Partnerships can be concerned with a broad range of themes, including good governance and technical and operational issues. Good governance includes issues such as public participation, in-house restructuring, institutional strengthening, awareness raising and integrated water management. Technical and operational issues include leakage reduction, water quality testing, labour management, access to investment finance, and expanding access to the poor, among others.

EC grants can finance the following activities:

a) training, knowledge transfer, learning and other capacity development activities;

b) supplies and services, subject to EC procurement rules, under the condition that their cost is not more than 30% of the total direct cost of the action (see art. 14, Annex II, General Conditions applicable to European Union-financed grant contracts for external actions).

EC grants cannot finance actions which are profit-making.