Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO)

Developing two KDs

The IWC led the development and review of two KDs for water security: KD3 for urban water security and KD4 for environmental water security. This was completed in parallel and in close communication with other KDs, through a collaborative approach led by the ADB with all KD research teams.

To develop the two KDs we:

• identified potential improvements in previous AWDO reports and developed an approach to achieve this and to ensure outputs were in line with overall AWDO priorities and contrasting methodologies for regions with and without active river flow.
• articulated a refined methodological approach to enable clear and measured bench marking with previous AWDO reports and comparisons with other water security indicators. These included collecting and collating relevant data-sets from international agencies and developing indicators of water security across the region at sub-basin scales.
• prepared a final output for KD3 and KD4 that informed the AWDO 2016 report.

Outcomes

Our involvement in AWDO 2016 was profoundly impactful. By contributing to the AWDO, we contributed to better water security throughout the Asia Pacific region.

In urban water security, we were able to identify that there has been significant improvement in cities in East Asia, but that there is still room for improvement elsewhere in Asia. It was identified that significant leadership and investment would be needed if more water sensitive cities were to develop throughout Asia and the Pacific.

We also identified that because of their healthy rivers and limited alterations to natural flow, Pacific island nations had the strongest environmental water security. We showed that the impact that good governance was having in advanced economies, by highlighting the importance of country and basin level monitoring.

With increasing climate variability, business-as-usual water management will no longer suffice. Monitoring tools such as the AWDO, which strengthens a government’s ability to make good decisions, will become increasingly important. Between AWDO 2013 and 2016, nine countries lifted themselves out of the water insecure classification, which has real, on-ground impacts for their citizens.

Asia and Pacific remains the world’s most vulnerable region to water insecurity and cannot sustain its recent economic growth without addressing this issue,” said ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Bambang Susantono, who led the launch in Stockholm. “Meeting the region’s socioeconomic challenges and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water will require bridging the gap in provision of water services between rich and poor in urban areas, and between rural and urban areas. – ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Following AWDO 2016, KD1 (Rural Household Water Security) was redefined from Household Water Security, specifying rural areas. As the definition of KD1 changed, so did the methodology for calculating the index score.

The IWC supported this re-definition by strengthening the methodology and sourcing data sets to quantify rural household water security for Asian and Pacific countries, while maintaining continuity of the scores from AWDO 2013 and 2016.

To support the re-development of KD1, we:

• completed an extensive literature review on water security and SDG assessments, databases and results of global water security assessment programs
• developed a revised methodology ensuring: the new definition that includes rural water security was taken into account, maintaining the continuity of KD1 scores with a stronger focus on the connection between rural water and sanitation access and public health, with specific regard to water-borne diseases, and the need to add in sub-indicators
• identified actionable sub-indicators within KD1 to guide improvements in water security, aligned with SDG targets 6.1 and 6.2, analysed spatial disparities across basins and provinces in Asia-Pacific, addressed inequalities (e.g. wealth, gender, urban-rural), utilised publicly available global datasets, and incorporated future scenarios for 2025 and 2030 based on the IIASA/ADB Water-Food-Energy Nexus study.
• applied the new methodology to collect data and produce preliminary scores for KD1 for 2020

Outcomes

AWDO 2020 highlighted the criticality of monitoring rural household water security – revealing that while progress has been made since previous assessments, there are significant data gaps in rural-specific indicators that limit the effectiveness of current approaches. The findings emphasize that better data and more inclusive governance are essential to understand and address water security challenges. The study also highlights the disproportionate vulnerability of rural populations especially in the Pacific and Central West Asia, and stresses the need for locally driven solutions, particularly in the face of climate change. Empowering marginalized groups and improving implementation capacity are central to ensuring more equitable and effective WASH outcomes going forward.

The goal of AWDO 2025 is to provide a country-level overview of each region’s water security and guidance on recommended actions, focusing on the same countries investigated in AWDO 2020.