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Water Country Briefs Project |
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The Water Country Briefs are currently under production and will be launched in 2013. The map below indicates the countries for which the Water Country Briefs are currently being prepared. In the meantime, data from the Global Data Banks for each of these countries can be viewed by clicking on the map below.
Overview
The overall objectives of the Water Country Briefs (WCB) project are to better visualize the critical importance of "investments in water" for human and economic development. The intention is to foster increased political momentum for stronger interventions on water-related issues by policy makers, dealing with peace and security, infrastructure investments, agricultural, health, education and environmental issues, as well as macro- and micro-economic perspectives. An ultimate goal is to mobilize increased financial and institutional investments directed to water–related interventions, to serve as a tool for advocacy on water issues in more general terms and as decision support tools in policy processes. The primary target group is national governments, but civil society organizations and private sector actors, and the media are also examples of key stakeholders.
This initial project will generate WCBs for 10-15 countries. As the main purpose of this project is to define the methodology and develop the template and framework and apply it to a limited number of countries, considerable time and resources will be dedicated to develop such a template and methodology for these WCBs. The intention for producing this framework is that it can then be easily adapted and applied to a larger number of countries.
The WCBs are intended to send a powerful message about the urgent challenges on water issues that are stifling human and national development, and to prompt donors, governments and other key actors to raise these issues on the political agenda and increase investments. They will frame water issues within the larger development equation within a country as a way to stimulate further political attention and investments in water.
This two-year project is being implemented by FAO-AQUASTAT on behalf of UN-Water with financial support from United States Department of State (USDS).
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Methodology
The WCBs are being developed through a diverse set of activities, schematically represented below:
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Contents
Contents under development:
- WHY DOES INVESTING IN WATER MATTER?
- Impact of investment in water and the general state of water resources management on development outcomes
- THE MONEY TRAIL
- Investment data collected through national consultants, according to the following categories, which have been established by the OECD Creditor Reporting System: Water resources policy and administrative management, water resources protection, water supply and sanitation - large systems, water supply and sanitation - small systems, river development, hydroelectric power plants, agricultural water resources, disaster prevention and preparedness
- WHAT ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES?
- How much does water matter (results from relevant cost-benefit analysis studies if available)?
- Where do the main water and development challenges lie (main problems detected in the analysis provided in the center pages-ie: red lights)?
- How does water constrain the country’s development, by economic sector?
- How sectors are dependent on water?
- STATUS AND TRENDS
- Water for food
- Ecosystem health
- Water supply, sanitation and public health
- Water intensity in industry
- Water-related disasters
- Water & energy
- Tracking governance
- Data crisis
- Country maps
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Data
The project’s ongoing consultations continuously confirm that readily available national quantitative datasets on water are largely lacking for national level assessments and analysis. While there is information collected through various questionnaires and surveys in various instances, it is often not quantitative water-related information. Hence, data is insufficient to yield information about the water situation in a country from a quantitative point of view and often lacks detail to answer questions on the competition between sectors, etc.
To help address this data crisis, the WCBs are evolving based on the AQUASTAT model: collection of essentially quantitative data with the aim of contributing a comprehensive (ie: across economic sectors and key development issues) national evidence-base, both in terms of new data collected (on investments) and updated data (on water-related indicators).
Existing data is being collated from existing international datasets, namely, AQUASTAT, JMP, the World Bank, GEMS Water, among others. National consultants have been hired specifically for the WCBs project, tasked with collecting the data, guided by a specially-designed questionnaire for data collection. Data sources stem essentially from national/official databanks, scientific studies and in some cases expert opinions and assessments.
The WCB project can demonstrate the crisis in primary data collection and availability in the field of water. Data findings from the WCBs can contribute to strengthen national and international datasets. Moreover, the project will help demonstrate the value of valid and relevant data for national-level analysis, and the economic and development impact of making water-related investments.
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Target countries
The countries currently selected for the Water Country Briefs project are: Bangladesh, Chile, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Oman, Philippines, United Republic of Tanzania, Viet Nam, Zambia. |
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In brief
- A pilot project to develop a comprehensive data-rich water national snapshot
- An easy reference of aggregated national information for decision-makers
- Expected date of publication: June 2013
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