PROGRAM-FOR-RESULTS INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)
CONCEPT STAGE
Report No.:PIDC0074153
Program Name
Region
Country
Sector
Lending Instrument
Program ID
Parent Program ID
Borrower(s)
Implementing Agency (ies)
Date PID Prepared
Estimated Date of Appraisal
Completion
Estimated Date of Board
Approval
Concept Review Decision
Other Decision
I.
Water Security Development Program for Results
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
West Bank and Gaza
Water
Program for Results
P158615
NA
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for the benefit
of the Palestinian Authority (PA)
Ministry of Finance (MoF)
Palestinian Water Authority (PWA)
Water sector Regulatory Council (WSRC)
Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU)
Hebron Municipality (HM)
July 12, 2016
March 31, 2017
July 27, 2017
Following the review of the concept, the decision was
taken to proceed with the preparation of the operation.
Revise the concept note to reflect the lessons learned and
clarify the story line and the Program definition.
Introduction and Context
A. Country Context
1. The political situation in the Palestinian territories remains fraught with uncertainty,
heightened by the last 2014 violent conflict in Gaza. This has impacted an economy where growth
has continued on a downward trajectory after peaking at 12 percent in 2011, reflecting also mounting
fiscal difficulties (including a decline in donor assistance by more than half since its peak in 2008
to less than US$900 million expected in 2015 and the accumulation of arrears to the private sector),
and sharply deteriorating economic conditions in Gaza. Growth decelerated to 6 percent in 2012,
which represented a 50 percent slowdown in gross domestic product (GDP) growth that year,
eventually reaching approximately 2 percent in 2013. In 2014, the Palestinian economy entered into
a recession, facing an average growth of -0.4 percent: 5.1 percent in the West Bank and -15 percent
in Gaza. According to recent estimates, losses from the 2014 conflict amounted to over US$4 billion,
more than a third of the West Bank and Gaza’s (WB&G) GDP. The worsening economic conditions
in Gaza had also been exacerbated by the 2014 closing of tunnels into Egypt (which had served as
Gaza’s main trade channels), leading to further electricity outages and fuel shortages. In the first
quarter of 2015, growth of the Palestinian economy further declined to -0.8 percent, driven by a
slowdown in growth in the West Bank.
2. The unemployment rate has recently been declining in both Gaza and the West Bank, but a
quarter of the Palestinian labor force is still unemployed. In Gaza, the unemployment rate
skyrocketed to more than 47 percent during the 2014 war, the highest in the world. It has, however,
declined since to 42 percent in the first half of 2015 as the reconstruction process started to slowly
pick up and private firms rebuild their capacity. Unemployment in the West Bank has also slightly
declined from an average of 18 percent in 2014 to 16 percent in the first half of 2015 due to the
increase in the number of West Bank laborers in Israel. Unemployment amongst the youth (ages 1529) is a particular concern especially in Gaza where the rate exceeds 63 percent. At 20 percent, the
female labor force participation rate is low compared to the (already low) Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) average of 26 percent. The Palestinian public sector currently supplies 22 percent
of the jobs in the WB&G but cannot be expected to be a direct net contributor to employment growth
in the future. Analysis by the Portland Trust, a non-profit establishment whose mission is to develop
the private sector in the Palestinian territories, estimates that roughly 1 million jobs will need to be
created by 2030 in order to reduce unemployment to 10 percent.
3. The Palestinian context is characterized by fragility. Weak governance and institutional capacity
of the Palestinian Authority (PA) is further exacerbated by the economic weaknesses noted earlier.
Earlier in 2015, uncertainty regarding the release of PA revenues collected by the Government of
Israel (these revenues account for two thirds of domestic revenues and three quarters of the public
sector wage bill) has been a significant contributor to recent revenue shortfalls. The relatively strong
economy from 2006 to 2011 was largely financed by high levels of international donor aid (peaking
at US$1.8 billion in 2008), a PA reform program, and some easing of Israeli restrictions on the
movement of people and goods. High levels of donor aid helped contribute to an increase in the
consumption of public services, such as education and health from 19 to 26 percent of GDP between
1994 and 2011. By 2012, the public sector workforce ballooned to approximately 177,000 workers
– 60 percent higher than in 2004. The growth slowdown since 2012 was also attributable to
decreased donor aid, which fell from 32 percent of GDP in 2006 to about 10 percent, together with
lower than forecasted revenues and higher expenditures.
