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The OECD has long been a strong advocate for water management that contributes to economic growth, environmental sustainability and social welfare. With a multi-disciplinary team drawn from across the organisation, the OECD provides analysis to improve the information base, identify good practice and provide a forum for exchanging country experiences. Specific areas of OECD expertise and tools of relevance to water involve financing, governance, regulatory policy and private sector participation. This report builds on this expertise to diagnose the main governance and financing challenges to private sector participation (PSP) in the water supply and wastewater sector of Tunisia, and provides ways forward to address these challenges.
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Although it has performed remarkably well in the past, the water sector in Tunisia is now faced with deteriorating infrastructure and declining service quality, as well as increasingly severe financing difficulties. Governance of the sector, which is based on highly centralised responsibilities and decision-making powers, is also revealing its limitations.
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The water sector in Tunisia is faced with deteriorating infrastructure and declining service quality, as well as increasingly severe financing difficulties. These problems are exacerbated by the increasing scarcity of water resources and the fact that they are already heavily exploited, which makes further investment more costly. Transferring water from the north to the south has shown its limits. The technological solutions to which the country might turn, such as exploiting nonconventional sources, are expensive. Operators are showing signs of exhaustion and are facing significant financial challenges because of rising costs, low tariff levels, and the insistent demand for high-quality service. Governance of the sector, which is based on highly centralised responsibilities and decision-making powers, is also revealing its limitations.
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This chapter examines the main governance challenges relating to private sector participation (PSP) in the water and sanitation sector in Tunisia. It focuses on five pillars. First, it presents an overview of the various institutions active in the water and sanitation sector and in the PSP field. The second section summarises the country's experience with PSP in the water and sanitation sector, and indicates areas where such participation could be considered in the future. The third section contains a description of the political, legislative and regulatory framework for the water and sanitation sector and for PSP in Tunisia. The fourth section discusses the financial sustainability of the sector. Finally, the last section analyses the mechanisms for transparency and accountability, as well as user involvement.
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This chapter identifies recommendations relating to three themes for overcoming the governance obstacles to private sector participation in the management of water and sanitation services in Tunisia. The first aspect has to do with the variety of private sector participation modes and their conditions for success. The second relates to the financial viability and fiscal sustainability of private sector participation in the water sector. The third concerns ways of improving the mechanisms for transparency and stakeholders’ engagement.
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Water policy reform in Tunisia could benefit from a comparative analysis that would draw lessons from international experience with similar reforms in other countries. This chapter proposes an action plan based on a diagnostic assessment and on the recommendations put forward in this report, and offers the authorities and the various stakeholders, including development partners, a series of concrete measures for successful water reform in Tunisia. These actions are part of the framework for reform and other initiatives underway in the water sector in Tunisia, and are based on examples drawn from international experience.
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