Serving the urban poor in Latin America

Transcription

1 Serving the urban poor in Latin America Lessons learnt from seven cities presented by François Brikké Regional Team Leader WSP LAC Water Week 2007

2 The challenge Coverage is still far from being satisfactory in Latin America: 60 million persons do not have access to adequate water supply 137 million persons do not have access to adequate sanitation services Percentages vary highly, from 34% urban sanitation coverage in Haiti to 95% in Chile. National percentages can hide local realities, especially the ones of the urban poor

3 The Challenge $5 $4 $3 Price of Cubic Meter of Water by Type of Service Provider (in USD) Piped Un piped $3.60 $6.32 $11.00 $2 $1 $0 $0.79 $0.86 $0.02 $0.17 $0.34 $0.45 $0.76 Public Utilities Private Networks Private Pointsource Vendors Private Tanker Trucks Private Carters Source: World Bank, based on data from 47 countries and 93 locations

4 Study done in Seven Cities with BPD State Public utility Managua Tegucigalpa State Public utility Multisectorial Utility Medellín Private Concession State Public Utility Municipal Public Utility Guayaquil Lima Arequipa Santa Cruz Cooperatives

5 Cities/Countries Population Poor People (%) Services Provider Arequipa Perú 920,000 37% SEDAPAR S.A Municipal Public Company Lima / Perú 8,000,000 39% SEDAPAL State Public Company Guayaquil/ Ecuador 2,300,000 (64%) Interagua Private Company Santa Cruz/ Bolivia 1,160,000 25% Saguapac Service cooperative Medellín/ Colombia 2, 300,000 (25%) EEPPM Municipal Public Company Managua/ Nicaragua 1,100,000 53% ENACAL Sate Public Company Tegucigalpa/ Honduras 955,000 40% SANAA State Public Company Field Research in Seven Latina American Cities May/June 2006

6 What did we find? Low access to WSS services for the poor Poor quality and continuity of water services Water leakage and illegal connections Poor management of waste water and contamination High cost of water from vendors No promotion of hygiene practices and good use water Limited presence of local governments in periurban settlements Limited promotion of low cost technology

7 Major challenges. but also successes

8 Guayaquil s successes Environmental education programmes with communities involving schools The private utility (Interagua) has worked with a community association to build reservoirs where the network can be extended.

9 Lima s successes Autonomous water committees (COVAPS) manage and sell water bought in bulk Condominial system put in place Promotion of hygiene and rational use of water

10 Managua s successes Utilities attention to marginal zones of the city with additional funding and eextension of network (Programme Mejora de Barrios) ENACAL has experienced micro credits to the people in order to buy some plumbing materials and pipes.

11 Santa Cruz s successes A cooperative of water service shows that population can be organized to work as a public enterprise. People are users but at the same time, owners of their systems. Stability and responsibility of the Management Board, and a common presentation of reports and financial status to the Users Assembly have been key.

12 Tegucigalpa successes Legal framework of the Water and Sanitation Sector, stipulates a seperation of functions. More attention given by the local authorities to the urban poor. Users in neighborhoods receive a direct service from SANAA the national facility, using a central water meter, installing water tanks and public reservoirs.

13 Arequipa s successes Multisectorial Committee of the Río Chili, with the following objectives: Promotion of a water culture Active participation of all actors involved in water in the River Basin and establish witht them The Commiittee is using a model of associative management in which participate the oublic and privatr entities and the civil society.

14 Medellin s successes Medellin Public Enterprise (EEPPM) gives attention to the poor people of the city The Social Contract Program. EEPPM and the community has developed an strategy to work together expanding the network using a social contract to guarantee the quality of the works.

15 Lesson learnt The financial sustainability and technical competence of utilities are necessary but not sufficient to serve the poor Need of policies focusing on the poor Shared responsibility between local authorities, utilities and communities Flexibility needed on level of service, payments, tariffs

16 Lessons learnt There are various levels of relationships that can affect provision of WSS services to the poor Local Authority Utility Community Legal, institucional y regulatorio

17 Conclusions Despite the fact that the poor pays high rates for water, access to quality services is very poor. Water sector policies need to be specific to reach the urban poor settlements with quality and sustainable WSS. Innovative financial mechanisms such as microfinancing might be an alternative to support the poor Periurban community organizations are committed to contribute and to participate in implementing W&S services. Tested low cost technology such as condominial is available to provide quality and sustainable W&S services.

18 Conclusions Hygiene promotion practices with focus on good use of water, HW, solid waste should be an integral component to train local government officials and communities. Small scale local entrepreneurs cooperatives and community associations (Juntas en Medellin) are a good alternative for water service provision to the poor but specific regulation rules to assure quality are needed. There is the will of national and international organizations to support the development of a thematic network to disseminate lessons learnt and share best practices

19 Conclusions Providing adequate Water and Sanitation services to the poor is the business of ALL working in partnerships Local authorities Utilities Small scale operators Community groups Government authorities Universities and Research Institutions Support agencies