May 19, 2023
The Board of Directors of the World Bank on Wednesday approved the $80 million Rural, Resilient, Sustainable and Decentralized Drinking Water and Sanitation Project in Haiti. This funding aims to increase access to inclusive, resilient and sustainable drinking water services for 250,000 people and access to basic sanitation services for 125,000 people, 50% of whom are women in small towns and rural communities across the country.
“ Access to clean water and sanitation is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as it drives economic growth, supports healthy communities, and is essential and fundamental to life itself. In Haiti, the results recorded in this area have stagnated in recent years and have even deteriorated in some regions due, among other things, to prolonged instability, increased violence and insufficient investment. in the sector, ” said Laurent Msellati, head of operations for the World Bank in Haiti. ” This World Bank financing aims to support Haiti in its efforts to achieve universal and equitable access to drinking water and sanitation, particularly in poor and remote regions. »
In Haiti, access to basic drinking water in rural areas and small towns is low and declining. In 2020, only 43% of the rural population of Haiti had access to drinking water, compared to 48% in 2015 and 50% in 1990. This situation is partly the consequence of a lack of investment and maintenance. related infrastructure. Of the 13,626 improved water points registered in 2022, only 51% were functioning, and of the 1,041 piped water supply systems serving dense rural areas and small towns, only 41% were functional. In 2020, 31% of the rural population still practiced open defecation, which could affect access to drinking water.
The Rural, Resilient, Sustainable and Decentralized Drinking Water and Sanitation Project in Haiti aims to provide means of immediate response to cholera, to strengthen sanitation and hygiene in the municipalities affected by the resurgence of the epidemic and to give local authorities and communities the means to plan and implement water and sanitation projects. The project will finance the construction, rehabilitation and expansion of drinking water supply and sanitation systems in the targeted areas. It will also take into account institutional strengthening activities, including the consolidation of the sector-wide results-based programmatic approach to improve planning, budgeting,
The project will contribute to the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity, by increasing access to basic drinking water and sanitation services for people living in rural areas and small towns. The project is aligned with the World Bank Group’s green, resilient and inclusive development approach which emphasizes the cross-sectoral nature of development policies, focusing on the interrelationships of poverty, inequality and externalities. environmental.