Dried Up, Sold Out

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How the World Bank’s Push for Private Water Harms the Poor

Most people in the United States are accustomed to turning on the faucet and seeing safe and healthful water stream forth. But take a trip into the developing world, and one often finds that the tap is dry. Indeed, literally billions of people in developing countries have no access to water and sewer services. And for those who do, the quality ranges from poor to downright dangerous.

Various international institutions and governments have long been laboring to right this injustice. Unfortunately, their approach has veered off track in the last few decades. Rather than sticking to the proven path of publicly funded water systems, the World Bank and other international financial institutions and governments have been promoting private control and ownership of water services. They claim this will lead to greater efficiency, improved management and more investment.

It hasn’t happened. This report, Dried Up, Sold Out: How the World Bank’s Push for Private Water Harms the Poor, shows that increased private sector participation has not made up for reduced public investment in water systems in developing nations. As a result, people there have had to make do with less or no water.

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