Mid-Term Review of the Finnish-Palestinian Water Infrastructure Project in Northwest Jerusalem and Programme Identification for the Fourth Phase of Finnish-Palestinian Cooperation in the Water Sector

Finnish support to the Palestinian water sector aims at providing better quality of life and environmental sustainability through improving equal access to water and developing the management of scarce Palestinian water resources. The cooperation on water sector began in 1994 through UNDP, with focus on improving sewage systems in the West Bank. Between 1999 and 2007 the Finnish support focused on PWA's improved capacity to manage projects: Technical assistance was directed at the PWA and its Project Management Unit (PMU) in the West Bank and Gaza.

The current project, Construction and Rehabilitation of Water Infrastructure Networks in Northwest Villages of Jerusalem, spans from April 2010 to March 2013. The objective of the project is to improve the quality of life, socio-economy and health conditions of the 50,000 inhabitants (in 2020) in eight villages southwest of Ramallah by providing them with a reliable and equitable water supply. The villages are north of the green line, largely isolated by the separation barrier and surrounding settlements. The original budget, EUR 4.6 million, was complemented in the spring of 2011 after the Government of Finland approved the PWA’s request for an additional EUR 3,2 million investment fund for the finalisation of the project (total EUR 7,8 million).