What we do

GPRBA provides grant funding to projects covering education, energy, health, land administration, solid waste, telecommunications and water and sanitation.

Education

Education is a critical tool for reducing poverty and inequality, and for driving development. However, an estimated 24 million children worldwide will never enter a classroom, and 250 million cannot read or write, although many have been to school. OBA projects in education can be designed to bridge the gap between the cost of providing quality education and the funds available. They tie the disbursement of funding to the achievement of clearly specified and verified results or outcomes.

Energy

Globally, around 1.1 billion people live without access to electricity. Ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy by 2030 is one of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015. GPRBA supports the energy access goal using output-based approaches to service delivery for low-income communities through funding linked to actual results achieved. OBA, one of the RBF instruments the program was initially testing, specifically targets poor populations, it helps to ensure that the benefits of infrastructure investment reach those most in need. The program has been working in the energy sector since 2006, and the energy portfolio comprises almost half of the portfolio.

Health

OBA projects in the health sector are designed to support government commitments to improve the health status of poor populations and to create incentives for accessing health care. By supporting maternal health, safe deliveries and reproductive health services, projects contribute to long term positive health impacts, improved living conditions, and better economic status for low-income families.

Land Administration

Land and housing ownership are important assets for the poor and must be properly managed and administered to benefit them. SDG 1.4 aims to ensure that, by 2030, all men and women, in particular the poor and vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property. Currently, it is estimated that only 30 percent of the global population has legally registered rights to their land and homes. For both women and men, improving tenure security can have a positive influence on their household income, food security, and equity.

Solid Waste Management

With rapid population growth and urbanization, municipal waste generation is expected to rise to 2.2 billion tonnes by 2025. One of the major obstacles to improving Solid Waste Management (SWM) in poor countries is the lack of sustainable financing. Households and service providers are caught in a vicious cycle, with municipalities unable to improve services and expand their capacities unless they can increase fee collection rates, while residents are unwilling to pay for inadequate services. OBA can create an incentive-based funding approach encouraging service providers to reach underserved low-income communities while improving the ineffective collection of SWM fees and the missed opportunity for managing solid waste sustainably.

Telecommunications

Information and communication technologies can help reduce poverty, boost economic growth, and improve accountability and governance. GPRBA support in this sector has been focused on increasing access to telecommunications services in remote and sparsely populated areas areas where connection has been extremely limited. GPRBA has provided support in Mongolia and Indonesia in the past.

Water and Sanitation

Globally, around 663 million people lack access to safe drinking water and 2.4 billion lack access to improved sanitation, such as a toilet or latrine. Ensuring access to water and sanitation for all by 2030 is one of the top priorities of the Sustainable Development Goals. GPRBA has been making a concerted effort since 2005 to test OBA approaches, a type of RBF instrument, in the sector to service delivery for low-income communities through funding linked to actual results achieved. OBA specifically targets poor populations, it helps to ensure that the benefits of infrastructure investment reach those most in need. GPRBA has supported 20 grant funding projects in the water and sanitation sector.