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FINANCING COOPERATIONImage: SwecoThe RWSSI is in line with the bank’s emphasis on inclusivenessand is an effective means for building resilienceand climate proofing against drought.Cooperation with multilateral organizationsAfDB views collaboration with other multilateralorganizations as important for supporting jointcountry-level and regional activities, eliminatingduplication of efforts and avoiding conflictingapproaches. Within the framework of the bank’scollaboration agreements with the United Nations andthe World Bank, the water department has developedjoint working arrangements with several agencies,notable among which are those with UNHABITAT,the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) andthe Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) of theWorld Bank .Water sector cooperation between AfDB and UNICEFfocuses on the RWSS subsector, leveraging the respectivecomparative advantages in the following areas:• supporting continental and regional initiatives• access to sanitation (including water, sanitation andhygiene in schools)• sustaining services and behaviours• monitoring and knowledge management.AfDB collaboration with SADC - Shared Watercourses Support Project (Buzi RiverBasin, Mozambique)cooperation and coordination among basin states, and supportingstrategic and investment planning and resource mobilization inbasin development organizations. AWF support for strengtheningthe African Network of Basin Organizations is a good exampleof this work. The facility also contributes towards AfDB’s effortsto create a favourable environment for effective and sustainableinvestments and promoting water sector knowledge. In additionto traditional partnerships with governments and donor agencies,AWF’s financing procedures provide opportunities for increasingcooperation with private operators, financiers, professionalnetworks, academia, NGOs and civil society.AfDB is cooperating with a number of donors includingFrance, Switzerland, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italyand Burkina Faso through the RWSSI Trust Fund in order toadd a quality dimension to the RWSSI through focused supportfor the ‘softer’ aspects of RWSS implementation. The trust fundaddresses issues such as:• improving RWSS governance and enabling environment• ensuring that projects and programmes to be funded havethe requisite institutional arrangements and capacities forsustainable service delivery• providing a platform for knowledge management,communication and sharing good practice at the regional andnational levels• selectively and strategically providing investment funds forrural water supply and sanitation for fragile and post-conflictAfrican states.The working arrangements include regular cross-pollinationmeetings and joint plans at country level.Looking aheadTransforming Africa’s economic fortunes in a waythat includes the poor can only be achieved throughextensive long-term cooperation among the variousactors. AfDB will therefore continue to pursue itsmultilevel and multifaceted cooperation and collaborationstrategy through:• participing in global and Africa-wide sector dialogue• engaging with various partners in the developmentand execution of its lending operations at regionaland country levels• cooperating with donors through special purposetrust funds• partnering with other multilateral organizations.• collaborating with unique knowledge institutionsthat help governments accelerate reforms thatensure sustainable water resources managementin support of long term national development andeconomic growth.The bank is also enhancing its efforts to help Africancountries create the enabling environment that will attractprivate sector financing to bridge the financing gap.Collaboration with other organizations is a dynamicprocess making it necessary to engage in continuousreassessment in meeting joint objectives and aspirations.AfDB therefore welcomes the opportunitiesavailed by the International Year of Water Cooperationto renew its commitment to cooperation as an essentialelement of the international development agenda.[ 162 ]