ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on experience from water and transport, the lessons pertain to many other sectors. It is crucial to learn lessons from the past and to understand links between actions and effects in a given context, beyond replicating the past interventions. Water has long been a major focal area for World Bank lending to developing countries and projects in this area have done well. The growing concern about water stress, however, renders the past focus of increasing water accessibility inadequate in addressing the new challenges as the management and sustainability of water use are more prominent. Connecting households to water supply systems used to be the main way to provide access to safe water. Evaluations of water projects have fed into the World Bank's water strategy. There is some realignment of the Bank's portfolio and investment priorities, including multipurpose hydraulic development, water supply and sanitation, and watershed management.
