World Bank donors Informal Meeting - Water Week

Held one day before the start of the Water Week, at the invitation of the WB. Most of the bilateral donors in attendance and all the regional development banks, one UN agency representative and a rep of the Gates Foundation. For first time, this meeting was opened to CSOs to observe - a promise that JS made during the WB-CSO dialogue organised by WaterAid in 2004. DFID's proposal for a global action plan, (one annual report produced by UN Water and 1 annual meeting, 1 national plan and coordination body and 1 UN body to coordinate UN activities) was met with polite questions and some support for different components of the plan. Generally supportive of an annual report, but who is going to do this and who is going to ensure its quality. Other milestones /changes to business between 2000 -2005 include a shift to multi-sector projects; a renewed focus on results brought about by the MDGs; the need for sub-national support as expressed by the Camdessus Panel. Public investment in the sector is decreasing, bilateral donor support is 'at best stable' but Bank investment is on the increase - around 2.5 billion USD this coming financial year.