4. The proposed Program-for-Results (PforR) will help in bridging the gap of PA fiscal
constraints for the water sector development. Recovering part of the damages to the infrastructure
since the last conflict of August 2014 will improve economic conditions in Gaza. The investment in
the water sector will contribute directly to creating jobs and encouraging the private sector
development, which in return may add to reducing the unemployment gap. The proposed PforR will
support water sector institutions towards sustainability. It is expected to improve water services and
therefore, improve living conditions of the population, especially in Gaza which is facing the
particular pressures in water quality, which would be totally contaminated and irreversible by 2020
if no immediate improvement occurred leaving Gaza as unlivable place, according to UN report,
August 20121.
1
Gaza in 2020 A liveable Place, A report by the United Nations Country Team in the occupied Palestinian Territory, August
2012.
B. Sectoral and Institutional Context of the Program
5. The water sector in the WB&G is suffering from political, technical and institutional
challenges.
a. Lack of sovereign control over WB&G water resources and water infrastructure
development, leading to highly restricted access to water resources, perpetuation of ad-hoc
emergency planning as opposed to strategic planning, and uncertainty and delays in
infrastructure project authorization and implementation due to political constraints.
b. There are major water supply and sanitation infrastructure deficits and inefficiencies, where
US$7.0 billion, as of the water sector strategic development plan for 2012-2032, are needed
to improve the water and wastewater sector. There is inadequate and unreliable access to
potable water, particularly in Area C2 of West Bank where over 100,000 inhabitants don’t
have access to tap water. While in Gaza, impending environmental and public health
collapse, with 96% of water resources unfit for use by Gaza’s 1.8 million inhabitants and
more than 65% are using water tanks despite 93% of the population are connected to water
networks, due to saline water intrusions and untreated sewage infiltrations (high salinity and
nitrate concentration with 6 times higher than the WHO standards)3. According to UN report,
August 2012, “The aquifer could become unusable as early as 2016, with the damage
irreversible by 2020”.
c. The situation with regard to treatment of wastewater or sewage is no less problematic. The
percentage of households served by sewage is 73% in the Gaza Strip, compared to 32% in
the West Bank with very limited wastewater treatment (48 million cubic meter (MCM) and
9.6 MCM respectively) and with bounded reuse (irrigated agricultural land area of 1.7 acres
in Gaza). There are about 90000 Cubic Meters (CM) of raw or partially treated wastewater,
in Gaza, released daily to the Mediterranean Sea creating pollution, public health hazards,
and problems for the fishing industry and a about 30000 CM of raw sewage is dumped daily
into open pools resulted in contaminating the aquifer.
d. The water sector in Palestine is characterized by being fragile and unsustainable. There are
3 regional utilities and 226 small water services providers currently operating in West Bank
and Gaza. The service delivery level is commercially week due to many small-scale service
providers in the country, with low performance, low service coverage (about 80 litter per
capita per day, mostly intermittent supply), high levels of non- revenue water (55%), low
collection efficiency (40% in Gaza and 70% in West Bank) leaving these institutions with
insufficient funding for maintenance and possible capital investments. At the national level,
the PWA since establishment 1995 until the enactment of the updated water law in July 2014
was acting as a policy maker, planer, and regulator and implementing agency executing the
development projects.
2
Based on Oslo Agreement 1993 between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel, West Bank was classified into three
areas, Area A is controlled administratively and security wise by the Palestinian Authority (PA), Area B is controlled
administratively by the PA and security wise by Israel, and Area C is controlled administratively and security wise by Israel).
