SDMX Metadata Concepts

Indicator: 6.a.1

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Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Target 6.a: By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies

Indicator 6.a.1: Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan

Institutional information

Organization(s):

World Health Organization (WHO)

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Concepts and definitions

Definition:

Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan is defined as the proportion of total water and sanitation-related Official Development Assistance (ODA) disbursements that are included in the government budget.

Concepts:

“International cooperation and capacity-building support” implies aid (most of it quantifiable) in the form of grants or loans by external support agencies. The amount of water and sanitation-related Official Development Assistance (ODA) can be used as a proxy for this, captured by OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS). ODA is defined as flows of official financing administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as the main objective, and which are concessional in character with a grant element of at least 25 per cent (using a fixed 10 per cent rate of discount). By convention, ODA flows comprise contributions of donor government agencies, at all levels, to developing countries (“bilateral ODA”) and to multilateral institutions. ODA receipts, from a recipient perspective, comprise disbursements by bilateral donors and multilateral institutions. Lending by export credit agencies—with the pure purpose of export promotion—is excluded (see http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/officialdevelopmentassistancedefinitionandcoverage.htm).

“Developing countries” refer to countries, which are eligible to receive official development assistance (see http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclist.htm). This limits the scope of reporting to those countries receiving water and sanitation ODA, and the number of such countries is expected to decrease going forward.

Water and sanitation-related activities and programmes include those for water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) (targets 6.1, 6.2), wastewater and water quality (6.3), water efficiency (6.4), water resource management (6.5), and water-related ecosystems (6.6). As per target 6.a wording, it includes activities and programmes for water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies.

A government coordinated spending plan is defined as a financing plan/budget for the water and sanitation sector, clearly assessing the available sources of finance and strategies for financing future needs.

Rationale:

The amount of water and sanitation-related Official Development Assistance (ODA) is a quantifiable measurement as a proxy for “international cooperation and capacity development support” in financial terms. It is essential to be able to assess ODA in proportion with how much of it is included in the government budget to gain a better understanding of whether donors are aligned with national governments while highlighting total water and sanitation ODA disbursements to developing countries over time.

A low value of this indicator (near 0%) would suggest that international donors are investing in water and sanitation related activities and programmes in the country outside the purview of the national government. A high value (near 100%) would indicate that donors are aligned with national government and national policies and plans for water and sanitation.

Comments and limitations:

Data on water and sanitation-related ODA included in the government budget will be available by end-2016 with the current cycle of UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) data. Until then, total water and sanitation-related ODA (denominator) will be reported. Total water and sanitation-related ODA will continue to be reported as an additional indicator going forward.

In addition, the proportion of ODA channelled through the government treasury will be reported as an additional indicator. ODA channelled through treasury indicates a high level of cooperation and alignment between donors and national government in which the donors channel funds through the national budget process.

The OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS) currently disaggregates ODA for the water and sanitation among several categories including: sector policy and administration, water resources protection, large and basic water and sanitation systems, river basin infrastructure, waste management, agricultural water resources, and education and training. While these categories do not align directly with the target areas of SDG 6 individually, which limits the disaggregation of ODA among the SDG target areas, the combined ODA from these categories does align with a majority of the reported ODA to the water sector.

As the numerator and denominator come from different sources, there is the possibility of different underlying assumptions regarding what should be included/excluded in the ODA figures. This could lead to situations in which the proportion of ODA included in government budget is greater than 1 (100%) if total ODA reported to OECD is lower than ODA reported to be included the budget. To guard against this possibility, the OECD will supply GLAAS with the reported ODA figures, broken down to the project level, so that respondents can match these with their on-budget project data.

ODA represents only one aspect of international cooperation. To capture other dimensions, additional supporting indicators are available, including indicators for the Collaborative Behaviours identified by the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partnership. Each behaviour has one or two key indicators for governments and for development partners. If the behaviours are jointly adapted by governments and development partners, long-term sector performance and sustainability would improve. For additional information on the Collaborative Behaviours see: http://sanitationandwaterforall.org/about/the-four-swa-collaborative-behaviours/

Methodology

Computation method:

The indicator is computed as the proportion of total water and sanitation-related ODA that is included in the government budget, i.e. the amount of water and sanitation-related ODA in the government budget divided by the total amount of water and sanitation-related ODA.

