A project for the construction and rehabilitation of the Mina Abdullah water pumping plant is planned to more than double Kuwait’s fresh water supply.
When finish, the plant will pump around 1.5 million m3 of water per day from two desalination plants and will support the needs of urban developments and planned metropolitan areas. Continue reading
The World Bank, acting as administrator for the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA), has approved a grant for US$5 million for a scheme to expand access to water supply for poor households living in peri-urban areas of Yemen that are not currently served by the water network.
Around 210,000 people are expected to benefit from the scheme, including 38,000 people in the first phase of the project which will target low-income neighborhoods in Sana’a City, Ibb City, Dham-ar Governorate, and Hajah Governorate.
Only 56 percent of the urban population has access to piped water and many poor households living in peri-urban areas have to buy water from private tanker operators, who typically charge ten times more than the price of piped water from public suppliers. As part of its reform of the water sector, the Government has created Local Water and Wastewater Corporations and introduced policies to increase coverage for the poor, but many peri-urban areas still lack access to improved water services and the local corporations are unable to meet all the demands. Partnerships with the local private sector are now being explored to address the service gap.
Under the GPOBA scheme, private operators will be selected competitively, based on the lowest subsidy needed. The output-based approach will transfer operational and financial risk to the private operators by disbursing subsidies only after the agreed outputs have been delivered and verified. These outputs include building or rehabilitating water supply systems (wells, pumps, and storage), installing domestic connections, and delivering water supply for a period of three months. The beneficiary households will only have to pay 50 percent of the connection fee and will have an option to pay part of the amount in installments.
The Project Management Unit of the urban component of the multi-donor Water Sector Support Program, which is supported by the governments of Yemen, the Netherlands, and Germany, and the World Bank, will coordinate the tender process and manage the GPOBA funds.
GPOBA is drawing on funds from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) for this project. The scheme is also leveraging US$9.1 million from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and US$2 million from the Government of Yemen.
The Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) is a global partnership program established in 2003 and administered by the World Bank. GPOBA’s portfolio includes 29 OBA subsidy schemes for a total of US$114.3 million in funding.
Source: GPOBA, 12 Apr 2010
Posted in Financing, Water supply, Yemen
Tagged GPOBA, ouput-based aid, peri-urban areas, private sector, urban water supply, water utilities, World Bank
Under the patronage of, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, ONAS signed a partnership agreement with the enterprise “ Ajroudi Investment” on 27 March 2010 concerning the setting up of ONAS International.
ONAS International will conduct studies and operations on behalf of environmental institutions (master plan studies, engineering studies), It will also provide technical assistance, training and management services.
This new enterprise will make promote Tunisian capacities, expertise and technologies in water pollution control in particular in Arab Gulf countries. It will help create enterprises overseas and boost employment in the water, wastewater and environmental protection fields.
Source: ONAS, March 2010
Posted in Tunisia, Wastewater treatment, Water supply
Tagged ONAS, ONAS International, water pollution control, water utilities
After World Bank issues report, commissioned by the Palestinian Authority on the condition of water accessibility in the West Bank, Israel claims the reports authors are biased. To understand the conditions on the ground, how they’ve been addressed, and whether the so-called peace process succeeded in addressing them, The Real News speaks to LifeSource Project, a non-profit organization focusing solely on the issue of water. Susan Koppelman and Taysir Arabasi tell The Real News’ Lia Tarachansky the Mountain Aquifer, the biggest supply of fresh underground water is pumped by Israel even though it lies almost entirely in the West Bank. They also speak about restrictions on Palestinians to dig water wells, and their dependence on the Israeli national water corporation, Mekorot.
View the Real News video report below.
Source: Real News, 24 Aug 2009
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Water Association (IWA) signed an agreement at the Fifth World Water Forum [on 20 March 20009] to work together to increase access to clean drinking water and sanitation throughout the Middle East and Africa by strengthening water utilities and their regional associations. This partnership focuses specifically on access to clean drinking water and sanitation for the urban poor, water safety and quality management, leadership gaps and climate change.
[...] USAID and IWA will work to strengthen water utilities and their regional associations, such as the Arab Countries Water Utility Association (ACWUA) and African Water Association (AfWA), by:
IWA and USAID are working closely with ACWUA: IWA can provide resources and experts to build knowledge and capacity where needed within the association and individual utilities; USAID is providing strategic and expert resources to assist ACWUA in expanding its business plan for sustainability, supporting its knowledge management and communications strategy as well as facilitating the technical working groups on poverty orientation and utility management.
USAID and IWA will promote leadership strengthening for mid-level water and wastewater management professionals to build up the water and sanitation sector. USAID is promoting Middle East leadership in the sector by bringing twenty-five future leaders from nine Middle Eastern countries together to discuss issues that they will face as leaders in ten years time. IWA has a Young Professionals group and mentorship program that offers support and guidance. Both parties will collaborate on curriculum design and creating linkages among young professionals across countries and regions, as well as connections to senior mentors in order to build leadership capacity and networks in support of Future Water Leader career development.
Source: USAID, 20 Mar 2009
Gerhager, B. and Sahooly, A. (2009). Reforming the urban water supply and sanitation (UWSS) sector in Yemen. International journal of water resources development ; vol. 25, no. 1 ; p. 29-46. DOI: 10.1080/07900620802573668
Abstract
In the early 1990s, Yemen suffered from low service coverage and national tariffs that were too low to cover public expenditure, as well as an inadequate level of service provided by the centralized National Water and Sanitation Authority. In 1996, a reform study recommended that the UWSS sector should embrace a policy of decentralization, corporatization, commercialization, the separation of service delivery and regulatory functions, as well as public-private partnerships. The government approved this reform agenda as a Council of Ministers Decree in 1997. Awareness campaigns and consensus-building among stakeholders and political leaders and local demand supported the reform process. Currently, 95% of the total urban population related to utility towns is attended by independent utilities.
Contact: Team Leader: Eng. Anwer Sahooly, Technical Secretariat (TS)/ Reform of the Institutional Framework in the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector, Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE), tel.: +967-1-425342/3,
mobile: +967-733212820, techsec [at] y.net.ye
Web site: Yemeni-German Technical Cooperation – Water Sector Program
Posted in Governance, Policies & legislation, Urban WASH, Yemen
Tagged GTZ, sector reform, urban sanitation, urban water supply, water utilities
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) plans to support water network management in Erbil City, the regional capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. The project will be managed by the Uppsala-based NGO Qandil, which has been working in Northern Iraq since 1992. The Sida budget for the two-year contract is about SEK 10 million. The project aims to support (managerial and technical skill development) the Directorate of Water Department of Erbil (DOWD) to provide a continuous supply of safe drinking water in one confined block of Erbil City.
Source: Development Today (subscription site), 22 Jul 2008
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