Pro-poor

Utilities Privatization and the Poor: Lessons and Evidence from Latin America

The perception that privatization hurts the poor is growing and creating a backlash against the private provision of basic infrastructure services.
 

At the same time, governments are findings themselves fisically strapped, searching for ways to finance the large investments needed to expand services to the poor.
In Latin America, a laboratory for privatization, evidence exists which sheds light on the privatization experience.

 

WSS Working Notes No.11: Taking Account of the Poor in Water Sector Regulation

Sophie Trémolet

Catherine Hunt

 

Regulatory frameworks can have a decisive influence on making water and sanitation services more accessible to the poor and on giving service providers the right incentives to serve them. In some cases, however, existing regulatory frameworks may introduce obstacles to serving the poor rather than provide an environment conducive to extending service. This note seeks to provide practical guidance on how regulatory frameworks can be designed and implemented in a way that is more

Increasing Local Content in the Procurement of Infrastructure Projects in Low Income Countries

This document from Engineers Against Poverty discusses several actions that can be taken in order to enable local development through infrastructure projects. It discusses how to promote local content as a policy objective and what steps can be given forward to a practical implementation of local content in infrastructure projects.

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Improving Access to Infrastructure Services by the Poor: Institutional and Policy Responses

This paper provides an overview of nature and extent of service accessibility challenges faced by developing countries. The paper also captures various policies in place which act as a key driver for the government to work towards improved access to service to the poor. Part A summarizes the access challenges of infrastructure and telecommunication services in low-income households and communities.

Expanding Renewable Energy Access with Pro-Poor Public-Private Partnerships in the Developing World

This article explains 8 cases in which private capital was mobilized to provide renewable energy infrastructure to poor populations in different part of the world. The author indicates how renewable energy infrastructure has large upfront costs and what specific models of PPPs can be used to implement it. The author also elaborates on various case studies and their respective PPP models.

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Who pays the most for water? Alternative providers and service costs in Niger

Despite water being subsidized in most developing countries, poorer households end up paying more per unit of consumption because they are generally not connected to the network and, as a result, are forced to buy water from public fountains or street vendors at a higher price. This note includes data on Niamey households’ water consumption and expenditure from different sources to estimate unit costs of service provision for water, looking at differences in costs according to both service provider and household poverty status.