WATER KNOWLEDGE NOTE Senegal Increasing Access to Sustainable Water and Sanitation Services The Water and Sanitation Millennium Project (Programme d’Eau Potable et d’Assainissement du Millénaire; PEPAM) in Senegal facilitated access to services by improving and expanding water production and distribution systems. From the project start in 2010 to the project closure in 2015, 206,000 people in urban areas and 172,000 people in rural areas were provided with access to improved water sources. Access to improved sanitation facilities also increased to serve 264,000 people. Challenge Senegal, located on Africa’s West Coast, hosts one of the most developed water supply and sanitation (WSS) sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, at the time of the project preparation, the country still faced important challenges, including unequal access to potable water and sanitation services in urban and rural areas. There were © Niels Broekzitter. particular concerns related to the coverage of sanitation Senegal needed to improve facilities and services in rural areas. the financial viability of the The inequalities outlined above impact the poorest users in terms of quality and cost of services. In addition, the supply WSS sector, in addition to modes (private connections versus standpipes, or piped improving the sustainability, water versus wells) show significant variations throughout the country. reliability, and efficiency of water service delivery. Broadly, constraints on physical water supplies and increasing demands from multiple users placed additional Institutional strengthening and capacity building also stresses on WSS systems in Senegal. Furthermore, the comprised a significant part of the project. The project country faced budget constraints that made it even brought together implementation agencies to facilitate more difficult to finance investments in the WSS sector access to services, support the rural water subsector reform, sustainably. and strengthen capacities to deliver and manage WSS services. Importantly, the project set out to facilitate the Senegal needed to improve the financial viability of the transfer of maintenance to private operators and included WSS sector, in addition to improving the sustainability, the rehabilitation of boreholes, water storage facilities, and reliability, and efficiency of water service delivery. pumping equipment. Approach Results With an eye towards reaching the water and sanitation The project (2010-15) consolidated the achievements of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the project urban water reform, supported reform of the rural water was designed to boost water supply and sanitation subsector, and strengthened capacities to deliver and services in rural and urban areas in Senegal. The Water manage water and sanitation services. A total of 654,520 and Sanitation Millennium Program (PEPAM) served people directly benefitted from the project interventions, as an instrument through which the government of particularly through improved access to WSS services. Senegal aimed to enhance the provision, reliability, and security of the WSS sector. Overall, the PEPAM strategy The following results were observed during the life of the marked a profound shift in project planning methods, project: organization, and management of WSS services in the country. • 206,000 people in urban areas provided with access to improved water sources; • 172,000 people in rural areas were provided with access to improved water sources through the project; • 264,000 people were provided with access to improved sanitation facilities; • 20,600 new household water connections resulted from the project interventions; • The project eventually enabled the setup and implementation of a substantive reform of the RWS subsector, which (a) largely exceeded the institutional changes contemplated at appraisal and (b) enabled demonstration that the private sector was ready to engage in rural areas; • 140 Associations of Water Users (Association d’Usagers de Forage; ASUFOR) were established to operate rural water systems; • 84,000 urban dwellers were provided with access to © World Bank. improved sanitation facilities; WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE | SENEGAL 2 © World Bank. • 7,200 children in the project rural areas were provided following institutions: the Coordinating Unit of the Water with access to adequate sanitation facilities in their and Sanitation Millennium Program; Directorate of Rural schools; Water; National Sanitation Agency of Senegal (Office • 18,800 latrines were improved; National de l’Assainissement du Sénégal; ONAS); a public • The sustainability of rural water services improved asset holding in charge of investments called the National substantially, given that the availability rate of Water Company of Senegal (Société Nationale des Eaux du water systems (proportion of rural systems that are Sénégal; SONES); and a private utility called the Senegalese functioning at any given time) increased to 97 percent. Water Utility (SDE) in charge of delivering services. With a sound foundation in designing policies in the WSS sector, Bank Group Contribution the government of Senegal showed strong support for the project activities throughout the entire project life cycle. The project was financed by the World Bank through an International Development Agency (IDA) grant. A total of US$51.64 million was disbursed to the government of Senegal for the Water and Sanitation Millennium Project. The credit included a US$5 million contribution under the Crisis Response Window. The World Bank has long been a partner to the WSS sector in Senegal, and has supported the preparation and implementation of the PEPAM (which aims at guaranteeing access of the poor to basic social services) since 2005. Partners A number of project partners demonstrated a firm commitment to the project outcomes, including the © World Bank. WATER GLOBAL PRACTICE | SENEGAL 3 The Ministry in Charge of Water and Sanitation was in charge Moving Forward of coordinating the Water and Sanitation Program with the Directorate of Rural Water, Directorate of Maintenance, A follow-up project called the Senegal Urban Water and and the Directorate of Sanitation, and the other agencies Sanitation Project (UWSP), which was prepared with the were ONAS and SONES. The project coordination unit support of this project, is under implementation. The effectively carried out its monitoring responsibilities and UWSP is focusing on the construction of urban WSS in complying with the fiduciary and safeguards issues. infrastructure, and providing: The National Sanitation agency and the National Water Company completed the activities in a timely fashion. (a) support to the finalization of the next generation of reforms of the urban water and sanitation sector, Beneficiaries including the bidding for a new lease contract with increased responsibilities for the private operator the The project was designed to primarily benefit urban and areas of financing investments, the pursuit of synergies rural households by providing them with access to piped between water and sanitation services, and the water and improved sanitation facilities. Poverty in Senegal reinforcement of sector regulation; and is mostly prevalent in rural areas targeted by the project, (b) additional support to the Rural Boreholes Agency whereas the social connections programs to be implemented (Office des Forages Ruraux; OFOR) in implementing in urban areas targeted peri-urban neighborhoods where the rural water sector reform initiated under this most of the low-income urban households resided. project. 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