Sanitation and access to drinking water, great investment challenges for Latin America

Increasing investments in sanitation and access to drinking water are two great challenges for Latin America to promote sustainable development in a region increasingly affected by natural disasters, said experts gathered at a forum this Monday.

“In Latin America, 2 out of 10 people do not have access to safely managed drinking water, and 5 out of 10 do not have safely managed sanitation. The most vulnerable income quintile has 25% less access to drinking water than the highest income quintile“said the executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

Salazar-Xirinachs inaugurated in Costa Rica the IV edition of the Regional Water Dialogues in Latin America and the Caribbean, an event organized in conjunction with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in virtual and in-person formats.

Government officials and representatives of the private sector in the region participate in the dialogue, which will last until next Wednesday, in order to analyze the situation of water resources, share experience and promote good practices for water conservation and management.

The executive secretary of ECLAC called for joint action on this issue and to increase investments in order to advance Sustainable Development Goal 6, which consists of guaranteeing the availability of water and its sustainable management and sanitation for all. .

“ECLAC has estimated that to universalize coverage of safely managed water and sanitation, on average countries would have to invest 1.3% of GDP annually for 10 years. This would also generate 3.8 million green jobs annually“, he claimed.

Salazar-Xirinachs also recalled that the region “faces the disproportionate impact of climate change” and that extreme events severely affect water, food and energy systems, as well as infrastructure and economies, which “deepens inequalities and exacerbates migration”.

“Water is essential for all human activities. Adequate management is an urgent imperative for a strategic sector, a driver of sustainable development, a source of greater equity, a solution for greater adaptation to the climate crisis and a facilitator of the peace that we all long for.”, he expressed.

The Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, referred to the transformation process that is underway in agriculture on the continent, which is due to the fact that farmers have become aware that they must change with the incorporation of technology and innovation.

“Water is a priority that the continent’s Ministers of Agriculture have established within IICA’s technical cooperation strategy and, above all, through alliances. This is the time when we must act to reverse the problems that limit sustainable development”Otero said.

This edition of the regional dialogue has a special session on water and agriculture, as well as a space aimed at analyzing a regional position that the countries intend to take jointly to the 2024 World Water Forum, scheduled for next May in Indonesia.

The Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, Arnoldo André Tinoco, and the presidential appointee of Honduras, Doris Gutiérrez, also participated in the opening of the event.

Foreign Minister André warned that sustainable sources of financing are required, so it is essential to explore the funds available at the multilateral level, in addition to exploring alternatives for south-south and triangular cooperation.