World Bank approves $300 million Sindh water and sanitation financing

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World Bank Sindh water funding

Highlights

World Bank approved $300 million financing on November 13 for the $540 million STAR WASH-1 project targeting rural water, sanitation, and hygiene in Sindh Province.
STAR WASH-1 aims to halve water contamination at point of use and connect 80 percent of targeted rural communities to a professional water and sanitation provider.
The investment, including $150 million from Asian Development Bank and $90 million from the Government of Sindh, is expected to generate over 14,000 jobs and formalize Sindh People's Housing for Flood Affectees as a rural WASH utility.

Sindh project scope and funding structure

As reported by the World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors approved $300 million in financing on November 13 for the Sindh Transformational Accelerated Rural Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services Phase 1 Project, or STAR WASH-1.

The project is set to finance climate-resilient infrastructure, including solar-powered water supply systems and improved sanitation systems, in selected rural areas of Sindh Province. It also includes an integrated social and behavior change program aimed at improving personal and environmental hygiene and shifting service delivery toward safer and more sustainable rural WASH systems.

World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Bolormaa Amgaabazar said unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene remain a major driver of child stunting in Pakistan, adding that the expansion of services in rural Sindh is intended to address one of the root causes. The project aims to halve water contamination at the point of use and connect 80 percent of targeted rural communities to a professional water and sanitation service provider.

STAR WASH-1 carries a total project amount of $540 million, including $150 million from the Asian Development Bank under a recently agreed Full Mutual Reliance Framework and $90 million equivalent in counterpart funding from the Government of Sindh.

Jobs, utility reform and wider development impact

The investment is estimated to generate more than 14,000 jobs and will support the formalization of the Sindh People's Housing for Flood Affectees as a rural WASH utility company. That adds an institutional reform element to the infrastructure spending, with the program seeking to build a more durable service model in underserved communities.

Lead Water Resources Management Specialist Bekele Debele Negewo said the investment is aimed at improving human capital outcomes as well as infrastructure, with a focus on reducing child stunting through better access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. The World Bank also says the program is aligned with its Water Forward initiative, which treats water security as a base for jobs, investment, economic growth, human development and resilience.

STAR WASH-1 is the first of a planned four-phase Pakistan Rural Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services Program to be implemented through a multi-phase approach over 10 years. More than half of children under five in rural Sindh are stunted, underscoring the public health and economic stakes attached to the province's water and sanitation gaps.

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