France Grants €12 Million to Pakistan for Water and Sanitation Services

The Government of Pakistan and the French Development Agency (FDA) have signed a €12 million grant agreement at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. It is aimed at improving water and sanitation services in some specific areas of Punjab. 

Mr. Kazim Niaz from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Nicolas Galey, French Ambassador to Pakistan and Vincent Thevenot, AFD Director signed the agreement. This grant will come from the European Union and will be managed by AFD.

The core objective of this development is to improve Water and Sanitation Agencies (WASA) work in Lahore and Faisalabad by focusing on better governance, performance and service quality. New rules will also be created and applied at the provincial level to foster the oversight role of the Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Department.

This project will also facilitate WASAs by providing modern equipment and supporting digital systems. It will also enable them to collect and use accurate data to make smarter, faster and more transparent decisions related to water management and sanitation services.

Transparency and accountability are primary requirements for such projects to succeed and track the project’s impact effectively. This model should be further expanded to other urban areas and semi-urban areas to replicate success in other areas as well.