Increasing access to basic infrastructure services is critical to reducing poverty and enabling poor and marginalized people to participate in and benefit from economic development.

Too often, however, the gap between the cost of the initial service connection and a user’s ability to pay for that connection prevents the poor from availing of basic services.

GPOBA was established in 2003 to explore output-based approaches to basic service provision. It is housed within the World Bank’s Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice (GSURR). Over its 14 years in operation, GPOBA has built a diverse portfolio of 48 subsidy projects in 28 countries and has supported numerous technical assistance and knowledge building activities. It has evolved into a Center of Expertise on output-based aid (OBA) and results-based financing (RBF), accumulating lessons and experiences, which serve as valuable resources for developing countries.