The numerator on water and sanitation-related ODA in the government budget will be obtained from the UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) survey for the 2016-2017 cycle. The question on external funding collects data on the amount of donor funds that were included in government budget. Data for 2015 ODA disbursements through GLAAS will be available by end-2016. The scope of the question on external funding has been expanded beyond WASH for the 2016-17 cycle to address all targets under SDG 6, including wastewater and water quality, water efficiency, water resource management, and water-related ecosystems.

The denominator on total water and sanitation-related ODA disbursements will be obtained through OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS) (purpose codes 14000-series for the water sector and purpose code 31140 for agricultural water resources). Data on ODA disbursements for 2015 will be made available through CRS in December 2016.

Treatment of missing values:

  • At country level:

Due to the highly country- and context-specific nature of ODA disbursements and whether they are aligned with national government plans, no estimates are produced for countries that are missing data.

  • At regional and global levels:

If no data is provided for the amount of ODA included in the budget, then the country is excluded from the regional and/or global analysis.

Regional aggregates:

Global and regional aggregates for ODA are derived based on summation of recipient country ODA disbursement for the water sector (purpose codes 14000- series) and agricultural water resources (purpose code 31140) from the OECD Creditor Reporting System.

Global and regional proportions of ODA disbursements as part of a government budget are derived for countries based on a summation of ODA for the water sector that is included in the budget divided by a summation of total ODA for water sector. The calculation of global and regional aggregates would only be performed for those countries reporting the amount of ODA for the water sector that is included in the budget. If no data is provided for the amount of ODA in the budget, then the country is excluded from the regional and/or global analysis.

Sources of discrepancies:

There may be differences in how much development aid is reported by a recipient country and the amount of ODA disbursed to that country as reported by the OECD-CRS. While OECD captures a significant amount of the aid flows (as reported by external donors) to the water and sanitation sector, countries may receive development aid for water and sanitation from national and international donors that do not report to the OECD-CRS data system. Other differences may occur if recipient countries define development aid more or less rigorously than OECD’s definition of ODA, or use different timeframes (e.g. fiscal year instead of calendar year) to report aid flows. In order to ensure data is as consistent as possible, the OECD will supply the reported ODA figures broken down to the project level, so that respondents can match these with their on-budget project data.

Methods and guidance available to countries for the compilation of the data at the national level:

Questionnaires for providers of development cooperation are available at the following link: http://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/ The data included in the indicator are ODA flows from all donors to developing countries eligible for ODA for the water sector (water and sanitation (purpose codes 14000- series), agricultural water resources (purpose code 31140), flood prevention/control (purpose code 41050), and hydroelectric power plants (purpose code 23220)).

The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has been collecting data on aid flows since 1973 through the OECD Creditor Reporting System based on a standard methodology and agreed definitions from member countries and other aid providers. The data are generally obtained on an activity level, and include numerous parameters to allow disaggregation by provider and recipient country, by type of finance, and by type of resources provided. Data are available for essentially all high-income countries as bilateral donors, and for an increasing number of middle-income aid providers, as well as multi-lateral lending institutions. Methodology on ODA data collection by OECD can be found here: http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/methodology.htm.

Quality assurance:

Data are collected using a converged reporting system whereby bilateral and multilateral providers of development co-operation use a single file format (Creditor Reporting System – CRS) to report at item level on all flows of resources to developing countries. Item-level reporting is validated against key aggregates also reported by donors and then serves as the basis for producing various other aggregate statistics. For further details, see: http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/methodology.htm

A statistical reporter is responsible for the collection of DAC statistics in each providing country/agency. This reporter is usually located in the national aid agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Finance etc.

Data sources

Description:

The UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) provides information on governance, monitoring, human resources, and financing in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. The UN-Water GLAAS survey is currently conducted on a biennial basis, led by WHO, and collected data from 94 countries (predominantly low and lower-middle income countries) in the most recent cycle in 2013-2014. The scope of the question on external funding has been expanded beyond WASH for the 2016-17 GLAAS cycle to include wastewater and water quality, water efficiency, water resource management, and the status of water-related ecosystems. GLAAS has completed three full cycles (2009-2010, 2011-2012, and 2013-2014), as well as a pilot conducted in 2008.

