The fight against COVID through a LAIF water and sanitation program
On 2020 the entire planet was hit with the emergence and rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, which according to WHO caused more than 15 million deaths in just two years and affected all countries in the world. As the pandemic advanced, it soon became obvious that clean water and soap were powerful allies in the fight against the virus, once again proving the vital importance of clean and accessible water. This need is far from being met in many of the rural and remote areas where the Water and Sanitation Cooperation Fund (FCAS, as per the Spanish acronym) intervenes. This is the reason why, as many of the large projects had to be stopped, it became urgent to launch small emergency initiatives aimed at supporting these rural areas.
At that point, an important programme financed by LAIF funds from the European Union and implemented by Spanish Cooperation was in full swing. The general objective of “Promoting adaptation to climate change and integrated management of water resources in the water and sanitation sector in Latin America within the framework of the FCAS” is to achieve a greater impact from the FCAS programmes by addressing problems common to all countries in the region, especially related to climate change and Integrated Water Resources Management. Among its activities, it was foreseen from the beginning to set up rapid-impact measures to improve water and sanitation services in the region. Within this framework, and at a time when it was essential to react quickly, it was decided to allocate a small part of these funds to carry out basic but essential and urgent tasks, meant to strengthen the COVID response in rural areas, thus reinforcing risk management capacities and providing contingency measures for emergencies such as COVID or possible natural disasters. This materialized in three initiatives: two of them carried out in El Salvador and a third in Ecuador.
In the case of El Salvador, the two projects, called Response to the COVID19 emergency, supporting drinking water systems in rural communities, were carried out through two local civil society organizations - ADES and Provida - and allowed staff to be equipped with personal protection kits and purification supplies to guarantee the continuity of the distribution and production of safe water in 21 drinking water systems. This contributed to ensuring the correct functioning of rural water systems in 60 villages located in the areas of San Miguel, Morazán, Cabañas and La Libertad. Overall, more than 4,000 families benefited from these projects, helping to prevent the spread of COVID and other diseases.
On the other hand, the Ecuadorian initiative focused on the provinces of Manabí and Esmeraldas, two of the COVID-19 hardest hit areas, supporting drinking water and sanitation services in both areas. The project, executed by the NGO PROTOS, supported public drinking water and sanitation services for “montubios”, indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian populations, promoting the rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems that were operating in a deficient manner. Likewise, products for water disinfection were distributed among families and communities, and actions were carried out to strengthen the capacities of communities and municipal services. In total, the initiative directly benefited 30,000 people through the construction of small infrastructures (expansion of distribution networks, new pumping systems, delivery of filters, installation of sanitation tanks, etc.), while also working with institutions to promote appropriate planning and resource allocation processes.
Beyond the COVID pandemic emergency, the European Union remains committed to improving health systems globally through its Global Gateway strategy. In addition to improving access to drinking water and sanitation, investments are mobilised to strengthen pharmaceutical supply chains and improve national health regulatory frameworks, while promoting health research.
