Governance and Institutional Strengthening

A commitment to better water governance

Institutional Strengthening has always been one of the fundamental pillars of the Fund’s work, which is committed to better water governance in its broadest sense. This is done in several ways. On the one hand, by promoting Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) to foster joint use and management of water resources and the adoption of basins and aquifers as planning and management units; on the other hand, by strengthening communities, institutions and public bodies in the recipient countries; and on the other hand, by strengthening the capacity of the public institutions and bodies in the recipient countries to manage water resources in a sustainable manner.

1.- Promoting Water Governance and Integrated Water Resources Management

analysis of indicator 6-5-1

Work has been carried out to develop strategic actions within the framework of hydrological planning, Integrated Water Resources Management and the model of basin organisations, always addressed to adaptation to climate change.

During 2021, the Fund has supported various studies, in collaboration with the Permanent Technical Secretariat of the Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors (CODIA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), on the degree of compliance with the SDG6 indicators in Ibero-American countries. In December, together with CODIA, an updated “Analysis of Indicator 6.5.1. Degree of Application of Integrated Water Resources Management in Ibero-American Countries. Second Cycle Update” was published. This study, initially conducted in 2019, was updated in 2021 to include the comparative progress, based on the results gathered by the Second Cycle of assessment of indicator 6.5.1, launched by UN-Water.

Both the 2021 update and the original version published in 2019, can be downloaded here (Spanish).

In addition, important work has been carried out to accompany partner countries, including the following actions in 2021 (further information in Section “Impacts in public policies” in this Report): Assisting the General Directorate of Water Resources of Honduras (DGRH-H) in the public information phase of the Regulations of the General Water Law (response to allegations presented); assisting the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador in the revision of the draft of the General Water Resources Law, which is expected to be approved in 2022; assisting the National Institute of Water Resources of the Dominican Republic in the drafting of the country’s National Water Resources Development Plan; carrying out various tasks to draft the Technical Guide for Hydrological Planning within the framework of IWRM for Ibero-America and assisting the Bolivian Ministry of the Environment and Water in the drafting of Drought Management Plans and the National Institute of Water Resources of Cuba in the definition of training programmes and practices for the institution’s technicians and managers

2.- Strengthening Operators

In order to promote greater sustainability of water and sanitation services, the Fund provides support to service operators. For this purpose, a number of activities are being promoted, which fall into the following typologies:

Training and capacity-building for operators (including twinning activities between operators);
Development of tools adapted to small operators to provide a quality service.
Support for diagnosis and improvement plans for the management of services.

Some of these activities are being promoted through the technical cooperation programmes based on funds from the regional LAIF programme and the Fund: both have a strategic line focused on strengthening operators, which is managed in collaboration with the IADB. On the other hand, some activities are being promoted directly by the Directorate for Cooperation with Latin America (DCALC), some of a transversal nature and others of a local nature in specific countries.

Training and Capacity-Building for Operators:
n November 2021, twinning between EMASESA and the Honduran operator Aguas de la Sierra de Montecillos began. The project will have an initial duration of three years and includes two visits by a group of EMASESA technicians to Honduras and a visit by ASM technicians to Seville, Spain. Aguas de la Sierra de Montecillos is a joint operator formed by the municipalities of Comayagua, Ajuterique and Lejamaní. It was created in 2019 with support from the Water and Sanitation Programme in the Comayagua Valley, funded by the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation, and provides water services to 18 communities in the aforementioned municipalities.

Related News: El Fondo de Cooperación para Agua y Saneamiento apoya el fortalecimiento de operadores en Honduras

Twinning also continued between Portoaguas, the operator of Portoviejo (Ecuador) and Emasesa. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two entities was signed on 29^th September 2021, followed by the first technical visit of EMASESA’s technical team to Portoaguas, in order to carry out a diagnosis of the company’s situation and make a proposal of activities and pilot plans to improve the operation of Portoaguas’ drinking water and sanitation systems. As a result of this mission, the document “Status report and initial objectives to be rstablished for the collaboration between Portoaguas EO and Emasesa, through the WOP” was drawn up.

Related News: Fortalecimiento institucional en Ecuador
Tools for Small Operators:
This year, with the support of Tragsatec, work has begun on a tool to diagnose operators and draw up an improvement plan, focused on rural operators with few resources. This tool can be used both in capacity-building programmes for existing operators and in the identification phase of new programmes to design the capacity-building component.
Support for Diagnosis and Improvement Plans:
Work is being carried out to promote the wastewater treatment and purification sector, with special emphasis on environmental conservation. This line of action ranges from training and capacity-building activities to the development of instruments or guides for the region
Support for Sectoral Planning:
Key issues for the Fund include sectoral planning and regulations. The existence of an adequate regulatory framework and sectoral planning is fundamental and must include essential aspects that go beyond infrastructure planning, and incorporate elements such as service organisation, development of the appropriate regulatory framework, training, and public awareness.

In this sense, work has been carried out with CODIA on a regional strategy to help countries revise their sectoral regulations, so that both the legislation and the technologies used are adapted to the needs of each of the countries and are not merely a transfer of technologies from other contexts. A specific example is the collaboration with Guatemala on the revision of its regulations on landfills, and in El Salvador on its regulations on reuse and sludge.