National governments participating in the GLAAS survey fill out the questionnaire, preferably supported by a multi-stakeholder review. Although one ministry leads the process, it is often the case that many different ministries and departments must be involved in the process in order to obtain the data required to complete the questionnaire. A GLAAS national focal person supports the lead ministry to coordinate data collection, to compile the national response to the questionnaire, and to lead on the process of data validation.

The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has been collecting data on aid flows since 1973 through the OECD Creditor Reporting System based on a standard methodology and agreed definitions from member countries and other aid providers. The data are generally obtained on an activity level, and include numerous parameters to allow disaggregation by provider and recipient country, by type of finance, and by type of resources provided. Data are available for essentially all high-income countries as bilateral donors, and for an increasing number of middle-income aid providers, as well as multi-lateral lending institutions. Methodology on ODA data collection by OECD can be found here: http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/methodology.htm

The data will be complemented by Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) reporting in SDG target 6.5 (for wastewater and water quality, water efficiency, water resource management, and the status of water-related ecosystems) (UNEP 2016). The analysis of IWRM has been done in the past by UN-Water in 2008 (led by UN-DESA) and in 2012 (led by UNEP, UNDP, GWP and SIWI) as requested by the UN Commission for Sustainable Development (UN-Water 2008, 2012).

Collection process:

National governments participating in the UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) survey fill out the questionnaire, preferably supported by a multi-stakeholder review. Although one ministry leads the process (e.g. Ministry of Water, Ministry of Environment, etc. depending on country), it is often the case that many different ministries and departments must be involved in the process in order to obtain the data required to complete the questionnaire. A GLAAS national focal person supports the lead ministry to coordinate data collection, to compile the national response to the questionnaire, and to lead on the process of data validation. For each GLAAS submission, information on the country processes is collected (number of ministries involved, whether a national meeting was held to support the filling of the questionnaire, stakeholder validation, use of documentation, etc.). Once received, the country submission undergoes a thorough data validation process, which is often an iterative process requiring communication and feedback with regional and country counterparts.

Countries are also requested to provide consent to publish individual, validated data responses as supplied to GLAAS. Thus through the data collection, validation and consultation processes, the results are expected to be comparable and no further adjustments are foreseen.

Data availability

Description:

Asia and Pacific: Most countries (at least 80% of the countries covering 90% of the population from the region)

Africa: Most countries (at least 80% of the countries covering 90% of the population from the region)

Latin America and the Caribbean: Most countries (at least 80% of the countries covering 90% of the population from the region)

Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan: Some countries

Please note that these reflect availability of data on total water and sanitation ODA. Data on proportion included in government budget will be available through the current cycle of GLAAS (cf. 7.1, 10.1, and 10.2).

Time series:

Time series of parameters under the indicator are available for 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014.

Disaggregation:

Subsector disaggregation (basic vs. large systems)

Calendar

Data collection:

The current round of GLAAS has been launched and data for 2015 ODA disbursements channelled through national government budgets will be available by end-2016. OECD data on ODA disbursements for 2015 will be made available through CRS in December 2016. (From NA to NA)

Data release:

Q1 2017

Data providers

Description:

Ministries with responsibilities related to finance, water supply and sanitation, agriculture, water resources development and management, environment, and foreign affairs

Data compilers

Name:

WHO and OECD, UNEP

Description:

WHO and OECD, with support from UNEP

References

URL:

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas/en/

http://www.unep.org/

http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/data.htm

References:

UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas/en/

UN-Water 2008: Status Report on IWRM for CSD-16, http://www.unwater.org/publications/publications-detail/en/c/206480/UNEP-DHI

UN-Water 2012: Status Reports on IWRM. http://www.unwater.org/publications/status-report-on-integrated-water-resources-management/en/

Data from the 2012 Survey on the Application of Integrated Approaches to Water Resources Management. http://www.unepdhi.org/rioplus20

UNEP 2016. Degree of implementation of integrated water resources management. Draft survey to support SDG indicator 6.5.1 http://www.unepdhi.org/whatwedo/gemi

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Creditor Reporting System http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/data.htm