Tied and Untied aid Official development assistance can be tied, partially tied or untied. Aid is said to be tied when one of the conditions for granting it is that the money given or lent will be used to buy goods and services from the donor country or another developing country. Donor countries in the DAC are committed to untying aid for the least developed countries. By restricting competition, tying aid can lead to extra costs for recipient countries.
Official development assistance in the water sector Two definitions will be used in this report for official development assistance in the water sector. One is the DAC definition, under the «water supply and sanitation» heading, and the other is a broader definition including the large infrastructures associated with water, in addition to the «water supply and sanitation» category. «Water Supply and Sanitation»: the DAC official definition These are the seven headings grouped by the DAC in the «water supply and sanitation» ODA category: • Water resources policy and administrative management: includes water sector policy, planning and programmes; water legislation and management; institution capacity building and advice; water supply assessments and studies; groundwater, water quality and watershed studies; hydrogeology; excluding agricultural water resources. • Water resources protection: includes inland surface waters (rivers, lakes, etc.); conservation and rehabilitation of ground water; prevention of water contamination from agro-chemicals, industrial effluents. • Water supply and sanitation - large systems: water desalination plants; intakes, storage, treatment, pumping stations, conveyance and distribution systems; sewerage; domestic and industrial waste water treatment plants). • Water supply and sanitation - small systems: includes water supply and sanitation through low-cost technologies such as hand pumps, spring catchments, gravity-fed systems, rain water collection, storage tanks, small distribution systems; latrines, small-bore sewers, on-site disposal (septic tanks). • River development: includes integrated river basin projects; river flow control; dams and reservoirs [excluding dams primarily for irrigation and hydropower and activities related to river transport]. • Waste management/disposal: municipal and industrial solid waste management, including hazardous and toxic waste; collection, disposal and treatment; landfill areas; composting and reuse. • Education and training in water supply and sanitation. So the DAC official definition includes headings linked to water resource management (excluding large water infrastructure) and headings linked to water supply and sanitation equipments and services. Waste management was placed in this category because of its proximity with sanitation. ODA for Water
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