Urban Water Supply Strengthening Project

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Despite substantial improvements in urban water coverage, Honduras still faces significant challenges in providing better and more reliable services to over one hundred medium and small-sized cities. The 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set ambitious targets, including achieving 100 percent access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030 which requires significant investments in infrastructure rehabilitation. There is broad consensus among sector and municipal authorities, and small town service providers that improved and reliable access to water supply constitutes the foremost priority. The importance of ensuring access to safely managed water supply has been made all the more apparent in the midst of the evolving global Coronavirus Pandemic. Preparation of the proposed operation coincides with the rapidly unfolding spread of the COVID19 virus. It is widely recognized that access to safely managed water supply is critical to prevent the spread of disease including through the provision of water for handwashing – which is considered crucial to break the cycle of contagion.The Project builds on the advances made under the previous World Bank financed water and sanitation project in Honduras (P103881), in supporting the Government of Honduras' (GoH) decentralization efforts and improving water services. The new Project takes a four-pronged approach, supporting municipalities which aims to create ring-fenced municipal service providers (Initiation), supporting the operationalization of those which have created ring-fenced municipal service providers (Incubation), strengthening ring-fenced municipal service providers that have been operating (Consolidation), and Support to Ring-Fenced Service providers incorporated as a Mixed Capital Company to attract private sector.Component 1. Improving water supply services provision in urban areas. This Component will support the operationalization of water systems as contemplated in the Framework Law using a demand-based approach. To this end, the Component will finance goods, works and services. Investments will include the rehabilitation and upgrading of urban water systems prioritized in the Rapid Impact and Rehabilitation Plans (RIRPs) and Business Plans (BPs) aimed at improving operational and financial management, enhancing energy efficiency, optimizing existing water supply systems, and increasing water continuity. More reliable water supply services—resulting from more efficiently operating and financially sustainable service providers is expected to render beneficiary communities more resilient to climate change–related droughts and diseases and may reduce the need for new water abstraction.This Component will, likewise, support emergency needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic through the implementation of priority activities defined by urban municipalities, prioritizing vulnerable groups, healthcare facilities, schools and unserved populations. On the latter, activities will be focused to water supply and hygiene, including communications campaigns aimed at promoting more rational use of water supply, reuse of gray water, as well as adequate education in hygiene and sanitation practices to stem the outbreak of pandemic and waterborne diseases, among others. Component 2. Institutional strengthening of ERSAPS. This Component will support ERSAPS’ institutional capacity to implement incremental activities associated with Component 1 for participating UWPs. This Component will support ERSAPS in their efforts to help service providers improve their WSS services by complying with sector rules, regulations, and monitoring the performance of the providers included in this Project.Component 3. Project management, communication, outreach, monitoring and evaluation . This Component will finance travel, training, consulting services and general operating costs of the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) to support Project implementation. In addition, will finance TA to support the PMU in, among others, monitoring and evaluation of result, procurement and FM activities, implementing environmental andsocial standards, undertaking annual audits, carry out gender strategies and citizen engagement measures, outreach activities to explain Project benefits to beneficiaries and communication campaigns to promote handwashing and other hygiene practices, to mitigate disease contagion (including COVID-19).Component 4. Contingency Emergency Response (CER) Component. This component will finance immediate response activities and expenditures for eligible emergencies, as defined in the Contingency Emergency Response Operational Manual prepared and adopted by the GoH.