Sawt Falasteen - World Bank announces water security plan covering one billion people

The "Water Forward" program will "expand reliable water services and strengthen systems against droughts and floods."

The Bank said its own funds and technical advice would help improve water supplies to about 400 million people by 2030, with the balance coming from partners.

Water "determines whether people are healthy enough to work, whether children have a childhood to learn and to explore, and whether businesses can operate and economies can grow," World Bank President Ajay Banga said.

The program will see countries identify areas of priority, then "development banks, governments, philanthropies, most importantly, the private sector as well, align behind that plan," he said.

The global lender did not specify how much funding it was committing to the initiative.

Other participating institutions include regional development banks, OPEC's development fund, and the BRICS-aligned New Development Bank.

Fourteen countries had already voluntarily committed to reforming and strengthening their water sectors under the new program, the Bank said.

Some four billion people -- half the world's population -- face water scarcity, due in part to "unclear policies, weak regulations, and financially unsustainable utilities that have slowed progress and deterred investment," the Bank said.

The focus on water governance issues -- not simply physical infrastructure -- is promising, said David Michel, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"In many countries, the water sector fails to fully deploy the funds already allocated to it."

However, the Bank's initiative "faces a long and difficult road ahead," he warned, noting that countries with the greatest water insecurity often have the least capacity to reform.

The issue of access to safe drinking water has been highlighted during the war in the Middle East, with desalination plants in Iran and across the region damaged in bombardments.

Beyond conflicts and immediate drinking water needs, the World Bank said better water security is needed to grow the global economy.

"Strong water systems are foundational to healthy economies that can attract private investment and create jobs," the Bank said.

C.Hamad--SF-PST