ADB receives $8mn trust fund replenishment to meet sanitation challenge in Asia and the Pacific

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Sanitation Financing Partnership Trust Fund has received $8 million replenishment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, further scaling up the partnership between the two institutions to improve access to safe sanitation in Asia and the Pacific.

As of 2022, the trust fund has leveraged over $1.64 billion in ADB investments on citywide inclusive sanitation (CWIS) projects in ADB developing member countries (DMCs). This replenishment brings the foundation’s financial contribution to the trust fund to $27 million since 2013.

“We highly appreciate the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's continued support to the Sanitation Financing Partnership Trust Fund,” said ADB Water and Urban Development Sector Office Senior Director Norio Saito.

“This contribution will help ADB scale up and magnify the impact of our initiatives to improve access to safe sanitation in the region.”

This new funding will help advance ADB’s focus on addressing climate resilience in sanitation infrastructure and services while helping make these services affordable, safe, inclusive, and effective.

In addition, it will continue creating an enabling environment for increased adoption of CWIS strategy and transformative sanitation technologies in ADB operations.

“The trust fund continues to deliver on our commitment to improve sanitation security and health outcomes in the region and promoting the CWIS approach,” said ADB Water and Urban Development Sector Office Director for Strategy and Partnerships Satoshi Ishii.

“This will help ensure that our DMCs will receive much-needed assistance to promote innovations in project design, to build capacity, support institutional reforms, and spur private sector investments in CWIS projects.”

The trust fund was established in 2013 to promote investments in fecal sludge management, focusing on establishing markets, regulatory frameworks, and innovative business models that facilitate the delivery of nonpiped sanitation and septage management services in DMCs.

The trust fund also aims to accelerate the adoption of the CWIS approach to promote adequate, equitable, and inclusive sanitation service solutions in the region.

Since its creation, the trust fund has helped improve sanitation of 13.93 million people in the region. Out of the $1.64 billion leveraged investments in CWIS projects, around $410 million were channeled towards nonsewered sanitation and fecal sludge management projects.

“Accelerating innovations in citywide inclusive sanitation service delivery and transformative sanitation technology remains central to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s efforts in the water, sanitation, and hygiene space. We are confident that continuing this collaboration with ADB allows the foundation to accelerate our mission to make life healthier, safer, and more dignified for millions in developing countries in Asia,” said Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Deputy Director for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Roshan Shrestha.

The trust fund is part of ADB's Water Financing Partnership Facility, which mobilizes financial and knowledge resources from development partners to support ADB’s operations in the water sector.

As of December 2022, the facility has catalyzed nearly $10 billion in ADB water sector investments and benefited around 123 million people in 20 DMCs.