Sustainable and resilient pro-poor water supply project in Cebu

The sustainable and resilient pro-poor water supply project Cebu was located in the central, typhoon-prone part of the Philippines and had a pro-poor approach to provide both improved and new connections to the urban poor of Metro Cebu, including the city's Low-Income Communities (LICs).

The partnership also addressed the resilience of poor communities through WASH activities and Disaster Risk Reduction. This was realized through close collaboration between Dutch drinking water companies (VEI), the local water operator Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD), an NGO (Eau et Vie), and the Netherlands and Philippines Red Cross.

The project realized its two main results:

1. Providing people with access to safe water and sanitation, and
2. Improving the resilience of the water supply and communities to natural disasters.

The project has provided access to water for over 130,000 urban poor people. The project has provided applicants with four options for connecting to MCWD water depending on their financial circumstances – the most significant being the fee spread over 12-monthly payments at no extra cost. Secondly, MCWD procured 27 mobile generators that were matched to the ratings of 126 deep wells. This allowed them to rotate coverage across Metro Cebu and supply a lifeline volume of water during the subsequent 6-week power outage caused by the typhoon.

The Red Cross executed the practiced Disaster Risk Reduction Plans and safely evacuated vulnerable communities to safe havens such as sports centers and shopping malls. Regarding the pandemic, the Red Cross trained 230 Community Health Volunteers, who immediately started to work in mitigating the effects of COVID-19 in the vulnerable communities. This was boosted by the project providing hand-washing stations, Personal Protective Equipment, test kits, hygiene packs and food parcels.

More information

• Project brochure
• The Sustainable Pro-Poor WaterSupply Project in Metro Cebu, Philippines (video)
• VEi: Tahna Expansion Project (video)