Eleven months have passed since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). As we rang in the new year, the world surpassed two million deaths due to COVID-19. While it is encouraging that 77 countries have distributed 168 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, only a small fraction of these are in low-income countries. Vaccinations may not be widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa until 2022-2023. Furthermore, the new COVID-19 variant recently discovered in South Africa is estimated to be 50 percent more contagious, underscoring the need for a collaborative international response.

As new variants of COVID-19 emerge and outpace vaccination delivery, WHO continues to stress the basic precautions of mask-wearing, social distancing, and handwashing, the last of which requires regular delivery of basic water services. Yet, there are few indications that funding for such water services is being prioritized or integrated into health sector programming and budgeting by governments or donors.

Recent data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggests that while many countries will slowly recover from the economic collapse of 2020, many local and national governments will continue to face hard choices in the allocation of shrinking public revenue, especially in the poorest countries. Government transfers and donor funding are critical for many service providers—for much needed expansions in infrastructure and for covering operating costs. But in the last eleven months, a contraction in commercial water use and tariff collection reduced revenues, and changes in operating protocols and protection for workers raised costs. Understanding the extent of the financial shortfalls and bridging the gaps expediently are critical if we are to expect service providers to continue operating, and expand and improve services to meet growing needs in the coming years. 

Update on WASH financing during COVID-19: Still inadequate according to limited data

Since our previous post last summer, data availability (or lack thereof) on financing for water and sanitation utilities during the pandemic has not changed significantly. The OECD-DAC Database and the WHO’s TrackFin Database are still not up to date with 2020 data, and the WASHfunders map does not indicate how much WASH funding is earmarked for COVID-19. While the World Bank cites 2020 water utility data from IBNET, this updated information does not appear to be available to the public. Additionally, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion Members does not state how much money is allocated to water service providers specifically. Global Water Operators Partnerships Alliance has an up-to-date mapping of utility responses but not of financial trends.

According to the World Bank’s Map of Projects, there are 169 active projects dedicated to COVID-19, totaling $10.3 billion. Of this total, only 14 active projects ($160 million) are classified under water, sanitation, and waste management. Additionally, the International Finance Corporation has dedicated $8 billion to its 44 COVID-19 Response Projects. At present, of the 44 COVID-19 response projects, none appear to mention water or sanitation utilities. Total financial assistance from the IMF has increased from $88 billion in August 2020 to $105 billion in January 2021 according to the IMF’s COVID-19 Financial Assistance and Debt Service Relief Tracker. While a portion of this macroeconomic support might be spent on transfers for utilities, the tracker only mentions water and sanitation utilities a handful of times, indicating that either utility support is not being prioritized or information on this support is not readily available or quantifiable.

Devex’s Global COVID-19 Funding Dashboard continues to be the most comprehensive dashboard to access funding flows for WASH during COVID-19. According to the dashboard, funding for WASH has now reached $5.4 billion (an increase of $1.7 billion from August 2020). However, WASH only makes up 0.026 percent of total COVID-19 funding. Of this small percentage, it is unclear how much funding directly supports water and sanitation service providers. A recent report by Development Initiatives corroborates this finding, noting that WASH funding is inadequate and even decreasing among certain funders during the pandemic. While there were marked increases in international financial institution (IFI) commitments for health and education (156 percent and 111 percent respectively) from 2019 to 2020, commitments for WASH decreased by 30 percent. In fact, WASH is the only social sector “seeing IFI commitments fall in absolute terms.”

Key recommendations to support water and sanitation utilities

In light of these challenges, we propose that local governments, development partners, and donors:

1. Support and implement actions that have been proven to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Sub-Saharan Africa is no stranger to infectious disease, and countries have learned crucial lessons from previous epidemics such as Ebola, including prioritizing handwashing and ensuring basic water access. With a considerable lag in COVID-19 vaccine distribution and new variants that threaten progress, these evidence-based, preventative efforts must be prioritized and sustained.

2. Allocate more funding for water and sanitation utilities during COVID-19 and beyond.

The limited data available indicates that financing for water and sanitation utilities during COVID-19 is insufficient. If it is not prioritized now when the need is abundantly—and urgently—clear, there is little hope for financing to be adequate post-pandemic. The international community must support utilities now as an intentional and effective step towards mitigating the damaging effects of COVID-19 and contributing to the broader public health effort.

Despite well-established links between WASH and infection prevention, it appears that WASH may have, once again, failed to garner adequate support. There are still over 2 billion people who lack access to a safe source of water for drinking or practicing hygiene, and 3 billion who lack basic handwashing services. In addition, a 2020 WHO report showed that 1.8 billion people use health care facilities that lack basic water services. The overwhelming majority of these people live in countries that are not vaccinating against the virus. Without a concerted international effort to support local water and sanitation service providers to meet their operational responsibilities, these populations will be left without critical public health protection.