Latin America and the Caribbean build bridges to combat the water crisis

Finance Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean They expressed this Friday from Washington the need to increase financing in water, sanitation and hygiene to combat the crisis suffered by the region due to the climate change and extreme weather events.

This was stated by the representatives who attended a meeting at the headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the US capital, with the aim of creating financial and political strategies to find 372 billion dollars to invest in this area during the next five years.

“The economy of Latin America and the Caribbean depends on water. For this reason, although there has been progress, we have to triple financing in this sector, we have to invest more and better”said the president of the IDB, Ilan Goldfajn, in opening statements.

The Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) association – organizer of the meeting together with Unicef ​​and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – estimates that in said region more than 450 million people lack adequate sanitation services and almost 200 Millions lack continuous water services.

“We have a lot of water in the region, but a quarter of its population does not have access to it safely”In this way, the vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean of the World Bank, Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, explained the existing gap in this area.

Gap in access

In fact, the Secretary of Finance of Honduras, Marlon Ochoa Martínez, explained in an interview with EFE that this gap even exists within the Honduran capital itself, Tegicugalpa, due to what the Government is doing. “important investments to expand the water distribution network in peri-urban areas”.

Regarding the financing proposal, the representatives justified that the proposed investment would allow stimulating economic growth and environmental sustainability, while making it possible to fight with the current debt of the area, which is equivalent to 117% of its GDP, as quantified by the organizers themselves in a statement.

The former president of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla (2010-2014) took the opportunity to highlight that “no country can prosper without drinking water and sanitation”, since they are “the arteries that enable development” and regretted that this topic is currently not “so fashionable.”

“Investing in water and sanitation generates a multiplier effect because it positively impacts different areas; from economic development to health and education issues”Chinchilla added.

Asked about specific regulations, the Vice Minister of Planning and Public Investment of the Dominican Republic, Luis Madera, highlighted the Dominican Pact for Water, which provides “average investments of US$ 500 million annually until 2036.”

Madera said that countries need more investment to address existing shortfalls, but also “culture in sustainable use” of the water so that “the population and businessmen give value” to said resource.

At the event, held at a time when ministers described “critical” For the region, we also wanted to highlight that guaranteeing drinking water and sanitation is crucial to creating a “promising future” to the next generations of Latin America and the Caribbean.

“More than 1,000 children under five die every day around the world due to inadequate water services. ‘WASH’ services (water, sanitation and hygiene) must be a priority for governments”concluded the executive director of Unicef, Catherine Russell.

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