Rural clean water project brings fresh benefits

More than 20,000 households in the central and Mekong Delta region have benefited from a clean water and sanitation project implemented by East Meets West Foundation (EMW).
More than 20,000 households in the central and Mekong Delta region have benefited from a clean water and sanitation project implemented by East Meets West Foundation (EMW).

At a seminar on Output-Based Aid (OBA) in Hanoi on Dec. 13, EMW National Director Nguyen Minh Chau said that this was an effective way of avoiding wastefulness, since sponsors only paid for the project’s implemenation after ensuring the required benefits had been achieved, Chau said.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dao Xuan Hoc affirmed that Vietnam encouraged all economic sectors to become involved in rural water supply. He praised the implementation of output-based projects.

According to Hoc, OBA had mobilised capital from businesses and people investing in rural clean water programmes. The majority of poor people had a chance to access clean water sources with small financial contributions. In the meantime, OBA had clearly defined the responsibility of businesses when they are investors-cum-owners.

World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa said that using output-based financial assistance to implement projects in Vietnam to sustainably improve the living conditions of poor families was a new approach for the country and the WB supported this type of assistance.

Vietnam aimed to have all its people gain access to clean water by 2020. However, it was not an easy task, said Vice Director of the clean water and environment sanitation programmes Nguyen Thanh Luan./.

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