3
Average chloride concentration 250-5000ppm and average nitrate concentration is 50-300ppm (WHO standard limit is 250 and
50 ppm respectively).
e. The water sector development depended mainly on donors support. Donors have spent
hundreds of millions of dollars in the last 20 years. Despite of the lack of approved strategies
and development plans, the development programs in WB&G responded, to some extent, to
the people needs, however, a major refocusing effort is required because many of the
ongoing projects have been developed based on “donor selection and have been narrow
focused rather than long term visionary programmatic development”4.
6. The Palestinian Authority adopted an action plan for reform that concentrates on institutional
development. In 2009, the Cabinet of Ministers of the PA endorsed an Action Plan for Reform,
which details the blueprints and implementation mechanisms of an institutional and legislative
reform program in the water sector. The objective of the reform is to achieve water security and
integrated sustainable water resources by: (i) building institutional capacity and sustainability, (ii)
accelerating infrastructure development based on Palestinian water security needs and updated
sector development strategies, (iii) regulating service provision to enhance quality, efficiency and
cost recovery, and (iv) achieving and improving sustainable water service delivery. The World Bank
led the support to the reform process under the Water Sector Capacity Building Program (WSCBP).
7. The sector reform resulted in a new Water Law that restructured the water sector. The water
law defined two main levels as explained below and shown in the diagram:
a. National level for policy and regulatory functions, and bulk water supply where: (i) PWA
focuses on managing the water resources in integrated and sustainable manner, prepare
general plans, sector policies and development strategies; (ii) the Water Sector Regulatory
Council (WSRC) established on August 2014 as an independent legal entity reporting the
Cabinet of Ministers, to regulate and monitor all matters related to the operation of water
service providers; (iii) the national water company (NWC) (to be established), which will
concentrate on the bulk water supply management to the service providers at the local level..
b. The local level is the service delivery level: (i) the regional water utilities, which will
provide water and wastewater service at the local level. The water law supports the
aggregation of the existing small service providers (water departments at the Local
Government Units, LGUs) into the regional utilities to enhance the sustainability of the
service delivery level. To achieve this, the PWA is moving in the short and medium term in
two tracks as may be applicable; establishing water utilities in the main big municipalities
and then expand to include the nearby small service providers to be regional and (ii) establish
Joint Water Service Councils by joining the small village councils as the first step toward
aggregation with big utilities, and (iii) water user associations (to be established) to manage
the service of supplying irrigation water at the local level in a sustainable manner. Below is
the institutional arrangements of the water sector in the medium term. In the long-term, the
LGUs will be integrated under the JSCs or RWUs. In this context the water services now is
provided by HM as LGU, while the CMWU has been established as JSC but is acting as an
independent regional utility.
4
Infrastructure Audit of the Water Sector in Palestine. PWA report funded by Norway. November 2008
8. Recently, the PWA instituted a Strategic Development Plan (SDP)5 (2017-2022) to improve
the water sector. The proposed PforR will support part of the SDP, which focuses on institutional
development as a main pillar to sustain the development process and achieving its objectives in
improving the water security by enhancing the water and wastewater services delivery. This will
include improvement of water resources and water supply by increasing water importation and
slowing the deterioration in the groundwater of the coastal aquifer by developing the unconventional
water resources and wastewater treatment systems, establishing sustainable and financially viable
water service delivery institutions and strengthening their institutional set up.
C. Relationship to CAS/CPF
9. The activities financed under the proposed Program contribute to the Bank’s Assistance
Strategy for the WB&G for the period FY14 – FY16. The proposed Water Security Development
PforR is aligned to the first pillar of the Assistance Strategy to strengthen the institutions of a future
state to ensure service delivery to citizens. The PforR will support water law objectives by enhancing
water security through the improvement of service delivery and achievement of water reform
objectives through institutional development.
10. It is critical to support the efforts of the PA to create an enabling environment for private
sector-led growth. This could be achieved by improving the water and wastewater sector,
institutions, performance and infrastructure. This improvement in the sector will be done in
cooperation with the private sector as well it will encourage the private sector partnerships and
investment in agriculture, industry and other sectors which will result in creating jobs and therefore
in well-being of the people, which constitutes the second pillar of the Interim Strategy.
