The World Bank is supporting Egypt’s reforms in the water supply and sanitation sector and the country’s commitment to safeguarding the quantity and quality of water and addressing rural sanitation as a priority program.
In this regard, The Government of Egypt and the World Bank signed mid-May a US$120 million loan agreement to finance the Integrated Sanitation and Sewerage Infrastructure Project (ISSIP) in Egypt. The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved the loan on March 20, 2008.
The ISSIP Project aims to contribute to the sustainable improvement in: (i) sanitation and environmental conditions for the resident communities and (ii) the water quality in the selected priority drainage basins within the Governorates of Beheira, Gharbeya and Kafr El Sheikh in the Delta region.
“The water supply and sanitation sector is one of the significant services provision sectors with strong social aspects. Such sectors are among the priorities of the Government of Egypt for cooperation with our development partners," said H.E. Dr. Fayza Aboulnaga, Minister of International Cooperation.
“This project is an integral part of the President’s priority National Village Sanitation program, for which LE 20 billion have been earmarked,” said H.E. Eng Ahmed El Maghraby, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development. “We view this project as a large model to demonstrate integrated planning, adoption of low cost technology, and strengthening the role of the local water and sanitation companies in sustainable rural sanitation services provision,“ he added.
“We are particularly pleased to have this solid partnership with the Egyptian Government in improving access to sustainable rural sanitation services, given its strong linkages on health, the environment and the Egyptian economy and to bring in global experiences to support effective infrastructure implementation,” said Emmanuel Mbi, Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti.
The project has three components: the provision of sanitation systems for a total of 14 village clusters serving about 1.1 million people in the selected priority area within the two command areas of Mahmoudeya and Mit Yazid falling within the Governorates of Beheira, Gharbeya and Kafr El Sheikh in the Delta; the establishment of a local result-based monitoring and evaluation system that links the improvements in sanitation coverage with anticipated environmental and water quality impacts; and the promotion of institutional development within the national and local public institutions responsible for sanitation implementation to enhance their capacity to plan, design, construct and operate the rural sanitation investments, monitor outputs and outcomes, as well as promote hygiene practices and social mobilization.
The project’s Implementing Agencies are: the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and New Communities, the National Organization for Potable Water and Sanitary Drainage (NOPWASD), and the Water and Sanitation Companies in the three target Governorates.
“An approach has been developed that linked, for the first time in the Egyptian context, access to investment in rural sanitation to quantifiable water quality (and health) improvements in a given hydraulic basin,” said Ayat Soliman, the World Bank Task Team Leader of the Project. “The project will contribute positive environmental and social impacts, resulting from the overall improvement of the water quality in a number of drains and canals in the project area. This will help reduce water borne diseases among residents, therefore, improving people’s quality of life,” she added.
The ISSIP project has been designed in close conjunction to the Bank-funded Integrated Irrigation Improvement and Management Project (IIIMP), serving the same geographic area, to pioneer a cross-sectoral implementation model that demonstrates the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach in practice.
The project also capitalizes on the World Bank’s donor coordination efforts and other donors’ long-term engagement and experience in the water resources sector. The project is co-financed by German Technical Assistance Corporation (GTZ) and Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Ministry of Development Cooperation.
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