Skip to main content
Available in EnglishEspañol

Activities of the members of the Regional Group of Experts on Water Resources in Latin America and the Caribbean from September to November 2022

22 November 2022|Event

The Regional Expert Group on Water Resources in Latin America and the Caribbean has been created in the preparatory framework for the World Water Conference 2023. Between September and November 2022, its members have promoted various activities that contribute to the acceleration of the achievement of SDG 6:

The Andean Community (CAN) holds the Andean Regional Water Forum 2022

On 27 and 28 October, the Andean Regional Water Forum 2022 took place at the General Secretariat of the Andean Community in Lima (Peru). The Forum is an activity that is part of the development of the Andean Environmental Charter, approved by the Member Countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and is considered the first multilateral instrument that allows working together against the effects of climate change and in defence of biodiversity. In addition to being organised by the General Secretariat of the Andean Community, the event was supported by the regional project Andes Resilient to Climate Change, facilitated by the HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation - Avina Foundation consortium, and financed by the Swiss Cooperation. All member countries were represented at the forum through the attendance of government representatives, independent experts, local actors and academics. In this event, an exchange took place on the evolution, current situation and projections of water management and water resources in the CAN member countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru), common elements were identified, and progress was made in the generation of a roadmap to promote regional cooperation in the fulfilment of the Andean Environmental Charter.

More information on the Forum can be found at the following link

The event also counted with the collaboration of ECLAC through the Water and Energy Unit of the Natural Resources Division. More details of this intervention can be reviewed at the following link

The World Bank launches the report "Water Matters: Resilient, Inclusive and Green Growth through Water Security in Latin America" presented at the event "Connecting the Drops: How Does Water Matter for Latin America?".

The recent World Bank report, "Water Matters: Resilient, Inclusive and Green Growth through Water Security in Latin America", proposes to elevate water to the highest levels of national policy agendas. Water should not only be at the centre of efforts to promote inclusion and human development, but also in climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. In this way, the document argues that governments, citizens and private actors in the region must consider water as a strategic, finite and manageable good that knows no borders.

This recent report was presented by the World Bank at the event "Connecting the Drops: How Does Water Matter for Latin America?", which took place on 15 November 2022 in a hybrid format. The discussion, led by the World Bank's vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, aimed to analyse the relevance of the sector and how it must adapt to climate change by treating water as a strategic, valuable and manageable resource.

More information on the report can be found at the following link and on the event at the following link

The Latin American Development Bank (CAF) participated in the event "VIII Diálogos del Agua".

The VIII edition of the Latin America-Spain Water Dialogues took place on 18 October 2022 in Madrid. The event was organised by CAF at Casa de América with the collaboration of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge and brought together prominent leaders and experts in the water sector to find solutions that contribute to closing the water and sanitation gaps. In this edition, the dialogues were dedicated to the Circular Economy in Water Management.

The conference was a meeting and dialogue point to analyse and reflect on the efficient use of water, the conservation and improvement of the quality of water resources as well as the different benefits of the use of the by-products resulting from the purification processes.

More information on the event can be found at the following link

Global Water Partnership (GWP) Central America expands its GWP Toolbox for the subregion

The GWP ToolBox is a global knowledge platform that supports actors to apply Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), share knowledge and experience on its implementation, and bring stakeholders together to improve the way water is managed around the world. The tools cover a range of resources from technical and academic resources, official documents and GWP publications.

Recently, GWP Central America has expanded this instrument for the sub-region, with the objective that actors implementing IWRM can make more targeted use of it.

For more information on the GWP ToolBox click on the following link and on the GWP ToolBox Centroamerica click on the following link.

ALOAS/AySA organises the first National Encounter with Water in Argentina

On 27 and 28 October, the "First National Meeting with Water in Argentina" took place in Buenos Aires. This event was organised by AySA, the Sindicato Gran Buenos Aires de Trabajadores de Obras Sanitarias (SGBATOS), the National Ministry of Public Works, ENOHSA and FENTOS. It was attended by more than 1,500 people, including national and international water and sanitation authorities. In addition, 50 specialists from different sectors were present: legislators, civil servants, trade unions, researchers, civil society, among others, who presented the current trends and challenges in the water sector. It was organised into thematic panels on water and sanitation, climate change, gender, employment, water and trade, among others.

For more information on the event, please click on the following link

ECLAC participated in the meeting through the Director of the Natural Resources Division, Jeannette Sánchez. For more information about the message sent by ECLAC during the meeting, see the following link

Member organisations of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will participate in the "2nd Symposium on Water Management in Transboundary Basins".

The II International Symposium on Transboundary Waters for Latin America and the Caribbean organised by the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be held from 1 to 3 December in the city of La Paz. This symposium aims to strengthen dialogue, cooperation, the exchange of experiences, lessons learned and good practices among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on the management of transboundary water resources. The event will be attended by around twenty countries and experts on transboundary water resources, including members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The contributions, proposals and points of agreement that will emerge from the symposium will serve as inputs to further deepen the dialogue between countries sharing water resources.

