ASA Philippines’ Water and Sanitation Financing Program: Leveraging a Quality of Life Financing to Obtain Financial Gain

Abstract

Background: ASA Philippines Foundation is a not-for-profit organization devoted to helping an increasing number of poor Filipino families rise out of poverty by providing micro-finance to help them establish or improve their own micro-enterprises. This shall hopefully result in increased family income and savings, while giving them greater access to life support goods and services in the most cost-effective and sustainable manner. Established in 2004, ASA Philippines serves more than 1.8 million underprivileged clients through its more than 1,650 branches spread across all 82 provinces of the Philippines. The Foundation offers various types of financing including regular micro-business, agriculture, Shari’ah, education, home, and solar home system.
The Foundation’s branches are grouped into four main operating areas:

 Luzon 1 covers all areas north of Metro Manila,

 Luzon 2 covers Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, Bicol, Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan,

 Visayas covers all provinces in Visayas, and

 Mindanao covers all provinces in Mindanao.

Water.Org:

Water.org is a U.S. based non-governmental organization working to increase access to water, sanitation and hygiene (“WASH”) services for low-income households. Through its WaterCredit Initiative, Water.org partners with financial institutions, such as micro-finance institutions, to develop loan products to finance construction of WASH facilities. Since 2003, Water.org has empowered 22 million people across 13 countries with access to safe water and sanitation through affordable financing.

Keywords: Water, Sanitation, WASH, Hygiene