Sustainable Rural Sanitation Services Program for Results

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The development objective of the Sustainable Rural Sanitation Services Program for Results Project for Egypt is to strengthen institutions and policies for increasing access and improving rural sanitation services in the Governorates of Beheira, Dakahliya, and Sharkiya in Egypt. The program activities are described through three key result areas: (1) improved sanitation access; (2) improved operational systems and practices of water and sanitation company (WSCs); and (3) strengthened national sector framework, and the scope of each results area. The strategy supported by the national rural sanitation program (NRSP) includes harnessing economies of scale by clustering villages to enhance the technical, economic, environmental, and social feasibility of wastewater treatment systems. The initial focus of the Government of Egypt (GoE) is to improve access and services in 769 villages in seven governorates that discharge untreated wastewater into the Al Salam Canal and the Rosetta Branch, which is estimated to require investments of about United States (U.S.) 2.8 billion dollars. The program is a results-based program supported by the World Bank aimed at strengthening institutions and systems to provide greater access and improved service delivery of rural sanitation services in three governorates in the Nile Delta. The program builds on the government’s decision to shift from a centralized model of service delivery to a decentralized model that empowers the WSCs to improve service provision. The program focuses on the three WSCs operating respectively in the governorates of Beheira, Dakahliya, and Sharkiya respectively and helps to reduce poverty and enhance shared prosperity in these areas. The program will put in place a system of performance-based capital grant (PBCGs) from the Central Government to the WSCs to support priority rural sanitation investments identified through the five year plans and included in the annual capital investment plan of the WSCs.