More information on the event can be found at the following link and more information on IUCN's role in transboundary water cooperation can be found at the following link.

On the other hand, IUCN organised a series of side events to Ramsar COP14, which took place from 5-13 November. The 14th Meeting of the Ramsar COP on Wetlands (COP14) took place in a hybrid format in Wuhan (China) on the theme "wetland actions for people and nature". In parallel, IUCN organised a series of events on biodiversity, climate change and wetland resilience, facilitating debate and dialogue between attendees from different sectors.

More information on the events can be found at the following link.

CODIA held the Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors

The XXIII Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors (CODIA) was held on 26, 27 and 28 October 2022 under the chairmanship of the Dominican Republic. This meeting coincided with the Conference of Directors of Ibero-American Meteorological and Hydrological Services (CIMHET) and included a joint session of both conferences. Thus, 26 October was dedicated to the High-Level Regional Seminar: Road to the 2023 Water Conference. On the 27th and 28th, the 23rd CODIA Meeting took place, which included the Technical Dialogues on sanitation sector planning and the revision of the Work Programme and the Ibero-American Training Programme, as well as the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of CODIA.

Among the events to be highlighted, Panama adhered to the Agreements of the XXIII CODIA, and Mexico, after expressing its interest in joining the body, joined the Coordination Panel of the Ibero-American Training Programme.

For more information on the event and the Agreements of the XXIII CODIA, see the following link.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) presents the Handbook For Scaling Irrigation Systems.

The manual is a joint IFAD and IFC publication on how to develop and scale up innovative solutions to improve smallholder livelihoods and increase crop productivity. It presents best practices, case studies and guidelines on small-scale irrigation (SSI) for better soil and water management in the context of smallholder agriculture.

Access and consult more information on the manual at the following link.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) participates in the publication of the report "Climate Resilient Water Resources Management" as part of the "Coalition for Water and Climate" initiative.

The Water and Climate Coalition, of which the IDB is a member, in preparation for COP27 and the UN Water Conference 2023, has launched a joint publication of its members showcasing climate-resilient water resources management actions. It aims to put into perspective and initiate action on integrated water and climate challenges.

To access and read more information on the publication, please click on the following link.

Recently, given the increase in natural disasters associated with climate change that the region is experiencing and that pose a risk to water and sanitation infrastructure, the IDB group has launched and implemented the innovative instrument: "Caribbean Water Utility Insurance Company" (CWUIC). This is a parametric insurance which has been specifically created to insure Caribbean water and sanitation utilities against natural disaster risks in order to reduce costs and allow these utilities to obtain reinsurance under better terms and conditions.

More information on the instrument can be found at the following link

The Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS) organised a webinar for the 30th Inter-American Water Day.

On 3 October 2022, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Inter-American Water Day (IWD-A), the webinar "30 years Articulating Partnerships for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean" was held, organised by AIDIS and with the participation of institutional representatives and regional organisations. Its main objective was to assess the effectiveness of the actions and the potential of this commemoration for the region to advance in the achievement of the SDGs in a comprehensive manner and to have a special impact on the targets of SDG 6 and SDG 3. ECLAC, through its Water and Energy Unit, participated in the event, along with high-level representatives from other regional organizations.

For more information on the event, check the following link and to review ECLAC's intervention, check the following link.

ECLAC's Natural Resources Division commemorates the Inter-American Water Day through its participation in the webinar "Water unites us", organised by the Andean Health Organism.

The webinar "Water unites us" was held on Thursday 3 November, in the context of the celebration of the Inter-American Water Day. It was organised by the Andean Health Organisation - Hipólito Unanue Agreement (ORAS-CONHU), an institution constituted by the countries Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. This event is part of a series of weekly webinars that have been developed since May 2022 with the aim of promoting interdisciplinary learning on an ongoing basis. ECLAC gave a presentation on the water scenario in Latin America and the Caribbean, where it was shown that there are still significant gaps to achieve universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation. He then presented the situation of progress in the region in terms of SDG 6, where he indicated that for the targets for which data is available, progress is slow and in some cases there is even a trend that is far from the expected results by 2030. More information on this event can be found at the following link.

ECLAC publishes the results of the open consultation carried out to identify the water priorities of Caribbean countries

ECLAC developed an open consultation in the Caribbean to showcase the region's priorities on water resources. The consultation was conducted through an open online survey between August and October 2022. It aimed to gather input from different regional stakeholders as inputs for the preparatory process of the United Nations Water Conference to be held in March 2023.

The survey recorded more than 460 responses from 15 Caribbean and English-speaking Latin American countries. The majority of respondents self-identified as representatives of the public and private sectors and academia. From the responses received, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) was identified as the top priority in the region, followed by resilience and adaptation to climate change. An analysis of the responses by gender and sector was also carried out.

For more information on the results of the survey, please visit the following link