Efficient, sustainable service for all? : an OED review of the World Bank's assistance to water supply and sanitation

This report is primarily a desk review of the World Bank's (mainly urban) water supply and sanitation (WSS) portfolio in the 1990s, by the Operations Evaluation Department (OED), an independent unit within the World Bank. The evaluation notes that OED ratings of the outcome, institutional development impact, and sustainability of closed projects have improved over the 1990s, although they remained below average if compared to other sectors. The Bank has had limited success in promoting deep and lasting regulatory and pricing reform in the sector. It also concludes that private sector participation, where it was promoted under Bank-supported projects, has by and large shown promising results in terms of coverage and quality of service but that it cannot be the panacea to the sector's structural problems. The study's findings point, inter alia, to the need for clarifying and consistently implementing the Bank's pricing policy in the WSS sector, for country-focused sector strategies geared to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and for a pragmatic approach to private sector participation.