes the achievements of cities that provide relatively good service to the poor. |
 | INCLUDING PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN WATER SECTOR OPERATIONS: A GUIDANCE NOTE Author(s): Mcclain-Nhlapo, Raja, Sivonen, Widyastuty | Focus: Social Inclusion The ripple effects of the lack of access to water and sanitation services can have serious socioeconomic consequences for persons with disabilities and their families. This comprehensive note identifies entry points for disability-inclusive operations along with systematic and sustainable interventions in World Bank Group activities. It includes case studies, resources, examples of access barriers, and policy recommendations. |
| See All Publications on INCLUSION→ |
| ALIGNING INSTITUTIONS AND INCENTIVES FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SERVICES Author(s): Mumssen, Saltiel, Kingdom | Focus: Water Supply and Sanitation An analysis of how integrated policy, institutional, and regulatory interventions can help align incentives for more sustainable water supply and sanitation service delivery. |
| AUSTRALIAN URBAN WATER REFORM STORY WITH DETAILED CASE STUDY ON NEW SOUTH WALES Author(s): Salisbury, Head, Brian, Groom | Focus: Water Supply and Sanitation | Country: Australia Urban water services in Australia are recognized as some of the most efficient utilities in the world, but this was not always the case. This study, carried out by the International Water Centre (IWC), looks at three decades of experience to draw out how national-level economic reforms in Australia helped transform the traditional state “build and supply” model into a modern service oriented and efficient sector. This work reveals insights around the interplay between state-level reform and regulation, and national framework agreements. |
| DESIGN, BUILD, OPERATE STANDARD BIDDING DOCUMENTS Author(s): Water GP | Focus: Water Supply and Sanitation This package includes a suite of standard bidding documents for Design, Build and Operate (DBO) contracts for water and wastewater treatment plants to help simplify the contracting process. It includes the initial selection document, guidance note and a standard bidding document. |
| See All Publications on INSTITUTIONS→ |
 | WATER SCARCE CITIES: THRIVING IN A FINITE WORLD — FULL REPORT Author(s): World Bank | Focus: Water Security and Integrated Resource Management The report provides describes principles and approaches that cities and water utility decision makers can adopt to improve their cities’ resilience to water scarcity challenges. It is based on 20 case studies describing how cities have effectively and innovatively addressed emerging threats to their water supply security. |
 | TURBULENT WATERS: PURSUING WATER SECURITY IN FRAGILE CONTEXTS Author(s): Sadoff, Borgomeo, de Waal | Focus: Water Security and Integrated Resource Management Water insecurity can cause severe disruptions and compound fragilities in social, economic, and environmental systems. This report explores the dynamics between water insecurity and fragility and suggests that water security is more difficult to achieve in fragile contexts because of a range of factors, including weak institutions and information systems, strained human and financial resources, and degraded infrastructure. |
 | BEYOND SCARCITY: WATER SECURITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Author(s): World Bank | Focus: Water, Poverty and the Economy Country: MENA Achieving water security in the Middle East and North Africa requires a new way of looking at water management even beyond scarcity. This report provides a regional assessment of the challenges and opportunities in the region. It examines how the resources are currently being managed and the water-related risks that need to be recognized and mitigated. |
| See All Publications on RESILIENCE→ |
 | ATLAS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS Author(s): World Bank The Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2018 is a visual guide to the trends, challenges and measurement issues related to each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. |
 | MAKING EVERY DROP COUNT: AN AGENDA FOR WATER ACTION Author(s): High-Level Panel on Water The United Nations and World Bank Group convened a High-Level Panel on Water to provide leadership in tackling one of the world’s most pressing challenges: an approaching global water crisis. |
 | PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT IN SHARED RIVER BASINS: TOOLS FOR ENHANCING TRANSBOUNDARY BASIN MANAGEMENT Author(s): Leb, Henshaw, Iqbal, Rehberger Bescos | Focus: Water Security and Integrated Resource Management This study identifies an array of tools derived from the international experience that can be used by countries and development partners in their efforts to develop more water secure economies and societies through harnessing the shared freshwater resources of transboundary basins, while also preventing or mitigating transboundary harm that may otherwise result. |
| See All Publications on SUSTAINABILITY→ |
 | WASH POOR IN A WATER-RICH COUNTRY: A DIAGNOSTIC OF WATER, SANITATION, HYGIENE, AND POVERTY IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO ALSO AVAILABLE IN SPANISH Author(s): World Bank | Country: Democratic Republic of Congo This diagnostic analyses trends and links them to institutional weaknesses in the WASH sector, in particular institutional fragmentation, weak capacity, and a bias toward specific institutions and services. Opportunities for improvement are analyzed and condensed into six clear messages that provide guidance on the way forward for the WASH sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo. |
 | MAINTAINING THE MOMENTUM WHILE ADDRESSING SERVICE QUALITY AND EQUITY: A DIAGNOSTIC OF WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION, HYGIENE, AND POVERTY IN ETHIOPIA Upcoming Publication | Country: Ethiopia The WASH Poverty Diagnostic Initiative captures and analyzes data from 18 countries to present evidence on inequalities in access to WASH services, examine the impact of unequal service on the poor, and explore why service delivery continues to be inadequate and inefficient in much of the world. |
 | HEALTH IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS OF DISTRIBUTION MODELS FOR PLASTIC LATRINE SLABS IN KENYA Author(s): Water GP | Country: Kenya Explains distribution and financing mechanisms for reaching households as well as the health impact and the effectiveness of plastic latrine slabs. |
| See All Publications on World Bank Water in AFRICA→ |
 | WATERSHED: A NEW ERA OF WATER GOVERNANCE IN CHINA Upcoming Publication | Country: China In China, 28,000 rivers have disappeared over the past 25 years. In some areas, groundwater has fallen by up to 1–3 meters a year and some 110 cities face severe water shortages. Gaps also remain in basic water services coverage while water pollution imposes serious economic, ecological, and health costs. To effectively address these complex water challenges, improved approaches to water management is needed. |
 | THIRSTY ENERGY: MODELING THE WATER-ENERGY NEXUS IN CHINA Author(s): World Bank Group | Country: China To better assess the water-energy nexus challenge in China, the Thirsty Energy initiative engaged the China Institute for Water Resources (IWHR) and Hydropower Research under the auspices of the Ministry of Water Resources and the Institute of Energy, Environment, and Economy of Tsinghua University (TU) to establish a new multiregional, water-smart energy system planning model: TIMES-ChinaW. |
 | MATURITY MATRICES FOR INSTITUTIONAL BENCHMARKING OF DAM SAFETY IN INDONESIA Author(s): World Bank Group | Country: Indonesia The development of Maturity Matrices for Institutional Benchmarking of Dam Safety in Indonesia provides a method for assessing the effectiveness of the operation, maintenance, surveillance and emergency preparedness programs adopted by dam authorities. |
| See All Publications on World Bank Water in EAST ASIA and PACIFIC→ |
 | REVIEW OF ARMENIA’S EXPERIENCE WITH WATER PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP Author(s): Marin, Muzenda, Andreasyan | Country: Armenia Four water public private partnerships (PPPs) undertaken in Armenia between 2000 and 2016 and the start of a national water lease contract that began in January 2017 are studied here. |
 | SECURING POTABLE WATER SUPPLY UNDER EXTREME SCARCITY: LESSONS AND PERSPECTIVES FROM THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS Upcoming Publication | Author(s): Marin, Charalambous, Davy | Country: Cyprus Key achievements and lessons learned from the water management experience of the Republic of Cyprus for the benefit of other countries around the world facing increasing challenges in dealing with water scarcity, focusing on how potable water security was achieved. |
 | CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVING HOUSEHOLD SANITATION IN THE GER AREAS OF ULAANBAATAR Author(s): Gambrill, Leblanc | Country: Mongolia The report identifies practicable, affordable technical options for improving household sanitation in the Ger areas of Ulaanbaatar and is aimed at assisting decision makers and other stakeholders to select the most cost-effective, feasible options for improving sanitation in the short and medium term. |
