Reporting aid flows for water supply and sanitation: official development assistance

Current resource allocations for water supply and sanitation are far below those required to meet basic needs, particularly in low income countries. Many organisations supporting advocacy and arguing for change make use of the primary statistical data for Official Development Assistance (ODA) which measures donor aid flows to the sector. Important changes have taken place to the way ODA is reported including disaggregation between aid flows for water supply and aid flows for sanitation from 2010 onwards. This paper reports findings from a consultative group regarding issues requiring clarification for the revised codes to be applied consistently. These include: disaggregation of water and sanitation from within integrated water sector projects; disaggregation of water and sanitation components from projects in other sectors; clarity on working definitions of ‘large and basic’ when reporting water and sanitation projects; capacity development that directly supports implementation; and recording the transition from projects to programme-based aid. Case studies drawn from donors’ reporting of ODA are used to illustrate key issues for users of ODA statistical information who aim to capture data on aid flows to the water sector.