5
The SDP is considered the Government Water Sector Program for the period 2017-2022.
11. The Proposed Program will enhance the water security and improve the service delivery,
which is in line with the MNA development strategy. The proposed Program, which aims at
improving water security will strengthen the social contract between the Palestinian Authority
Government and the people and it will enhance peace and stability in the region. As such, proposed
Program would contribute to achieving the Bank’s twin goals to eradicate poverty and promote
shared prosperity through reduction in illnesses, especially for children in Gaza with better water
quality, reduction in ecosystem degradation through energy efficiency development activities,
boosting local level sustainable development by improving the water service provision at the local
level, improvement in water infrastructure as a catalyst for local development and economic activity.
D. Rationale for Bank Engagement and Choice of Financing Instrument
12. Building on lessons learned and consolidate the current Bank Projects into the PforR. The
World Bank has six ongoing projects where five of them will close by end of 2017. The PforR will
build on the learned lessons and achieved results of the closing projects; in addition, it will
complement funding for Hebron Wastewater Management Project (HWWMP) to support
establishing viable and operational Hebron Water Utility. The PforR will learn and build on those
lessons and support activities that can maximize benefit; some of the lessons learned are:
a. Supporting the service delivery level will be more responsive and efficient if the national
level institutions are strong and being able to formulate and implement relevant regulations,
polices and strategies.
b. The service delivery level can be motivated to improve performance if a monitoring and
incentive system is in place and transparently implemented (i.e. Municipal Development
Program).
c. investment cannot achieve sustainable service delivery if not accompanied by institutional
development (i.e. most local government institutions do not cover operation and
maintenance cost, does not have preventive maintenance program, emergency responsive
plan, separation of services cost centers, sound assets management, etc.).
d. Small fragmented investments focusing on outputs rather than focusing on results and
impacts, as well not linked to long-term strategic development plan, would not be the best
responsive approach to improve service delivery and achieve sustainable development and
results.
e. Acquiring big investment requirements are necessary prior to start of investment (i.e. energy
resource, operation and maintenance capacity and financing, construction permits, entry of
materials coordination, financing gaps and coordination, etc.).
f. Reform and sector institutional development is a continuous process that can’t be achieved,
only, by developing documentations and training of staff, or limited technical assistance
component within a project but needs among other things building a long term development
vision accompanied by leaders adaptation and change of personal behaviors (from the top
management to the lower involved staff) and organizational change.
13. Fostering the experience and sharing global practices. The World Bank succeeded in supporting
the establishment of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), which is recognized as the
main water service provider in Gaza Strip and has played a tremendous role in keeping the service
delivered to the people during the socio-economic and political crises that Gaza has passed through
since the establishment. Continuing the support to the CMWU and replicating the experience in
(HM) will add value to the water sector service provision by improving the utility functions toward
efficient services and financial sustainability of the utility. In addition, it will improve and foster the
ongoing institutional development and reform process. The World Bank involvement in this process
will provide the opportunity to share knowledge and solutions to implement reform process, enhance
institutional capacities, and improve water service delivery to the marginalized and poor people in
WB&G. This involvement complies with the Bank MNA strategy in fostering peace and stability
(by improving basic services to the people) and with the Bank country assistance strategy in
supporting the PA in developing its institutions toward the establishment of the Palestinian
statehood.
14. The Bank is in a unique position to lead the process to support the PA in implementing a
coordinated and collaborative approach for water sector programmatic development. This
PforR is aligned, in consistent approach, with the Bank’s ongoing involvement in supporting the
reform agenda of the municipal and energy sectors towards inclusive and sustainable service
delivery. The World Bank is already involved in supporting the local government sector to improve
the small local government units and village councils to improve their financial system and service
delivery through the involvement of the joint service councils. In the other hand, other funded
projects is supporting the municipal development towards sustainable service delivery and
creditworthiness status to be able to access other sources of financing. Therefore, the proposed
PforR financing instrument will be used to leverage financial incentives to achieve results and
mainstream reforms into the PA systems. The Bank is the Technical Advisor in the Local
Government Sector Working Group as well as in the Water Sector Working Group, and has been a
convening force in strengthening the local and water sectors by leading the support for their reforms.
