Tunisia: World Bank Supports Strategic investments in the Water Sector

In Washington

Dina Elnaggar

Phone: 1 (202) 473-3245

E-mail: delnaggar@worldbank.org 

 

Washington 1, June 2008- The World Bank and Government of Tunisia signed a loan for the equivalent of US 30.6 to support strategic investments in the Tunisian water sector, as approved by the World Bank’s Board of Directors on May 19, 2009. 

Tunisia is preparing to address the important water challenges of the next few decades as a result of growing demand and shrinking supply.  Tunisia’s institutions will face increasingly complex management challenges.  The Tunisian government continues to pursue the reforms and investments outlined in the 1999 strategy.  It developed a ten-year water sector support Program (2001-2011), organized around three specific aspects: (i) integrated water management and conservation; (ii) economic efficiency of water use in agriculture; and (iii) institutions restructuring and capacity building in the water sector.

In line with Tunisian institutional, economic, social and environmental objectives in the water sector, this project aims to: (i) promote more efficient management and operation of selected public irrigation schemes by participating farmers; (ii) improve access to and consumption of drinking water for rural households in communities un-served at the beginning of the project; and (iii) enhance the quality and availability of technical information needed to support decision making in the field of integrated water resources management.  The project builds on an initial phase and will continue to support the transition led by the Tunisian government towards integrated management of supply and demand, of water quantity and quality and of surface and groundwater.  More specifically, the project will continue to support national investments in policy innovations, physical investments and strengthening of local, regional and national institutions. 

The project is jointly financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the French Development Agency (AFD).  The total cost of the project is $163 million equivalent, to be financed by loans ($122 million equivalent), the Government of Tunisia ($33 million equivalent) and grants from various sources (approximately $7 million equivalent). 

For more information on the World Bank Program in Tunisia, please visit www.worldbank.org/tn