The event was attended by government representatives of Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti and Peru, sector agencies such as regulators, civil society specialists and technicians, representatives of multilateral banks in other regions to promote South-South cooperation, and key stakeholders in the sector.
One of the great challenges facing the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean is closing the gaps in access to water and sanitation in rural areas, which requires significant government efforts to provide quality services in these areas. Rural areas are geographically, culturally and socially diverse, but face common challenges: (i) insufficient funding in the sector; (ii) lack of sector specific policies and regulations for rural services; (iii) unclear institutional arrangements; (iv) limited local capacities and resources; (v) low user ownership of services; (vi) weak planning and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; (vii) lack of differentiated intervention and management models for rural communities and sparse communities; (viii) a lack of an integrated and multi-sectoral approach; and (ix) increasing competition for water resources, effects of climate change and increased pollution of water bodies. In addition, sustainability is a key aspect of rural services to guarantee access to services leaving no one behind.
In view of this panorama and the urgent need to close the gaps in the sanitation sector and guarantee quality access to water for the most disadvantaged population, SDC’s Global Water Programme is promoting the SIRWASH initiative in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank in Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti and Peru. The initiative aims at expanding access to adequate and sustainable water and sanitation services for the rural population by improving innovation, knowledge sharing and enabling legislation, and strengthening the capacities needed to provide sustainable and quality WASH services.
SDC held the SIRWASH DIALOGUES WORKSHOP 2022 on 23 and 24 June. It was a hybrid meeting held face-to-face and on-line in four languages, and its primary objective was to speed up the closing of gaps for rural water and sanitation services in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), through discussion on progress and the challenges of implementing rural water and sanitation policies and the institutional framework for the provision of these rural services. The discussion focused on the practices of the SIRWASH countries but included success stories from other countries in the region and other regions of the world, in order to promote South-South cooperation.
The workshop was opened by the manager of the Grupo Andino and representative of the Inter-American Development Bank in Peru, Tomás Bermúdez, who highlighted that the workshop is an opportunity to inspire decision-makers with solutions in the rural water and sanitation sector, one of the most challenging sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean. “Having quality water and sanitation services is, in the end, the basis of any social, economic and productive development with equal opportunities”, he said.
The Deputy-Minister of Housing, Construction and Sanitation of Peru, Javier Hernández, indicated that closing the gaps is a challenge, and therefore “learning about and exchanging successful experiences in the region helps achieve faster the goals of providing better, safe and sustainable water and sanitation services”.
In addition, the representative of SDC’s Global Water Programme, Lea Valaulta, highlighted Switzerland’s contribution to Peru and the region. The SABA+ Project, which increased water and sanitation system coverage in rural areas and strengthened public policies in the sector, political dialogue and the strengthened national and local capacities, generated valuable lessons learned. “Switzerland maintains its commitment and pools its efforts with its partners and the governments of the region because, despite the progress made, gaps and inequalities still persist” she added.
The workshop was organized into 13 blocks over two days of lectures and keynote speeches. If you were unable to attend the workshop or would like to watch some of the sessions again, you will find them in the following links.
Resources:
PDF (spanish) El proceso WASHBAT para el fortalecimiento de la gobernanza (Bloque 12-2)
PDF (spanish) Núcleos Ejecutores. Modalidad basada en la participación comunitaria – PNSR (Bloque 11-1-2-3)
PDF (spanish) Áreas Técnicas Municipales (ATM) Para la gestión de los servicios de agua y saneamiento en el ámbito rural del Perú (Bloque 10 – 1-2-3)
PDF (english) Rural Sanitation in Asia and the Pacific. Christian Walder. ADB (Bloque 9-1)
PDF (english) Learning through South-South Exchange. The challenge of rural Sanitation. Sergio Campos. (Bloque 8-1)
PDF (spanish) Estrategia de agua y saneamiento rural (Bloque 6-1-3-4)
PDF (spanish) Henry Moreno. BID (Bloque 5)
PDF (spanish) La prestación de los servicios de A&S en zonas rurales de Paraguay (bloque 4-1-2)
PDF (spanish) Políticas y Programas de Agua y Saneamiento rural. La experiencia en Perú, SABA y su capitalización. Francisco Dumler (Bloque 2)
© Proyecto SIRWASH – BID/COSUDE