15. PforR instrument versus Investment Project Financing (IPF). The Bank and other donor
partners used IPF and similar financing instruments to improve the Palestinian water sector and its
institutions for a long time. The PA water sector policy that aimed at restructuring the water sector
and forming the regional utilities, took long time to implement (about 20 years) through IPF
mechanism with mixed results, due to narrow focused fragmented projects, infrastructure support
with less attention to capacity building and institutional development projects, output oriented
projects rather than focusing on results and impacts, absence of approved development policies and
strategies, exhausted and overlapped responsibilities of institutions, etc. Therefore, accelerating the
achievement of the new water law objective for restructuring the sector during the course of the
proposed PforR period would be more feasible since it is linked to achievement of results. In
addition, the PforR will be implemented within the approved policies and strategies and new
approved institutional set up. Furthermore, the PforR would be the proper instrument to support the
Bank strategy in building the PA institutions of a future state because it will drive the involved
agencies and donor partners to focus on specific medium-term development objectives and
achieving results within the long term development vision. The expected disbursement linked
indicators will be less likely affected by the political risk in WB&G. The PforR will be a companied
by IPF technical assistance program to support the PA institutions in implementing the PforR.
16. Reasons for selecting the PforR financing instrument include the following. (i) the proposed
Program would support the PA institutions improve the design and implementation of their
programs using country systems. This will help strengthen the PA own systems instead of requiring
a parallel set of technical, fiduciary, and safeguards instruments, (ii) The Program would strengthen
the institutional performance of national and local entities and hold them accountable for achieving
agreed results and improving the living conditions of the poor people. This shift to promoting greater
ownership and sustainability builds on successful institution building experience in the fragile
context of WB&G. Furthermore, (iii) the proposed PforR operation will focus Bank support and
link disbursements on key policy reform, institutional strengthening and investment measures, all
of which are required for the successful implementation of the Program, and (iv) it would strengthen
accountability and transparency as well as PA systems for monitoring and evaluation, through the
introduction of verification methods.
II.
Program Development Objective(s) and Results
A. Program Development Objective(s)
17. The long-term vision of the Palestinian water sector development strategy concentrates on
achieving an organized sector that has sovereign water security managed in a sustainable
manner to ensure robust health, environmental, social and economic structure. The SDP ultimate
goal, linked with the PA National Policy Agenda, is to improve water security by enhancing the
water and wastewater services delivery through integrated and sustainable management. This
ultimate goal was divided into five main objectives:
a. Enhancing the integrated management and sustainable development of the water resources.
b. Improving the quality, quantity and reliability of the water supply services as well as
ensuring fair water distribution.
c. Improving the wastewater services and structure (collection, treatment and reuse).
d. Development of water sector institutions to reinforce good governance foundations within
an integrated legal and institutional framework.
e. Improving the financial sustainability of the water utilities and water service providers.
18. The PforR activities will participate in improving the water security and achieving the SDP
objectives by aiming at improving the quality and efficiency of water supply and wastewater
services provision in selected areas and strengthening the capacity of the selected water sector
institutions at the national and local levels.6
6
Improving efficiency of the water supply and wastewater services means; improvement of water quality by
keeping disinfection rate at a certain acceptable standard. Effluent quality reduction of biological oxygen demand
(BOD). It is also related to reducing non-revenue water, improving energy efficiency, increasing water supply.
