5 proposals for inclusion in water and sanitation
August 19, 2013
Latin America is focused on development models that address the access of excluded populations to water and sanitation services. Following is a list of recommendations made by experts to achieve this objective
The report entitled Equidad e inclusión social en América Latina: acceso universal al agua y el saneamiento Serie Reflexiones sobre políticas sociales y ambientales. (Equality and Social Inclusion in Latin America: Universal Access to Water and Sanitation. Reflexiones Series regarding Social and Environmental Policies) No 2. (CAF, 2013) presents several proposals to reduce inequality and exclusion from the services in the region:
- Increase the national production's value added: in addition to the actions that reduce inequality,design strategies to increase the value added of production both for export as well as for regional consumption. This implies encouraging quality employmentand improving income distribution.
- Strengthen the accountability processes of the responsible institutions: to create a new citizen agenda that generates trust, it is necessary to join the efforts of all the social actors (government, private sector, civil society). Equality contributes to create an environment of social peace, but requires asolid social structurethat promotes the actions necessary to advance in that direction.
- Build social capital: the construction of a greater social capital usually lies in the generation of more trust with respect to how the different social actors interact. This trust derives from improvements in the perception of justice and equality in the existing social relationships.
- From the Millennium Development Goals to new regional challenges: Latin Americais on a fast track toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals but there are still challenges to be addressed, such as increasing access to water to twenty-four hours a day, with a quality that is acceptable by international standards.
- Financing for the expansion of public services in water and sanitation: the annual cost associated to full water and sanitation coverage for the next twenty years does not exceed 0.3% of GDP, which is a level that can be managed by the region. Experts suggest improvements in the efficiency of the service providers through sustained efforts in sectorial governance. The concept of a comprehensive approach should also be emphasized in relation to water interventions, including the protection of water sources, water, sewage, and drainage services, treatment of residual waters, and urban development.
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