Vietnam: Rural Water (East Meets West)

In Vietnam, achieving sustainable provision of water services for communities in rural areas has been a challenge for years. About 74 percent of the Vietnamese population is concentrated in rural areas, yet just 48 percent of households have access to clean water, compared with 82 percent in urban areas. GPOBA partnered with the East Meets West Foundation (EMWF) to explore the OBA approach for meeting these rural water challenges. The OBA approach uses an innovative risk sharing mechanism that enhances EMWF’s performance while maintaining high value for money and focusing on sustainability. The success of the project facilitated the right environment for scaling up the OBA approach and encouraged private-sector participation in the construction and management of future water and sanitation schemes, an objective of the national Socialization Policy.