Strategies│Small Scale Providers│Selected Projects│Active Projects
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the most urbanized region from the developing world, with 77 percent of the population in 2003 living in urban areas, and an urbanization rate surpassing that of Europe. Due to the lower percentage of rural population, and the accompanying pressures of urbanization, the rates of access to water and sanitation in rural areas lag behind the urban rates in all LAC countries. The greatest challenge in providing services in the rural areas is how to ensure service sustainability. Many countries in the region have made important efforts in investing in infrastructure, only to find after few years that a significant portion of the systems are not working appropriately or are nor functioning at all.
STRATEGIES
The World Bank has adopted the Demand Response Approach (DRA) as one of its guiding principles for investment in rural areas. Under DRA, communities choose the level of service for which they are willing to pay. This assures that one crucial element for sustainability – affordability of service – will be in place. However, for DRA to operate successfully in rural areas, project teams must include not only technical experts but also experts in social community intermediation to ensure that users make an informed choice. Technical assistance after works have been completed is also critical to build the skills necessary for operating and maintaining systems within rural communities. The National Water Supply and Sanitation Project in Peru (PRONASAR) offers a 15-month project cycle that includes eight months of support and technical assistance to communities after works have been completed.
Another issue critical to sustainability relates to the financing of services. A local institution must be responsible for recovering operation and maintenance costs and sensible tariffs coupled with universal micro-metering have proven to be useful tools for administering rural systems. However, the introduction and promotion of micro-metering has presented challenges at the community level. Community organizations in Paraguay in charge of providing water services have been able to sustain and expand their systems once billing based on micro-metering system is in place. Many projects rely on Water User’s Association (WUA) or Juntas de Agua y Saneamiento to deliver sustainable services and to build ownership among rural communities. WUAs are generally elected democratically and sometimes include representatives from local governments. There are many cases of successful WUA, such as Junta de Saneamiento de Itaugá* s, which has maintained and even expanded services over time. In some countries, WUAs have formed Associations (i.e. Federations) to buy equipments, parts and technical assistance services in bulk, reducing unit costs and allowing the WUAs to access urban-standard quality services. Associations of WUAs have been functioning in Honduras for many years such as the AHJASA (Honduran Association of Water and Sanitation Juntas) and in Paraguay, the IV Rural Water and Sanitation Project financed the creation of new Associations in the Departments of Central, Cordillera y Caazaapá.
Back to Top
SMALL SCALE PROVIDERS
Though many small towns face challenges similar to those present in the rural areas, they enjoy more opportunities for market-driven solutions and for the services from small-scale private operators, who frequently finance capital expenditures on their own. In the framework of decentralization, many such small towns can elect management models, ranging from municipal direct delivery to full system outsourcing. An emerging approach that incorporates local private participation at the local level relies on a Build Operate and Transfer program, in which a firm under the supervision of a community organization or the WUA, builds and operates the rural water system, collecting subsidies from the government for the construction when services are actually rendered to users. Under the IV Rural Water and Sanitation Project in Paraguay, the localities of Nanawa, Puerto Falcón, Beteretecué and Chaco’Í formed an agreement to consolidate their WUAs and participated in this scheme, for which a private operator will be managing the systems for 10 years. Similar approaches are being used in the localities of Capitán Bado-Mariscal López in the border with Brazil and the rural communities of Mondaý and Las Gardenias, among others.
Back to Top SELECTED PROJECTS
Paraguay Impact Evaluation Report: Community-Based Rural Water Systems and the Development of Village Committes, May 1998 (3M pdf)
This impact evaluation report on three rural water supply (RWS) projects in Paraguay provided loans to the National Environmental Sanitation Service (SENASA) with juntas de saneamiento to finance the provision of safe water and sanitation facilities.
Back to Top ACTIVE PROJECTS
Back to Top
* This website is not a World Bank site and the World Bank does not take responsibility for the views expressed
s - Spanish only
Updated March 2006
|
RSS