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The contribution of capacity building in
achieving SDG 6
Abderrafii Mardi, Training Director; Dr. Mokhtar Jaait, Head of Research and Development, ONEE
T
he potential of natural water resources in Morocco is
estimated at an average of 22 billion m
3
per year; the
equivalent of 650 m
3
per inhabitant per year, which
is below the commonly accepted threshold of 1,000 m
3
, at
which shortages and water crises occur. This problem is set
to worsen due to a rapid population growth, socio-economic
development and climate change.
This situation is common to many countries in the Middle
East and North Africa (MENA) region. Even in the coun-
tries where water resources are abundant, their quality is
unsafe. These facts are worrying for drinking water and
sanitation operators at political, social and technical levels.
More than 300 million people in Africa are without access to
safe drinking water. Sanitation is more worrying as approx-
imately 600 million people do not have access to modern
sanitation facilities. These alarming facts have pushed both
local authorities and the international bodies that advo-
cate improvement to the living conditions in the region to
mobilize huge financial resources for water and sanitation
infrastructure projects. However, there are still significant
delays and the latest assessments indicate new challenges
that test the ability of the actors concerned to target invest-
ments, secure and sustain access to water and sanitation
services, and optimise the operation of water facilities. One
of the main problems is the insufficient number of qualified
people with the necessary skills to manage the water sector
at technical, managerial and financial levels.
The National Office Of Electricity and Drinking Water
(ONEE), Morocco, has long been aware of the importance of
human capital in the development of the water and sanitation
sector and, in 1978, created the Training Centre for Water and
Sanitation (CFTE) dedicated to the training of technicians and
specialised workers. Since then, the CFTE has enabled ONEE
to meet its needs by training and qualifying staff in charge of
planning, implementation and management of projects and
infrastructures. This allowed ONEE to carry out its mission
as chief body in charge of ensuring safe drinking water and
sanitation in Morocco. This has resulted in a drinking water
access rate of up 100 per cent in urban areas, a generalization
of access to drinking water in rural areas exceeding 96 per
cent, and 76 per cent of the urban population being connected
to the sewerage system. Morocco is among the few countries
in the region that achieved Millennium Development Goal
(MDG) 7 by 2015, putting the country in a strong position
to reach the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.
During the last two decades, the rapid evolution and diver-
sification of the demand for drinking water and sanitation
services to meet the increasing demands of the populations in
the Africa and MENA regions, has led to an intensification of
infrastructure projects, increasing the demand for new skills
and expertise adapted to local context. In 2008, in response to
this challenge, ONEE transformed its training centre into the
International Institute for Water and Sanitation (IEA) with
the mission of providing capacity development in the water
and sanitation sector through training, research and develop-
ment, technical assistance and knowledge management.
The IEA has now become a centre of reference at national
and regional levels due to its educational and research infra-
structure, its designation as a World Health Organization
(WHO) collaborating centre, the recognition of donors and
international cooperation agencies, and the trust of many
water operators in the Africa and MENA regions.
The IEA organizes some 20,000 trainee days per year for
ONEE staff and water sector stakeholders in Morocco, as well
as for water operators in Africa and the Arab region within
a bilateral or tripartite cooperation framework. The partners
in this North-South cooperation are numerous and diverse,
including Japan (JICA), Belgium (Enabel), France (AFD),
Germany (GIZ), as well as international or regional institutes
such as United Nations Industrial Development Organization,
The Islamic Development Bank, and AAE. One of the recent
capacity building projects with a focus on training led by
the IEA, is the support of the Guinean authorities, over the
period 2017–2021, for the sanitation of the capital, Conakry.
The IEA’s efforts in research and development are focused
on finding effective solutions to help solve the major water
problems and meet critical challenges such as supplying
drinking water in sufficient and sustainable quantities at a
lower cost while respecting sustainable development; guiding
the choice of non-conventional resources including artifi-
cial recharge, sea water, brackish water and desalination;
providing flexible solutions to collect and treat wastewater
for reuse; and dealing with natural hazards, mainly floods
and droughts, in the context of climate change.
The solutions should be suitable to the specificities of the
region by taking into account the local, social and cultural
dimensions, and ensuring that the solutions are affordable
and technically realistic. The IEA is currently working on an
applied research project that aligns with the targets of SDG
6, and which consists of decentralized sanitation using multi-
layer system process. The project, carried out as part of a