| See All Publications on World Bank Water in EUROPE and CENTRAL ASIA→ |
 | INCENTIVES FOR IMPROVING WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SERVICE DELIVERY: A SOUTH AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE Author(s): Uijtewaal, Goksu, Saltiel Since 2016, the World Bank’s Water and Governance Global Practices have been implementing the Policy, Institutional and Regulatory (PIR) Incentives Initiative to gain deeper insight into the dynamics between water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector incentive mechanisms. |
 | CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT IN WATER SNAPSHOTS: TERESINA ENHANCING MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE AND QUALITY OF LIFE PROJECT Author(s): Water GP | Country: Brazil Shows how community buy-in and involvement resulted new citizen engagement mechanisms to help expand access to sanitation, and improve water quality and access to green spaces. |
 | PIPE(D) DREAMS: WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE PROGRESS AND REMAINING CHALLENGES IN ECUADOR Author(s): World Bank | Country: Ecuador An extensive body of research assessing the extent and quality of water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services geographically and over the income distribution. It explores the interaction between WASH outcomes and health, especially nutrition; and the institutional barriers as well as opportunities to reduce the gaps in improved access to WASH between rural and urban areas in Ecuador. |
| See All Publications on World Bank Water in LATIN AMERICA and the CARIBBEAN→ |
 | THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD NEXUS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: SCENARIOS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE Author(s): Borgomeo, Jagerskog, Talbi, Wijnen, Hejazi, Miralles-Wilhelm Water, energy, and agriculture have been conventionally dealt with separately in investment planning. For each of these sectors, regulatory frameworks, organizations, and infrastructures have been put in place to address sector-specific challenges and demands. As the Middle East and North Africa works towards building a more sustainable future, a nexus approach that considers the risks and synergies among these sectors is needed. |
 | BEYOND SCARCITY: WATER SECURITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Author(s): World Bank | Focus: Water, Poverty and the Economy Country: MENA Achieving water security in the Middle East and North Africa requires a new way of looking at water management even beyond scarcity. This report provides a regional assessment of the challenges and opportunities in the region. It examines how the resources are currently being managed and the water-related risks that need to be recognized and mitigated. |
 | WATER MANAGEMENT IN ISRAEL: KEY INNOVATIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED FOR WATER SCARCE COUNTRIES Author(s): Marin, Tal, Yeres, Ringskog | Country: Israel Illustrates the nine important lessons learned which are of major importance for other countries facing increasing water scarcity. |
| See All Publications on World Bank Water in MIDDLE EAST and NORTH AFRICA→ |
 | PROMISING PROGRESS: A DIAGNOSTIC OF WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION, HYGIENE, AND POVERTY IN BANGLADESH Country: Bangladesh A snapshot of the quality and inequality of WASH access in Bangladesh, with statistics from numerous dataset. This report also attempts to show the implications of these numbers on human development and poverty reduction. |
 | MAINSTREAMING CITIZEN FEEDBACK ON SERVICE DELIVERY USING ICTS: FINDINGS AND LESSONS FROM ICT-BASED FEEDBACK SURVEYS ON WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SERVICES IN INDIAN CITIES Author(s): Bhatnagar, Batra, Tiwari | Country: India This report presents the results from implementation of Service Level Benchmarks (SLBs) to strengthen service delivery in India. |
 | RAJASTHAN WATER ASSESSMENT: POTENTIAL FOR PRIVATE SECTOR INTERVENTIONS Author(s): Hooda | Country: India Provides an in-depth and comprehensive overview of the challenges of drinking water supply, water quality, and agriculture-water in Rajasthan with a focus on potential private sector engagements. |
| See All Publications on World Bank Water in SOUTH ASIA→ |
See All World Bank Publications on Water→