Switzerland has assumed the technical secretariat until 2020, with the commitment to continue strengthening the synergy between the cooperation agencies and the Peruvian sanitation sector departments.
The purpose of the International Development Cooperation Water Group is to facilitate decision-making and the conceptual alignment of international cooperation on water and sanitation issues with the international conventions signed by Peru. Switzerland has been active in the field of water for more than 30 years. Its interventions cover different fields: social issues, environment, economics, governance, innovation and technology promotion, knowledge transfer and water and peace (Blue Peace).
The International Cooperation Water Group met at the headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on September 16, to transfer its Technical Secretariat and coordination from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to Swiss Cooperation, through its two cooperation agencies: the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), for the 2019 – 2020 period.
The event was attended by Martin Jaggi, director of Swiss Cooperation (SDC) and Alain Bühlmann, director of Swiss Cooperation (SECO), who shared the stage with representatives of all bilateral and multilateral cooperation agencies that work in the water and sanitation sector in Peru. The transfer reaffirms Switzerland’s commitment to quality water as a crucial element in ensuring sustainable and inclusive development, both in rural areas, through the SDC, and in urban areas with SECO.
About the Water Group
The objective of the International Development Cooperation Water Group is to improve coordination among the different agencies in the sector, increase the exchange of information among cooperation partners, take advantage of positive experiences that can be replicated and create a forum for discussion between the water and sanitation sector, led by the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation, and international cooperation agencies.
It is important to highlight that the Water Group has established itself as one of the most active and dynamic channels for international cooperation agencies to dialogue and work in harmony. Agenda 2030 obliges all parties to be collectively more effective and more efficient. There is no doubt that one of the traditionally pending tasks of international cooperation agencies is to coordinate more and work in consensus and dialogue with the partner country, in this case Peru. One example of how the Water Group works to complement the country’s efforts was the technical support provided to the formulation of the National Investment Plan for 2021, which has been updated and taken as a reference for future investment.
The Water Group will pursue its strategy in line with the government’s priorities for the sector and support the national agenda, to bring to the fore the major challenges of Sustainable Development Goal 6 on Water and Sanitation. One of the most important guidelines is the need to give priority attention to water and sanitation in rural areas, which is where the poorest and most vulnerable communities with the least access to services live. In urban contexts, which represent more than 79.3[1] per cent of the population, it is necessary to prioritize and ensure water supply and access to sanitation for the entire population. The government has set itself the goal of achieving universal coverage for urban users by 2021 and for rural areas by 2030.
The government has set itself the goal of achieving universal coverage for urban users by 2021 and for rural areas by 2030.
This group, which was set up in 2004, brings together the main international cooperation agencies and organizations involved in Peru’s water and sanitation sector: Spanish Cooperation (AECID), the World Bank (WB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Latin American Development Bank (CAF), German Cooperation (GIZ and KFW), the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the French Development Agency (AFD), UNICEF, Swiss Cooperation (SDC) and SECO.
Related news
For further information:
Fact sheet Water Group
Links of interest:
Water for Swiss Cooperation
Fact sheet Global Water Programme
Global Brief. Water and sanitation: how to replicate a successful model
Brochure SDC’s Global Water Programme
Brochure Global Water Programme, Strategic Framework 2017 – 2020
[1] Source: National Sanitation Plan 2017-2021 (Datos, 2017)