19. The PforR will disburse against achieved indicators. The disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs)
will be in the form of outcomes, outputs and actions, which will be developed during the Program
preparation until appraisal. However, some of the indicative outputs and outcomes indicators are
shown below, where some of them may be selected as DLIs indicators:
Relevant Result
Improved enabling
environment and
business climate of the
water sector
Improved Water
Supply to people
(quality and quantity)
Established Viable
Utilities that deliver
accountable services
Improved Wastewater
Services (collection,
treatment and reuse)
Type of
Indicator
Output
Output
PDO
Outcome
Indicative Indicators
Number of policies, Government decisions and bylaws approved
and available for implementation (i.e. NWC Bylaw, Water utilities
bylaw, Private sector participation policy, etc.)
Annual monitoring reports published and disseminated about the
water resources and service providers performance (PWA and
WSRC respectively)
People benefitting from improved quality of water supply services
(Disinfection efficiency of water supply is sustained at the baseline
level of 99.0%)
Output
NRW Reduction
PDO
Outcome
outcome
PDO
Output
Outcome
Output
Number of utilities to be established/ restructured as per the new
bylaw.
Utilities/ Service providers achieving O&M cost recovery
People benefitting from improved quality of wastewater services
Wastewater treatment capacity created for reuse
Reduction in specific energy consumption of operation of targeted
wastewater production facilities supported by the project
B. Key Program Results
20. The SDP has identified several indicative results, however, the PforR expected results can be
grouped under the following main results:
#
1
Results
Improved
Environment
and business
climate.
Description Summary
This result is an outcome of the cross cutting SDP activities along the three
main Programs, which involve the national level activities that is important
for the sector development and monitoring. (PWA): formulating and
approving relevant and needed bylaws and polices for the water sector
improvements (to be identified during the assessments), approving the
modification of the local services structure (i.e. moving services from local
government units to a standalone utility or Joint Service Council (JSC)). In
addition to encouraging coordination and participation of other sectors in
water sector activities and development (i.e. private and civil society
sectors), managing and monitoring the water resources through candid and
explicit program. (WSRC): improving the regulatory functions, and
monitoring of the service providers through a comprehensive watermonitoring program and reporting.
While strengthening of institutional capacity; it is related to strengthening the corporatization status of the utilities to
be more viable, improving collection efficiency and increasing revenues, more responsive to operational and
maintenance needs, in addition to the formulation and implementation of certain policies, strategies and plans, etc.
2
3
4
III.
Improved Water
services
efficiency
(improved water
supply quality
and quantity).
Established
Viable Utilities
that deliver
accountable
services
Improved
Wastewater
Services
(collection,
treatment and
reuse)
Increasing water supply with good acceptable quality to the people (from
conventional and unconventional resources) and improving the efficiency of
water distribution system by reducing the non-revenue water, etc.
Establishing and restructuring water utilities, service providers, and
companies (i.e. “NWC, Hebron Water Utility, etc.”) according to the water
law, applying related water regulations including tariff systems and
performance benchmarks, reinforcing financial independency and financial
management of the water utilities, promoting social consciousness and
strengthening rights and obligations approach as well enforcing gender
policies.
Maintaining public health and protecting environment from pollution
through increased wastewater collection and treatment to increase the reuse
of the treated wastewater, encouraging private sector participation, and
improving energy efficiency including the usage of clean energy resources.
Program Description
III. Proposed Program-for-Results Operation Context
A. PforR Program Boundary
21. The Palestinian Water Sector Strategic Development Plan (SDP) Programs will enhance
sustainable institutions and infrastructure investment. The SDP aims at improving water
security by enhancing the water and wastewater services delivery through integrated and sustainable
management. The SDP will promote infrastructure development and service delivery, which will
have impact on social and economic development through the institutional and administrative
reform, infrastructure development, water system efficiency (increasing water supply, reduction of
NRW, improving energy efficiency, etc.) and by having efficient service delivery institutions
(NWC, water utilities and local service providers (i.e. municipalities water departments)). It is
expected also to improve the enabling environment for water business climate and institutional
development by developing and applying policies, strategies, regulations, guidelines fees, and tariff
to improve financial sustainability of the relevant institutions. The PforR will be supported by the
findings of the ongoing water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) study, which will provide
evidence on the current state of WASH services in WB&G. It is expected to be finished by end of
April 2017, where it will inform policy design, to improve access and quality of water supply,
sanitation and hygiene. A technical assistance program will also support the implementation of the
PforR, which is under development.
