The Road to the SDGs

PURPOSE X The entire population of Gaza depends mainly on groundwater and some imported water from Israel. Approximately 97% of the water in Gaza is not safe for drinking due to high salinity and high nitrate levels from human and agricultural pollution. According to the World Health Organization, this situation is the root cause of more than 25% of waterborne diseases in Gaza. X In order to address this humanitarian and environmental crisis, IsDB and other major international stakeholders, including the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Commission (EC) and the World Bank (WB), are pooling resources to implement a landmark water-related programme. X A key date in bringing the partnership to fruition was a donor conference held in Brussels on 20 March 2018. This date marked the kick-off for the Gaza Central Desalination Programme (GCDP), as international donors including IsDB made pledges to finance the programme, paving the way for the procurement actions to start. X The aims of the GCDP are to mitigate the water crisis and to improve the living conditions in the Gaza Strip. METHOD X With the Gaza initiative, IsDB is playing a major role in mobilising resources for the GCDP, through its privileged partnership with donors from the region. In addition, as manager of special trust funds dedicated to Palestine, IsDB will be providing and managing resources on behalf of its regional partners for the GCDP. X The GCDP is focused on: – Developing new water sources for domestic water supply – Increasing the efficiency of distribution networks – Increasing collection of revenues from water sales. X Once implemented, this landmark programme will be the largest infrastructure project ever built in the Gaza Strip. X The programme consists of two main components: – A seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant, which will have the capacity to desalinate 55 million m3 of potable water per year and will be equipped with an independent power generation facility – Associated works, which will ensure that fresh water is distributed to all residents across the Gaza Strip. Catalysing resources for the Gaza Central Desalination Plant Programme I sDB is taking part in an initiative to bring much-needed safe water to the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with about two million inhabitants Availability of fresh water in Gaza is amongst the lowest in the world The desalination plant is the major component of the GCDP and will have an annual capacity of 55 million m 3 [ 118 ] SDGs