Jordan gets $250m funding to tackle water crisis

Unsplash/Louis Tosta

Jordan has received $250 million funding from the World Bank to improve its water services efficiency.

The funds will be used to rehabilitate water distribution networks, improve energy efficiency and strengthen the country’s drought management system, the World Bank said in a statement.

An estimated 1.6 million people are set to benefit from the improved water services. 

The approved financing for the new Jordan water sector efficiency project consists of a $200 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and a $50 million grant from the global concessional financing facility (GCFF). 

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Launched in 2016, the GCFF provides concessional financing to middle-income countries hosting many refugees. The project will target areas with higher refugee populations, providing benefits to both the refugees and the host community. 

Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world and is grappling with a severe water crisis. 

With only 97 cubic metres of available water per capita per year, the water supply is significantly below the absolute water scarcity threshold of 500 cubic metre per capita per year. 

The combination of climate change and population growth is expected to further reduce per capita water resources availability by 30 percent by 2040. 

“Jordan has been proactive in analysing water scarcity challenges and formulating adaptive response measures,” said World Bank country director for the Middle East department Jean-Christophe Carret.

“This new financing provides the investment support and long-term programmatic approach needed to mobilise major investments in infrastructure and institutional reform, linking planning with action to improve the efficiency and resilience of the water sector in Jordan,” he added.

The Jordan water sector efficiency project fully aligns with the government’s water sector strategy adopted in March 2023 and the Financial Sustainability Roadmap for the Water Sector adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers in November 2022. 

The new measures to reduce water losses are projected to save 10 million cubic meters of water.