Commission funding for projects in Egypt and Morocco
The Commission has agreed financing of ECU 140 million for two projects in Egypt and Morocco. ECU 100 million will go to a project to improve education in Egypt and ECU 40 million to a rural sanitation project in Morocco. The European Union funds such projects as part of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, under the MEDA Regulation, which provides ECU 3,425 million for project financing from 1996 to 1999. The MEDA Regulation covers Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and the occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The two projects recently approved are: - Education improvement programme (Egypt): An innovative education improvement programme designed to reform basic education over the next ten years. The programme focuses on three key areas: . Access to education for all; . Improving the quality of education; . Making more effective use of resources. It aims to involve local groups in planning and implementation, improving conditions in areas lacking in educational facilities and promoting education for girls. The aid granted by the Commission comprises sectoral assistance for the programme's three key target areas and an element of institution-building designed to enhance planning and management capacity. - Rural water and sanitation project (Morocco): Half of Morocco's population of 26 million lives in rural areas where only 14% have access to safe drinking water as compared with 82% in towns. To help redress this balance, improve living conditions in the countryside and reduce migration to the towns, the Government has agreed a programme for the collective supply of drinking water to rural communities at a cost of 10 billion dirhams (ECU 900 million). This is aimed at covering rural needs over the next eight years. The EU finance will be allocated to the production and supply of drinking water in the southern Tensif region and in the northern region. The EU will also finance training activities for the various national participants, a pilot project of sanitary equipment in the villages, and a study on appropriate technology for remote areas lacking in water.
Kraje
Egypt, Morocco