22. The PforR is aligned with the SDP objective and will support achieving its proposed results.
The PforR will support part of the SDP programs by focusing on improving the quality and
efficiency of water supply and wastewater services provision and strengthening the institutional
capacity of the selected water sector institutions at the national and local level. The PforR is
geographically limited to support only Gaza (CMWU) and HM, which were selected for the
following reasons:
a. Significant number of poor people. Both areas have dense and poor population (CMWU
serving Gaza Strip of 1.8 population) and HM is the biggest municipality in West Bank with
200,000 inhabitants.
b. Both have very challenging water and wastewater services provision, where water resources
either limited (HM) or with low quality (Gaza).
c. Previous and ongoing engagement. The Bank has supported a big water supply project in
2002 for Hebron Governorate and is now supporting the establishment of a wastewater
treatment plant for the municipality, while the Bank has been engaged with the PWA and
CMWU since 1995 and 2000 respectively.
d. Relatively strong capacity in the public sector at the local level. This will be an advantage
for implementing a PforR.
23. The PforR will achieve its objectives by supporting the national and local levels through the
SPD Programs. The PforR will support the cross cutting program at the national level (improving
the enabling environment and business climate of the water sector) by enhancing PWA capacity to
improve the integrated water resources management, setting the general water policies, strategies
and plans, etc. and the WSRC in monitoring and inspecting compliance of the service providers to
the set standards and regulations to motivate better performance. Furthermore, it will support the
improvement of the water supply and wastewater services management CMWU in the Gaza Strip
in line with the SDP GSWSP and at HM in line with the SDP IWUMP. It will support improving
the water and wastewater systems efficiency to be able to comply with the ongoing and future water
supply and the proposed investment strategy, including the provision of technical assistance to
improve CMWU’s management and technical systems and in establishing an independent water
utility at Hebron.
24. SDP and the PforR Scope: The following table shows the PA SDP programs versus the PforR
scope and financing. The PforR will finance the cross cutting program through technical assistance
to enhance polices’ formulation, general planning, sector development, regulations and monitoring
(mainly for the PWA and WSRC). In parallel, it will finance the institutional development and water
and wastewater system efficiency at the local level (HM and Gaza). The CMWU will be the
counterpart in implementing the service delivery activities in Gaza as assigned to it by the PA.
25. The Timeline for the Preparation and implementation of the PforR. The concept note is
expected to be ready by August 2017, decision meeting on December 2016, appraisal completion
on March 2017 and project approval is planned for July 27, 2017, while effectiveness is expected to
be on September 2017. The PforR is expected to be implemented and completed by August 31,
2022.
26. Overall Program resources in the amount of US$28.0 million would be available for the PforR.
US$15.0 million will be financed from the Trust Fund for Gaza and the West Bank (TFGWB) with
US$13.0 million co-financing to be provided from the Partnership for Infrastructure Development
Multi-Donor Trust Fund (PID MDTF). The total estimated PforR cost is US$65 million; therefore,
there is a financing Gap of US$37millions. However, during the first PforR identification mission,
some donor partners (SIDA, AFD and EU), who are already engaged with the Bank in financing
some projects in HM and in Gaza, have shown interest to participate with the Bank team in preparing
the PforR for possible engagement. PWA has requested the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) for
financing some water and wastewater needs in Gaza; therefore, IsDB could be another potential
donor as it has joined the Bank in supporting the Water Supply and Sewage Systems Improvement
Project in Gaza. The team will verify the interest of the donor partners during next mission on
September 2016.
IV.
Initial Environmental and Social Screening
27. An Environmental and Social System Assessment (ESSA) will be conducted to examine the country
environmental and social management systems for water supply and wastewater provision as well
as water sector institutions to ensure their consistency with the core principles outlined in OP/BP
9.00 for PforR Financing. The ESSA will analyze those systems as written and how they are applied
in practice to assess the gaps between those systems and OP/BP 9.00 principles and identify
measures to mitigate for those gaps. As required under OP 9.00, the ESSA will then propose a
Program Action Plan that lays out the actions, as needed, to enhance the systems during further
program preparation and implementation.