Similarly, the Fund has promoted the drafting of methodological guides for sectoral planning, as well as regional recommendations or guidelines. In 2021, several publications were published in collaboration with CEDEX. One relating to the “Analysis of Latin American regulations on population discharges” and another on “Methodologies for the estimation of wastewater treatment costs in sectoral planning“, with the aim of facilitating the estimation of treatment infrastructure costs, which will allow for the establishment of a realistic expenditure schedule. Both works have been promoted in collaboration and coordination with the Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors (CODIA). On the other hand, the document on Protocols for operational testing of treatment plants has been published.

In addition, in 2021, the Water Fund promoted, also in coordination with CODIA and with the collaboration of CEDEX, a three-day regional (virtual) workshop focused on the regulation of urban wastewater discharges, within the framework of the AECID Intercoonecta programme. It took place from 21^st to 23^rdJune and was attended by representatives of various institutions with an interest in the subject: the Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors (CODIA), the Centre for Studies and Experimentation of Public Works (CEDEX), the Mexican Institute of Water Technology (IMTA), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Latin American Development Bank (CAF), the National Institute of Water Resources of Cuba, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Guatemala, as well as the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador.

On the other hand, work is being carried out on the drafting of a Technical Guide to Hydrological Planning within the framework of IWRM, aimed at Latin America. This was agreed during the 19^th CODIA meeting, held in 2018. It established the need for a reference document to provide criteria and recommendations on the objectives and results of water planning: the minimum contents of a basin plan and the basic tasks to carry it out; the phases that can be established in the process of drawing up the plan; etc. It is intended to be a specific guide for Latin America, involving the countries and institutions of the region and offering an essentially practical and technical content, taking advantage of the experience acquired and responding to the difficulties encountered in the elaboration of IWRM plans.

3.- Capacity-building

capacity building

The Water Fund views capacity development holistically, as a way of helping all actors in the water and sanitation sector to achieve SDG 6 and the fulfilment of Human Rights to Water and Sanitation. This line of work therefore encompasses a wide range of activities aimed at broadening knowledge and improving both partner countries’ practices and our own work. All of this, while always facilitating the partner country’s leadership in its own development process.

Within capacity-building, work is carried out through multiple processes and using a variety of tools:

Specific training activities within the programmes
On the one hand, there are awareness-raising activities on the use of the resource, the importance of hygiene, etc… And, on the other hand, capacity-building on technical issues such as the maintenance of water systems, regulation of the sector, human rights… both in the community and institutionally. These training activities are embedded in the cooperation programmes in order to promote the sustainability of the interventions over time.
Creation of knowledge products
In recent years, the Fund has made a major effort to strengthen the area of creation and dissemination of the knowledge generated in the programmes carried out. To this end, experience must be gathered, systematised, analysed and the results published with the lessons learned. In this sense, the products published cover a wide range of issues: from the review of regulations in the countries in which we work to the development of methodologies, as well as the creation of tools and manuals that can have an impact on future cooperation projects. The aim is to guide and inform future investment decisions of partner countries in their water and sanitation sector strategies and policies.

See web publications
Technical assistance and twinning
Another way in which the Water Fund builds the capacity of partner countries is through Water Operator Partnerships (WOPS). So far, such twinning arrangements have been implemented in Bolivia, Honduras and Ecuador, and have proved to be a very useful tool to enhance exchanges and knowledge. Following the success of the WOPS, the Fund has also promoted other types of twinning: for example, between water management entities. An example of this was the joint work carried out between the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar in Spain and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) of El Salvador.

The work is also carried out at the various levels with which it interacts, so that the knowledge acquired permeates all the actors with whom it works, thus ensuring the sustainability of the programmes:

Local: Actions to raise public awareness and train people in communities and municipalities. This is done through training for plumbers, schools for female leaders, literacy training for adult women, workshops in schools…
National: work with national ministries and agencies, e.g. for the implementation of regulatory standards on water quality, management and governance
Regional: The Spanish Cooperation has a Knowledge Transfer, Exchange and Management Plan for the Development of Spanish Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean – Intercoonecta, which operates both online and through a wide network of knowledge and innovation nodes, located in Montevideo, Antigua, Cartagena and Santa Cruz (the latter focusing specifically on Water and Sanitation issues). In addition, thematic knowledge communities and planning are established and developed through different activities: face-to-face and online courses, workshops, creation of knowledge products, webinars, and other activities…

In addition, workshops to exchange of experiences between countries are also facilitated and funded regionally, and common recommendations are developed. In this line, the Fund maintains a close relationship with CODIA (Conference of Water Directors for Latin America) and supports the work of regional networks such as RIOCC (Ibero-American Network of Offices against Climate Change) or CIMHET (Ibero-American Meteorological and Hydrological Service Directors Conference). This networking is based on the conviction that working together with our partners in the whole process will offer a better and more sustainable exchange of experiences and knowledge, which will be useful both for the countries and for the cooperation policies themselves.

The ultimate goal is to work hand in hand with institutions and communities to strengthen institutions and promote human rights to water and sanitation, as well as public policies that favour resource sustainability.