Latin America: understanding rural reality, key to universal access to potable water

So that Latin America may provide efficient and safe water and sanitation services to all its inhabitants, it is essential to redefine the concept of rural, as it could be much wider than currently considered, according to the report Potable Water and Sanitation in the New Rurality of Latin America, developed by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America. 

According to the publication, a redefinition of what rural is, that updates the concept and incorporates socio-economic and demographic dimensions, in addition to access to services and connectivity, would contribute to improve the efficiency of the public policies that are implemented in rural areas, which register most of the deficits with respect to access to water and sanitation, with close to 46 million rural inhabitants lacking improved sanitation facilities and 21 million lacking access to potable water.  

In this respect, the report intends to facilitate the development and execution of rural water and sanitation projects in the region, through a redefinition of what rural is. 

Victor Arroyo, water and sanitation expert at CAF and coordinator of the publication, explained, "The strategies and planning of investments in water and sanitation must take into consideration the distinctive features of the inhabitants in rural areas. In coming years, it will be essential to make large investments and support governments, especially from municipalities and communities, to guarantee the quality and sustainability of the services".   

According to the expert, the new rurality of Latin America may become an opportunity to reduce the gap in access to water and sanitation services, and promote the inclusion of the needs and priorities of vulnerable groups and sectors, particularly the poor, if at an institutional level adequate measures are adopted, and greater resources are invested efficiently. According to Arroyo, "these investments will be determined by the public policies adopted and the capacity of the institutions dedicated to rural problems which, additionally, must design policies that consider comprehensive management approaches of water resources".  

Potable water and sanitation in the new rurality of Latin America constitute a useful tool to support the work of technicians dedicated to the development of sectorial water and sanitation policies at a national level, while at the same time providing guidelines for the design of higher impact projects. In addition, it analyzes other elements that are necessary to ensure the sustainability of the projects, such as participation of the communities in the design of technological solutions and management, operation, and maintenance of services, the approach based on demand, and the role of local governments. 

Status of countries in the region 

These are some of the key messages and x-ray that the report makes regarding the status of the countries of Latin America: 

• The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean advance toward a greater urbanization, but the rural population will not disappear. It is estimated that by 2030, some countries will have a rural population exceeding 30 percent. At the same time, social, economic, and political changes are designing what has been called "the new rurality". 
• Access to water and sanitation is a human right. Despite the advances achieved in the past two decades, the coverage gap between rural and urban areas, and between access to water and to sanitation remains. However, there are successful experiences validated in programs with a wide component of community participation, such as those in  Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru; in several cases there are intervention strategies in which rural communities contract services from suppliers to access the rehabilitation or construction of their potable water and basic sanitation systems. 
• One of the lessons provided by regional experiences refers to the per capita costs assigned by investments. This debate is even more complex when adopting rural sanitation policies that meet the current demands of a more conscious rural population, which is more connected, which aspires to a better quality service such as the one provided by the "basic sanitation unit" (UBS, for its acronym in Spanish), leaving behind the traditional latrines. UBSs are sustainable quality services, but at higher costs. 
• The cycle of rural water and sanitation projects must prioritize the quality and sustainability of the services over the development of infrastructure. To do this, it is necessary to guarantee support and follow-up during a reasonable time after the execution of the project. There are experiences of support in the post-project phase in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru, where local governments provide technical assistance to operators and rural communities. 
• During the implementation of rural programs, cross-sectoral or multil-sector coordination have been identified as intervention strategies that contribute to the improvement of implementation processes, generates synergies between local actors, and improves post-project assistance. 
• The decentralization processes in the region must be redisgned or re-launched to respond to the new challenges in the provision of basic services.