World Bank Launches Danube Water Programme

During an international conference, the World Bank launched the Danube Region Water Supply and Wastewater Sector Capacity Building Program Project for Europe and Central Asia, which aims to support institutional capacity building, as well as the development of regulatory and policy instruments in the water supply and wastewater sector in participating countries in the region.

The Danube Water Program involves 11 countries in the Danube region: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. It is funded by a hybrid Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) with an initial contribution from Austria of a total of EUR 4.5 million.

The international event held to launch the Program took place in Vienna, Austria, from 22-24 May 2013, under the theme 'Smart Policies, Strong Utilities, Sustainable Services.' Conference participants, which included representatives from organizations in the water supply and wastewater sectors, discussed some key challenges in the region, including: sector governance and structure; regulation, tariffs, and subsidies; benchmarking; asset management and investment planning; and service efficiency improvement.