The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, H. E. Ato Sufian Ahmed, and Mr. Ishac Diwan, the World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia, has signed agreements worth a total of 200 million US dollar (godt 1,2 milliarder DKR) to promote public sector capacity building and in support of water supply and sanitation programs.
The first agreement is a 100 million US dollar credit to support homegrown reforms in the public sector through the Public Sector Capacity Building Program (PSCAP). The second is a combination of a 25 million dollar grant and a 75 million dollar credit for infrastructure development through the Water Supply and Sanitation Project (WSSP).
Both the PSCAP and WSSP credit and grant were approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on 11 May 2004.
PSCAP aims to improve state-society relations in three ways—improving the scale, efficiency, and responsiveness of public service delivery at the federal, regional, and local level; empowering citizens to participate more effectively in shaping their own development; and promoting good governance and accountability.
The implementation of various elements of PSCAP have been ongoing through limited project support since the mid-1990s. The urgent need for a rapid scale up of institutional reforms and capacity building in order to achieve the service delivery, investment climate and empowerment objectives of the Government is widely acknowledged.
The ultimate success and credibility of the Governments transformation program will depend on its ability to produce tangible improvements in service delivery and real opportunities for bottom up participation across the diverse regions of Ethiopia.
This objective will be achieved by scaling up Ethiopias ongoing capacity building and institutional transformation efforts in six priority areas under PSCAP—(i) Civil Service Reform; (ii) District-Level Decentralization; (iii) Urban Management Capacity Building; (iv) Tax Systems Reform; (v) Justice System Reform; (vi) Information and Communications Technology.
The credit and grant under the Water Supply and Sanitation Project will be used to assist towns and rural communities to plan, construct, and maintain improved water supply and sanitation facilities.
It will also build the capacity of local governments, regions and private sector actors to effectively manage decentralized water supply and sanitation delivery.
Approximately 5.500 water supply schemes will benefit nearly three million people in some 3.500 communities and 50 towns when the project is completed.
Through the project, the Government will introduce significant changes in the way water supply and sanitation projects are identified, appraised, prioritized, financed and implemented in Ethiopia.
It will build the capacity of autonomous Town Water Boards/Committees and water service providers through the expansion of the involvement of the private and informal sectors in the design, construction, operation, management and maintenance of water supply systems.
It will also significantly expand pastoralist water supply, promote hygiene and sanitation, and boost the development of hand dug wells, spring catchments, and boreholes to serve domestic needs.
For more information on the World Banks work in sub-Saharan Africa visit www.worldbank.org/afr
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
