Department Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development

Tirana, the capital of Albania, is a fast-growing city that is undergoing important changes. However, the city still lacks wastewater treatment. Funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), this project aims to provide recommendations on the institutional strengthening measures and infrastructure investments needed to provide universal, sustainable and safely managed sanitation services in Greater Tirana, focusing on areas that cannot be connected to large treatment plants. Consisting of three municipalities (Tirana, Kamza and Vora), Greater Tirana comprises a wide variety of urban and rural contexts, many of which rely on on-site sanitation systems. As it moves towards meeting EU sanitation standards, a catalogue of options is needed to serve all types of settlements in the foreseeable future, in line with the Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) approach.

Specific objectives include the following:

• Identify those peripheral/peri-urban/rural areas in “Greater Tirana” that cannot/will not be connected to the current and planned sewerage projects;
• Catalogue different typologies of sanitation interventions appropriate for decentralised service provision in these areas and describe their implications;
• Assess capacity strengthening needs among the main stakeholders dealing with non-sewered sanitation in Greater Tirana;
• Through participatory approaches, support the preparation of an ‘Integrated Sanitation and Stormwater Strategy for Greater Tirana’ in partnership with the other project stakeholders.  

It is expected that the outcomes of the assignment will feed into the development of a regional masterplan for Greater Tirana (funded by the Western Balkan Investment Fund (WBIF), with the World Bank as lead financing institution).