Tunisia - Rural Drinking Water Supply (RDWS) Programme

The Rural Drinking Water Supply (RDWS) Programme covers twenty (20) of the country’s twenty-four (24) Governorates, namely: Ariana, Béja, Ben Arous, Bizerte, Gabès, Gafsa, Jendouba, Kairouan, Kasserine, Kef, Mahdia, Manouba, Médinine, Nabeul, Sfax, Sidi Bouzid, Siliana, Sousse, Tataouine and Zaghouan. It targets the most disadvantaged rural communities on the national territory, whose isolation and dispersal makes it difficult for them to have access to low-cost drinking water. In the remaining four (4) Governorates, (Tunis, Monastir, Tozeur and Kebili), the urban and rural areas are fully covered by SONEDE, the urban water utility company, with a drinking water access rate of 100%. The main expected outputs are: (i) the construction of 161 new DWS systems; (ii) the rehabilitation of 150 simple DWS systems; (iii) the rehabilitation of seven (7) complex DWS systems to be transferred to SONEDE; (iv) the improvement of drinking water supply conditions in the three transfer areas (Sud Kairouan, Bizerte and Jendouba); (v) the training of 100 DGGREE experts; (vi) the procurement of 20 vehicles; and (vi) the recruitment of 20 rural engineers/technicians. The estimated programme cost is UA 90.81 million and the duration of implementation is expected to be five years, from January 2012.