Mexico: IDB loans US$ 600 million to improve water, sanitation and hygiene in rural communities and schools

Two Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loans will help bring drinking water to 630,000 people, upgrade water and sanitation facilities in 20,000 schools, and reduce water-borne illnesses among 1.3 million students.

The first loan, for US$ 350 million, will finance the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Basic Education Program, that combines improvements in the physical infrastructure of 20,000 schools with a comprehensive programme of hygiene education and infrastructure maintenance. The program gives priority to schools in municipalities with high epidemiological risk indicators and high enrollment levels. By 2014, the programme aims to achieve a a 30 percent reduction in the prevalence of diarrheal diseases in participating schools, and a drop in illness-related absenteeism is expected to drop from 17.9 per cent to 12 per cent. The number of schools that are not connected to a water system will be reduced from 7,966 to 1,980 properties.

Central America: SWASH+ program expands to 150 more schools

Photo; Water For People

With new funds from the Inter-American Development Bank and The Coca-Cola Foundation, the SWASH+ program will provide safe drinking water, restroom facilities, and improved hygiene education to over 15,000 more students at 150 schools in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

SWASH+ (School Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Education Plus Community Impact) Central America is a regional of the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) that is be implemented by the US NGOs Water For People, CARE and Catholic Relief Services. So far the program has provided school sanitation facilities to 17,331 students in 152 schools.

In Guatemala, SWASH+ is targeting 65 additional schools and communities in Guatemala. In each school, the program trains the Parent-Teacher Association and school director to build a water supply system. Training on water treatment is also provided. The community helps to build or renovate school restrooms.

Co-financing from local governments and communities is a key part of SWASH+.

Parents and students also participate in hygiene training that emphasizes the importance of handwashing to prevent disease.

UNICEF, ITT and the Global Water Challenge have also been key supporters of the SWASH+ program.

Related web site: SWASH+

Source: Water for People, 23 Aug 2010

IDB offers grants to jump-start water and sanitation projects

Aquafund will finance project preparation and technical assistance to develop solutions for pressing water and sanitation problems.

Latin American and Caribbean governments that want to improve water and sanitation services can now apply for grants from the Aquafund, a new source of financing approved by the board of the Inter-American Development Bank today. (…)

Read all: Environmental Expert.com

IDB showcases water and sanitation providers from Latin America

To highlight successful solutions to the water and sanitation problems facing low-income communities in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Inter-American Development Bank will sponsor eight participants to Expo Zaragoza, an international exhibition on water and sustainable development in Spain.

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The IDB will sponsor the following providers at Expo Zaragoza:

June 27, 2008: Carlos Eduardo de Souza Braga, Governor of the Brazilian State of Amazonas, who will describe ‘Igarapes de Manaus,’ a water and sanitation project that emphasized social inclusion.

July 3, 2008: Americo Rocco, Director of the Sanitation Division of the City of Montevideo, Uruguay, will present the city’s urban sanitation plan.

July 8, 2008: José Miguel Zeledon, Director de Hidrologic Resources for Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment and Energy, will describe his country’s “National Strategy and Plan for Integrated Water Resource Management.”

July 16, 2008: Marlon Lara, former mayor of Puerto Cortés, Honduras, will present ‘The political economy of a water and sanitation reform process.”

July 18, 2008: Jorge Enrique Pizano, general manager of the Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado in Bogotá, Colombia, will describe a case of interest group participation in a watershed sanitation project involving the Bogotá River.

August 5, 2008: José Gabriel Roca Chavéz from the COSMOL cooperative in Montero, Bolivia, will present an overview of an innovative water and sanitation reform process.

August 25, 2008: The IDB will co-sponsor a special thematic panel session on water resource clean-up and recovery by inviting representatives of Empresas Públicas de Medellín (Colombia), SABESP (Brazil) and IDAAN (Panama).

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