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.