Support for the national rural wastewater programme

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The FC project Supporting the National Wastewater Programme in Rural Areas in Morocco aims to establish economically efficient and environmentally friendly sanitation in selected rural communities in Morocco. This is done by building sewage treatment plants and the associated sewage infrastructure. For this purpose, an FC development loan of EUR 30 million is being issued to the Moroccan state and implemented through the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. An estimated 36% of the Moroccan population (around 13.1 million people) live in rural areas in Morocco. Of these, only around 40% have access to improved sanitation, most of which is access to simple septic tanks. Only 10% of households in rural areas are connected to a sewage network (compared to 75% in urban areas), but only around 3% of the wastewater fed into it is treated and disposed of safely and professionally (compared to 50% in urban areas). For the rural population, this is associated with increased hygiene and health risks compared to the Moroccan population as a whole and carries the risk of environmental pollution, e.g. in the form of pollution of groundwater and surface water. This problem is to be addressed as part of the national Programme National dAssainissement Mutualisé (PNAM), which is being implemented under the leadership of the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior. As part of PNAM, comprehensive wastewater infrastructure is to be provided in rural Morocco by 2040. The FC project is supporting the Moroccan partners in implementing this program. The project contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, Clean Water and Sanitation. Sanitation in rural areas is also linked to SDG 3, Health and Well-Being, and SDG 10, Reduced Inequality.