Rabat, Tangier and Tetouan - Morocco

The National Initiative for Human Development (NIHD) was launched by the Moroccan government in 2005 with the dual objective of promoting the country's economic and social development and fighting against poverty, to improve the population's living conditions. This initiative also aims at opening up and restructuring non-regulatory and under-equipped areas as well as improving the population's access to basic services. A turning point in Morocco's urban policies, this initiative allows the operator to intervene in informal housing areas.

In Rabat, Tangier and Tetouan, since the signing of framework agreements between mid-2005 and early 2006,Veolia Water has been supporting the NIHD, with the objective of connecting over 90,000 people to drinking water and wastewater treatment networks.

Reducing by half the number of people without access to water and wastewater treatment by 2015 is one of the Millennium Development Goals defined by the United Nations.Veolia Water commits to helping achieve this goal and offers a range of technical, commercial and financial solutions adapted to the needs and contribution capacity of local populations. Veolia Water is therefore committed to providing low-income households with no service and recognized as economically underprivileged with adapted financial solutions for the connection to public drinking water and wastewater treatment networks.

Easier connection to water service

In order to complete and accelerate the implementation of the program, Veolia Water developed a connection sales procedure including pre-sales before and during works in the areas concerned. This approach aimed at reducing application processing time and providing a proximity service to underprivileged populations living in peripheral areas, by means of a mobile sales office (minibus). This approach made it possible to reach average connection rates often in excess of 90%.

Pricing policies adapted to the people's contribution capacity

• Veolia Water companies in Morocco developed innovative financial mechanisms to subsidize these operations. A fund dedicated to social connection operations was created; it is financed by subsidies and taxes paid by the municipalities of the Rabat,Tangier and Tetouan area as well as by the aid obtained from multilateral banks.
• Veolia Water also instituted socially acceptable prices for water and wastewater treatment connections. Payment terms were extended to 10 years without interest in order to facilitate the purchase of connections and limit monthly repayments to roughly £9, the amounts above this threshold being subsidized.