In Vietnam, the Global Water Security & Sanitation Partnership (GWSP) is showing how physical capital can help build human capital. GWSP is tackling Vietnam’s sanitation challenge and in doing so, preparing today’s citizens for the economies of societies of tomorrow.
Vietnam is one of GWSP’s nine priority countries, where investments are laser-focused to move the needle towards universal access. GWSP acts like a think tank or learning laboratory where insights gleaned and lessons learned inform not only World Bank projects across the globe, but strategic engagements with policy makers and key counterparts, other donors, non-government organizations, private investment, as well as academic institutions.
In Vietnam’s rural areas, around half of households and schools lack hygienic latrines while barely 1 in 10 people wash their hands with soap. And it is the youngest generation of Vietnamese whose potential is most negatively impacted by the lack of sanitation. Establishing and accelerating human capital – that is to say, the potential of individuals - can lead to social and economic gains for decades.
In Vietnam, GWSP is providing vital knowledge, support and policy advice to support an effort to deliver vital rural sanitation in 21 provinces in Vietnam. More specifically, GWSP funds are being used to support Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in drafting a decree to clarify responsibilities for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of centralized rural schemes.
This is incredibly important because while maintaining existing infrastructure grabs a lot less headlines than announcing new construction, the maintenance of this vital infrastructure has a positive impact on health, education and livelihoods for decades. O&M matters because an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure; after all, it’s much more cost-effective to make sure existing toilets, taps or pipes are working properly than to build or lay new ones. An O&M guideline developed thanks to GWSP funding has now been implemented across a number of Vietnam’s provinces.
A sector-wide monitoring and evaluation system has also been developed, which includes water supply and sanitation in schools. Funds from GWSP supported three government agencies in the development of new indicators for this, as well as corresponding platforms for the measurement of access to water and sanitation, service provision and sustainability.