PUBLIC COMMUNICATION NOTE TURKEY Turkey Refugee Facility II (FRiT II) - Financing of municipal water and wastewater infrastructure in regions bordering Syria I - CONTEXT AND STRATEGIC ISSUES OF THE PROJECT (PROGRAMME) As a result of increased migration flows, mainly due to the Syrian conflict, Turkey hosts the largest refugee population in the world, almost 4 million people, of whom about 3.6 million are Syrians. The EU's Refugee Facility for Turkey (FRIT) aims to help Turkey meet the immediate humanitarian and development needs of refugees and their host communities. On 28 June 2018, the European Council approved the launch of the second tranche of the Facility, with a budget of EUR 3 billion ("FRIT 2"). Of this amount, EUR 380 million has been earmarked for municipal infrastructure, notably in the water and sanitation sector. AFD was selected on the basis of a proposal issued in the framework of a call for expressions of interest. II - OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT OF THE PROJECT (PROGRAMME) The overall objective of the Project is to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of host communities and Syrian refugees in the South-East of Turkey in terms of access to water and sanitation services. The specific objectives are as follows: (i) Provide access for host communities and SuTPs to safely managed drinking water and wastewater services. (ii) Participate in the protection of the region’s environment and, in particular, of its resources in fresh water, under stress due to climate change. (iii) Support the municipalities and SKI’s in achieving operational and financial sustainability in water and sanitation services. The Program has three components: 1) A water and sanitation infrastructure investment component, comprising ten projects located in six provinces (Kilis, Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep, Mardin, Mersin and Adıyaman); 2) A technical assistance component, including in particular accompanying measures to improve the performance of water and sanitation operators (municipalities and municipal water and sanitation companies called "SKIs"), and to support ILBANK in the implementation of the Programme; 3) Communication and visibility actions. ope-M2021 NCO v2 1/2 III - STAKEHOLDERS AND MODUS OPERANDI The final beneficiaries of the Program are, in fact, 8: - 4 municipal companies in charge of water and sanitation or "SKI" (at Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep, Mardin and Mersin). - 4 non-metropolitan municipalities (the centre of Kilis, the municipalities of Elbeyli and Polateli located in the province of Kilis and Adıyaman), which manage their water and sanitation services directly under their own management. ILBANK, a public bank dedicated to the financing of municipal infrastructures, assumes the role of operational and financial intermediary and the functions of project management assistance to the municipalities / SKI. Several components of Component 2 (technical assistance) and a small part of Component 3 (communication) are under the direct control of AFD. IV - COST AND FINANCING The Program is financed exclusively by a grant, delegated to AFD from the European Union's FRIT 2 budget. The total cost is estimated at 150 MEUR. V - MAIN EXPECTED EFFECTS - More than 2 million people are expected to benefit from a safely managed drinking water and/or sanitation service. - About 20 million m3 of drinking water will be saved per year thanks to improved operator performance. - The discharge of about 4.5 million m3/year of untreated wastewater into the environment will be avoided. - The financial and technical management of water and sanitation operators will be improved. ope-M2021 NCO v2 2/2 .