Potable water that generates employment

In 2004, the Municipality of La Matanza  was one of the areas with the largest unemployment rate in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. It had less coverage of potable water services, and more sanitary risks than other areas.  

Through an initiative of the national government and financing by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, in 2011 the methodology "Plan Agua + Trabajo(Water + Work Plan) was implemented ". This Plan consisted in the creation of cooperatives with community members to execute works that would enable the expansion of the network, individual connections for potable water and sewage, training in trades, and generation of sources of employment.   

The results evaluation showed that the target was exceeded by 388.6%. That is, of the 4,500 beneficiaries that had been considered, there were 21,897 inhabitants who benefitted in the municipalities of La Matanza and Almirante Brown, three working cooperatives were created, 48 cooperatives were used, and 250 people indirectly benefitted.  

The amount requested from CAF was USD 202 thousand, and it covered a part of the training, and supplied the cooperatives with equipment and materials such as lead for construction, steel points, carpenter tongs, mixers, balling pumps, valves, water shut-off valves, among others, which are necessary for the execution of the works.

The plan was executed by Agua y Saneamiento Argentinos S.A (AySA, for its acronym in Spanish), the Instituto Nacional de Asociativismo y Economía Social (Inaes, for its acronym in Spanish) and the municipalities.