| Project Detail |
The project will enhance the universal and sustainable access to water and sanitation in the Kyrgyz Republic by establishing a new sector of professional water service providers in the rural area and by building their capacities. This institutional reform will be accompanied by investments in the construction and upgrade of water supply systems and sanitation infrastructure in unserved and underserved settlements. Though, some progress has been made, still the access to drinking water and sanitation is not sustainable in the Kyrgyz Republic. Less than 1/3 of (municipal or community-led) service providers are fully operational and only 9% are financially sustainable. The infrastructure deteriorates, tariffs are below cost-recovery and operational efficiency is low (non-revenue water above 50 %). To address this systemic challenge, the authorities plan to establish the new sector of professional services providers for rural area by aggregating the management, operation, and maintenance into district water and sanitation professional service providers. In this context, the Kyrgyz Government is embarking on an investment program to achieve universal access within the next 10 years. The World Bank prepared the first phase of “Kyrgyz Republic: Water Supply and Sanitation Universal Access Program-1” aiming at focused investments the water infrastructure in unserved and underserved rural settlements and small towns and institutinal reforms. Objectives To increase access to water supply and sanitation services and improve the service service delivery capacity in selected areas in the Kyrgyz Republic. SDC will contribute to the project with a component focusing on institutional development of a new yet to be established professional district level water service providers. |
