Argentina: Nature-based solutions to increase the resilience of Buenos Aires The grant supports the implementation of an ongoing World Bank project that addresses flood risk management in Buenos Aires. It incorporates green infrastructure, complementing the gray infrastructure supported by the Bank’s operation. The grant finances the nature-based solutions pilot by aligning its design and feasibility studies with QII Principles. These activities are helping integrate a holistic approach to urban water management, in particular for drainage and flood risk management, achieving cost-effective solutions that balance green and gray infrastructure and supporting sustainable growth and development. JIT grant: $70,000. |
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Development of a sustainable, performance-based sector financing policy for the water supply and sanitation sector The water and sanitation sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina is underfunded and underperforming. The QII grant supports the development of a sustainable, performance-based financing policy for water supply and sanitation service providers in BiH. It supports the World Bank's Bosnia and Herzegovina Water and Sanitation Modernization project. Activities include a review of country priorities and financial flows in the water and sanitation sector, the development of a sector financing model, support for the establishment of a benchmarking system for water utilities, and a proposal for performance-based financing policy for the sector. Standard grant: $300,000. |
Brazil: Green interventions in Belo Horizonte: urban upgrading and flood risk management This grant supports the City of Belo Horizonte in the identification, preparation, and implementation of green, resilient and inclusive interventions to reduce risks of flooding and landslides. This development will allow the city to better adapt to the effects of climate change, particularly in vulnerable areas of the city including its informal settlements. Standard grant: $350,000. |
Cambodia: Mainstreaming nature-based solutions in water supply development Securing water is a challenge for Cambodian water utilities, especially during the dry season. Another problem is land and watershed degradation, which results from unsustainable agricultural practices or deforestation. This grant supports the government in mainstreaming nature-based solutions in water supply investment under the World Bank-financed Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project, which aims to increase access to piped water supply, improve sanitation services, and strengthen the operational performance of service providers in selected towns and communities. The grant also assesses the potential for applying nature-based solutions to strengthen the resilience of water supply investment in the face of climate change. Standard grant: $350,000. |
Central African Republic: Improving infrastructure-based service delivery This grant supports a World Bank project that aims to strengthen the management of the state-owned power and water utilities and increase the capacity of ministries to deliver PPPs. The activity enables the development of key strategies, operational policies, processes, and tools, as well as a robust training program for management, government counterparts, and other stakeholders to build their skills and capacities. This will enable the government and utilities to improve service delivery and enable private investments in infrastructure and service delivery. Standard grant: $600,000. |
ECA: Preparation of green and gray infrastructure for a resilient and clean Black Sea This grant supports the preparation of grey and green infrastructure investments in Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine to address rural, urban, and industrial pollution in the Black Sea. The project develops new infrastructure to treat pollutants such as insecticides, fungicides, antibiotics, drug compounds, hormones, and plastic compounds. The activity supports the World Bank's Bluing of the Black Sea program, which promotes regional collaboration to prevent pollution of the Black Sea and increases the social and economic benefits for the regional population. Standard grant: $300,000. |
India: Modernizing water resources management and water-related disaster risk management through innovative tools in Assam The objective of the activities under the QII grant is to support the government of Assam in building its capacity at the institutional, community, and individual levels to modernize flood and erosion management and adopt integrated basin planning and management through the development and application of innovative technologies and tools. The grant supports the World Bank's Assam Integrated River Basin Management Program, which aims to strengthen institutional capacity to improve integrated water resources planning and management and to build resilience to flood and erosion risks in Assam. Standard grant: $320,000. |
India: Real-time advisory services for water-stress risk management in smallholder farming systems This grant supports the development of applications for predicting water stress and drought through high-resolution remote sensing information. These activities enable the use of cloud-penetrating microwave data combined with advanced soil moisture mapping and modeling to help farmers make informed decisions and reduce risks of crop failures while saving irrigation water. The grant also supports the development of a mobile and web-based digital advisory tool to enable experts, farmers, and extension agents to assess the impact of water stress and droughts, manage irrigation infrastructure, and mitigate adverse impacts. Standard grant: $325,000. |
Turkey: Municipal services improvement project This activity supports the identification, design, and pilot implementation of innovative priority water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure interventions at the individual, informal settlement/neighborhood level in low-income communities in Turkey to ensure that all people, including the most vulnerable among refugee and host populations, have access to safely managed WASH facilities. The activities complement municipal investments financed under the World Bank Municipal Services Improvement Project (MSIP) project, which focuses inclusion of the most vulnerable in the project area. JIT grant: $70,000. |
Uganda: Support to improve the economic efficiency of irrigation infrastructure Uganda is among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. Although it is endowed with abundant water resources, Uganda is experiencing erratic rainfall and an increase in the frequency and duration of droughts. Farmers are finding it increasingly challenging to decide when to plant. This activity facilitates the design of large-scale irrigation projects under the World Bank's Irrigation for Climate Resilience Project. The management model developed with the support of the grant will improve the sustainability of irrigation infrastructure constructed under the project and minimize operation and maintenance costs, making it more feasible for the framers to pay the water fees. Standard grant: $373,200. |