EBRD to help Jordan improve its water quality

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will help the government of Jordan to manage funds to improve water quality and also increase the reliability of its water supply.

EBRD has managed a grant of $1.5m as the first allocation from the Deauville Partnership Transition Fund, which was formed in October 2012 to provide economic support to emerging Arab democracies.

The grant will help the Jordanian government to address water scarcity problems due to low-levels of water resource availability.

The financial assistance will be used to increase awareness and monitoring of water quantity and quality-related issues.

It will also be used to improve regulatory framework to increase water provision.

Funds from technical cooperation will be used to set up a unit of excellence for the water authority in Jordan.

The authority will have the responsibility to design public-private-partnerships and engage the private sector to identify and work on any opportunities to increase project efficiency in water sector.

As a last step with regards to EBRD’s Transition 2 Transition initiative, where experts and officials from transition countries in central and eastern Europe exchange experiences, the funds will also be used to share knowledge gained through the Arab Countries Water Utilities Associations (ACWUA).

The Deauville Transition Fund has ten donors, namely Canada, France, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, and the US.

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Image: EBRD will help Jordan to manage financial aid to improve water provision and water quality in the country. Photo: Matthew Bowden.