28. The system for environmental and social management of the Program will rely on the existing
Palestinian legal, regulatory and institutional systems for environmental and social assessment and
management. More specifically, it will draw both from the accumulated experience of PWA and
CMWU with environmental and social management systems as well as from previous donorsupported interventions in Gaza and the West Bank, including Hebron. The Program system will
also draw from initial lessons from Palestinian Pfor4 interventions in local governance and
municipal development as well as in support of job creation. It is expected that social systems
assessment will include attention to gender as well as distributional impact of proposed policy
changes. A stakeholder consultation workshop on the draft ESSA will be organized in West Bank
as well as Gaza, with ESSA will be disclosed publically prior to the consultations. The ESSA will
then be finalized with inputs and comments received during the consultations and re-disclosed to
the public prior to appraisal.
29. The proposed Program seeks to provide safe water wastewater services through integrated and
sustainable water management. It is expected to yield positive improvements in health and
accessibility of water supplies and sanitation, and sustainable water use practices that are also
expected to have significant social and economic benefits. Moreover, impacts on individual health
(through access to safe water and improved personal hygiene), community health (through the
elimination of fecal contamination in communes where commune-wide sanitation is achieved), and
overall welfare are expected. To ensure that vulnerable populations (women, poor, disabled and
elderly) equally benefit from the program, it will be important that the Program also specifically
target social groups, women and children, through timely consultations, participation and awareness
raising activities. Additionally, the Program could have the potential to enhance community
participation, through the creation of more accountable arrangements for service delivery,
management and payment and through the consultation processes.
30. Land acquisition. Land is a scare resource in Palestine and land acquisition processes will be
consistent with other projects in the country. The government would commit that no activities that
could result in resettlement would be financed. Any land requirements (temporary or permanent)
for investments to be financed under the project will be met through government owned land. Any
investments that require resettlement (i.e., include those that involve relocation of households,
temporary or permanent land take, and impacts on livelihoods, including those that may occur
through restriction of access to resources) would be excluded. Counterparts would be trained to
screen for this exclusion, and guidelines would be developed in the Operations Manual (OM) to
reflect a robust screening process. In cases of voluntary land donation (VLD), appropriate
documentation for the power of choice for the sub-project screening would need to be collected and
closely monitored.
V.
Tentative financing
($m.)
Source:
Borrower/Recipient
IBRD
IDA
Special Financing (Gaza and West bank Trust Fund)
Others (Partnership Infrastructure Development Multi-Donor Trust Fund)
Total
VI.
Contact point
World Bank
Contact: Iyad Rammal
Title: Senior Infrastructure Specialist
Tel: + 1 202 4737708
Email: [email protected]
15
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Borrower/Client/Recipient
Contact: Shukry Bishara
Title: PLO Representative/ PA Minister of Finance
Tel: +972 2 2978830
Email: [email protected]
Implementing Agencies
Contact: Mr. Mazen Ghunaim
Title: Head (Minister) of Palestinian Water Authority (PWA)
Tel: +972 2 298 7695
Email: [email protected]
Implementing Agencies
Contact: Mr. Abdel Kareem Asad
Title: Chairman of the Board of Directors - Water Sector Regulatory Council (WSRC)
Tel: +972 598 818 757
Email: [email protected]
Implementing Agencies
Contact: Mr. Monther Shoblaq
Title: Managing Director – Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU)
Tel: +972 599 267 108
Email: [email protected]
Implementing Agencies
Contact: Mr. Daoud Zatari
Title: Mayor of Hebron Municipality (HM)
Tel: +972 599 209451
Email: [email protected]
VII. For more information contact:
The InfoShop
The World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20433
Telephone: (202) 458-4500
Fax: (202) 522-1500
Web: http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop