The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank on June 20, 2019, approved a proposal to commit $24.7 million to finance the South Sudan Strategic Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project.
The Strategic Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project will support the rehabilitation of approximately 50km of the Juba town distribution network and related works, including metering and public water collections outlets. The project will also cover feasibility and engineering design for two other towns under the jurisdiction of South Sudan Urban Water Corporation. The project will additionally cover the development of solar powered water distributions systems and sanitation and hygiene promotion in high-density rural communities surrounding Juba, as well as capacity development in the relevant water institutions.
Implementation will commence during the 2019/2020 financial year, with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation and the South Sudan Urban Water Corporation serving as the executing and implementing agencies, respectively.
On completion, the project will directly benefit 300,000 people in Juba and the surrounding rural Jubek state. The nearly $2 million grant will ensure that schools and communities in eight targeted rural areas of Jubek state, will benefit from 40 public/institutional latrines blocks to be constructed, as well as hygiene education.
Since 2012, the Bank has contributed more than $136.79 million in development aid across various sectors in South Sudan. Bank support has focused on capacity building, infrastructure development, and creating conditions for promoting peace, stability and state building, among the Bank’s strategic priorities.
The project aligns with South Sudan’s National Development Strategy (2018-21) and the orientation of the Bank’s 2012-18 Country Strategy Paper, which was extended in May 2019 to 2021. Both strategies emphasize nation building through capacity building and infrastructure development.
