Finance and sector ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean expressed in Washington, D.C. the need to increase funding for water, sanitation, and hygiene to combat the crisis that the region is suffering due to climate change and extreme weather events.
Representatives who attended the meeting on April 19 discussed the aim of creating financial and political strategies to find $372 billion dollars to invest in this area over the next five years. The Finance Ministers' Meeting, which was hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and co-convened by Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) and UNICEF, was followed immediately by a Sector Ministers' Dialogue.
“The economy of Latin America and the Caribbean depends on water. For this reason, although there has been progress, we need to triple financing in this sector, we need to invest more and better,” said IDB President Ilan Goldfajn in his opening remarks.
According to IDB estimates, more than 450 million people lack adequate sanitation services and almost 200 million lack continuous water services.
“We have plenty of water in the region, but a quarter of its population does not have safe access to it,” said Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean of the World Bank, about the existing gap in this area.
The Honduran Secretary of Finance, Marlon Ochoa Martínez, explained in an interview with Agencia EFE that the gap in access to water even exists in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, which is why the government is making “significant investments to expand the water distribution network in peri-urban areas.”
Increased investment in water and sanitation would stimulate economic growth and environmental sustainability while making it possible to fight the region's current debt, which is equivalent to 117% of GDP.
SWA global leadership council member and former president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla stressed that “no country can prosper without drinking water and sanitation”, since they are “the arteries that make development possible."
“Investing in water and sanitation generates a multiplier effect because it has a positive impact on different areas; from economic development to health and education issues,” Chinchilla said.
When asked about specific regulations, the Dominican Republic’s Vice Minister of Planning and Public Investment, Luis Madera, highlighted the Dominican Water Pact, which provides for “an average of US$500 million in investment per year until 2036.”
Madera said that countries need more investment to address existing shortages, but also a “culture of sustainable use” of water so that “the population and entrepreneurs value” this resource.
The event, held at a time that the ministers described as “critical” for the region, also sought to emphasize that ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation is crucial for shaping a “promising future” for the next generations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
"Lack of access to water and sanitation is often accompanied by inequalities in overall health, education, gender, housing, income, and political power. But closing this gap is not a matter of lack of resources or lack of experience," said Catarina de Albuquerque, SWA CEO and former UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.
De Albuquerque referenced data that shows the richest 10% of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean owns 12 times more than the poorest 10%. In OECD countries the figure is four times higher.
"In general, countries in the region have the resources, both human and financial, to change the current figures on access to water and sanitation, but these financial and other resources are not equally available to all residents," de Albuquerque added.
Inequalities entrench vulnerable communities in cycles of disease and poverty. According to a UNICEF report, approximately 4.8 million children in the region are facing extreme water vulnerability leaving their lives, health, and well-being at risk.
“More than 1,000 children under the age of five die every day in the world due to inadequate water services. Water, sanitation, and hygiene services must be a priority for governments,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
Originally posted by Agencia EFE