About BNWP

Mission and Strategy
The mission of the Bank-Netherlands Water Partnership (BNWP) is to improve delivery of water supply and sanitation (WSS) services to the poor. The partnership enhances performance of World Bank operations in the WSS sector and supports a broad sector reform agenda with a strong poverty focus. BNWP activities center on providing support to existing World Bank projects or projects whose implementation would not have been possible without BNWP financing. Activities under this program also help solve immediate problems using lessons learned from actual cases; test policy and service delivery innovations; and fill gaps in existing knowledge in the water sector as a whole.

BNWP supports the international effort to reach the Millennium Development Goals, especially to halve – by 2015 – the number of of people without access to potable water.

The Bank-Netherlands Water Partnership analyzes the applicability of new management models and pilots them in the field. A panorama of management options will need to be applied within a country or a region to serve all with adequate WSS services. The introduction of new management models includes awareness building and evaluation of lessons learned. The know-how that has been developed is being disseminated through publications and learning events.

BNWP-1 and BNWP-2
The first phase of BNWP spanned over a period of four years, 2002 to 2006. Individual proposals that sought BNWP funding were accepted on a rolling basis and peer reviewed both inside and outside the department. 44 projects and activites created a wealth of knowledge products and supported Bank operations..

BNWP-2 operates on a more decentralized platform. BNWP-2's budget of USD 8 million is allocated to seven regional blocks and to three thematic blocks. BNWP-2 has been in effect since July 1, 2006 and activity has been extended until March 2009.

Program Windows
BNWP operates through a framework of five thematic water supply and sanitation windows:

1. Water supply and sanitation in rural areas
2. Water supply and sanitation in towns
3. Reform of urban utilities
4. Sanitation & hygiene
5. Capacity building

Working with Partners
BNWP collaborates with various units within the World Bank. BNWP also engages a broad array of stakeholders including national, state, or local governments, non-governmental organizations, community groups, and the private sector.