ADB and Japan launch new water security fund

The Asian Development Bank and the Government of Japan have established a new water security fund in Tokyo to support Asia and the Pacific against worsening floods, droughts, and other water-related shocks. Japan will make an initial $10 million contribution to the Water Initiative for Security, Efficiency and Resilience Fund, or WISER Fund.

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ADB said the fund will help its developing member countries strengthen water systems, reduce disaster risks, improve water-use efficiency, and apply digital and innovative solutions to water challenges. ADB President Masato Kanda said water is "more basic to life" and called for faster and smarter investment to make water security the basis of a more resilient future.

Japan's Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama said investment in the water sector is indispensable to sustainable development in the region and to improving people's lives. ADB said Asia and the Pacific remains the world's most affected region for floods, storms, and droughts, with more than four in 10 global flood events occurring in Asia.

It said about 220 million people in the region still lack basic water supply and about 520 million lack basic sanitation.

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