China - Western Provinces Rural Water Suppliy, Sanitation and Hygiene Project : China - Western Provinces Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Project

Page 1 PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: AB1775 Project Name Western Provinces Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Project Region EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC Sector Water supply (70%);Sub-national government administration (10%); Sanitation (20%) Project ID P095315 Borrower(s) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Implementing Agency Provincial Development and Reforms Commissions in Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Date PID Prepared August 18, 2005 Estimated Date of Appraisal Authorization January 10, 2006 Estimated Date of Board Approval June 27, 2006 1. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement China has made significant progress in increasing water supply and sanitation coverage over the years and broadly appears to be on track for achieving the Millennium Development Goal targets. However, 319 million people are still reported not have access to safe water supply and 792 million people are without sanitation. Increasing sustainable coverage is therefore an important national development objective. 2. Proposed objective(s) The project would support Shaanxi and Sichuan in carrying out an integrated approach to the design and delivery of rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene services, while incorporating past innovations and lessons learned, to scale up the approach in China. It would support poverty alleviation by targeting poor villages and peri-urban areas which lack safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. Special attention would be given to the needs and concerns of vulnerable groups, like women, children and minorities. The project would also enhance government capacities and reforms to better integrate rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene programs. The project development objective is to improve the quality, quantity and sustainability of water supply and sanitation services in the participating poor communities, through an integrated approach to equitable service planning and delivery, which could be replicated in other provinces of China. Key performance indicators would include the number of beneficiaries with increased access to safe water supply and sanitation access, financial sustainability and an integrated approach to service delivery and improved hygienic and sanitation practices 3. Preliminary description The project will have four main components with approximate costs are given below: Page 2 (a) Water Supply (US$ 50 m) : Multi-village piped water supply schemes and single village schemes with piped water supply and other technologies like deep bore wells, rain water collectors etc., (b) Sanitation (US$ 15 m) : Latrines, drains and other environmental improvements (c) Hygiene Education (US$ 5 m) : Mass media programs through print and electronic media, household and community campaigns, and (d) Institutional Strengthening (US$ 5 m) : Strengthening national and provincial institutional and management capacity, training/capacity building and technical assistance at provincial, local government and community levels. DFID and UNICEF have agreed to separately provide a program of Technical Assistance worth about US$ 1.7 million to central government, in particular to focus on the low priority given to sanitation, hygiene promotion and water quality. 4. Safeguard policies that might apply Safeguards related to environment, involuntary resettlement and ethnic minorities are likely to be applicable. The environment classificatio n is likely to be Category