ODI is Britain's leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues.

Water Policy

The ODI Water Policy Programme links high quality research with practical policy advice on water issues with a bearing on poverty. Our aim is to provoke, contribute to and influence debates on water and sanitation through collaboration with a wide variety of government, donor, civil society and private sector partners.

What we work on

Adapting to environmental change and uncertainty in the water sector

 

Secure water and sanitation

drought landscape boy (Source: aheavens, Flickr - http://flickr.com/photos/andrewheavens/100067958/)

  • Water is the primary medium through which the impacts of climate change are felt by people, ecosystems and economies. Our work is exploring what these impacts are, who are most vulnerable, and the implications for policy and practice at different scales –from international planning to community adaptation.

 

Waiting for laundry to dry (Source: Jojoh Faal, ODI)

  • Access to drinking water and sanitation provides the foundation for public health, economic growth and poverty reduction. Our work looks at how reliable, affordable and sustainable services can be provided for growing, and increasingly mobile, rural and urban populations, and the links between access to basic services and poverty.

Water resources management and allocation

 

Research-inspired Policy and Practice Learning in Ethiopia and the Nile Region (RiPPLE)

Plastic water containers (Source: Andy Johnstone, ODI)

  • Competition for water – between uses and users, between regions and countries – is increasing. As competition and scarcity grows, there will be an increasing need for rules-based systems that can allocate water fairly and protect the claims of the poorest. Our work is looking at some of the trade-offs involved, and how water rights and markets could be strengthened.

 

Woman selling lime in Oromia, Ethiopia. (Source: Andy Johnstone, ODI)

  • This research programme and resource centre was led by the Water Policy Programme from 2006 to 2011. The objective was to advance evidence-based learning on water supply and sanitation and to inform the policy and practice agenda around service delivery, water resources management and climate change adaptation.

About the programme