The period 2005–2015 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Decade for Action on “Water for Life” and was launched on World Water Day, 22 March 2005. The decade is designed to reduce the gap between progress to date and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as identified in the 2004 UNICEF/ WHO study, which explicitly recognizes the contribution needed from the private sector to attain the goals, and with the emphasis on action to improve physical progress towards their achievement. ADB is contributing to this focus on action to deliver the MDG water and sanitation (water sector) targets by developing a flagship program for accelerating water and sanitation coverage in metropolitan areas in selected developing member countries (DMCs), tentatively India, Indonesia, and the People’s Republic of China.