Strengthening water services to fight COVID-19 in Latin America
© AECID
Source: AECID
Spain has awarded three new grants in recent weeks to support the response to the COVID-19 emergency by reinforcing drinking water and sanitation services in rural communities to ensure human rights to water and sanitation. Two of the donations are destined to the Salvadoran NGO PROVIDA and Asociación de Desarrollo Económico Social - ADES Santa Marta for a value of 119,472 and 93,148 euros, respectively, and the third to the Ecuadorian NGO Centro de Apoyo al Desarrollo PROTOS EC for 212,617 euros.
The programs aim to strengthen prevention measures against the coronavirus in the most vulnerable rural communities. In El Salvador, for example, they include the purchase and distribution of purification kits, the acquisition and installation of chlorinators, as well as training for the correct operation of services and technical inspection of the systems. The donation granted in Ecuador will support public drinking water and sanitation services in Montubia, indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian populations in the Manabí and Esmeraldas provinces, promoting the rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems that are operating irregularly or with poor quality. Likewise, products for the disinfection of water in the family and community are included, as well as actions to strengthen the capacities of the communities and municipal services.
These emergency actions, which will last between 10 months and a year, are carried out with European funds from LAIF (Latin America Investment Facility) within the framework of the delegation agreement between AECID and the European Commission for the implementation of the Program: "Promote adaptation to climate change and comprehensive management of water resources in the water and sanitation sector in Latin America within the framework of the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation (FCAS)", which has been developing in Latin America for more than seven years with the collaboration of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
