Last Friday, October 1st, the 28th High Level Technical Meeting took place: “Safe Water for a Healthy Life” in celebration of the Inter-American Water Day, an event organized by the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS), which seeks to promote: i) awareness of the importance of water as an essential natural resource for life and health, highlighting the need for its proper, efficient and responsible use; ii) create awareness amongst decision-makers and public opinion about the urgency of promoting the fight against contamination of water sources, promoting actions for the conservation, preservation and protection of water resources, in order to guarantee sustainable management and access of population to safe water; iii) promote the fight against water pollution, control of bacterial and parasitic diseases transmitted by water and iv) encourage governments and other actors in society to take advantage of Day A to work together to improve sanitary condition, universal access to safe water and sanitation, and quality of services.

The theme of this year, 2021, treated the safety of water for human consumption, which is a crucial factor in preventing diseases transmitted by water. Furthermore, it allows associating the occurrence of diseases with the vulnerability of the water supply system for human consumption since one of the main determinants of infant mortality corresponds to poor hygiene conditions, the lack of drinking water and its poor quality.

Jeannette Sánchez, Director of the Natural Resources Division of ECLAC, gave her opening remarks to the event and also presented a diagnosis of the situation of water resources in the Latin American and Caribbean region, where she highlighted the high levels of water scarcity, gaps in access to drinking water and sanitation services, as well as strong negative externalities due to unsustainable levels of water extraction and low levels of efficiency. In this context, and with the objective of improving water management, Sánchez indicated that ECLAC is currently promoting a sustainable and inclusive water transition that pursues three goals: i) universalize access to drinking water and sanitation, without leaving anyone behind; ii) reduce negative externalities such as overexploitation of water resources, contamination of water bodies, and conflicts until they disappear through greater control and incentives for the adoption of techniques that increase productivity and resilience to climate change; and finally; iii) move from linear water management to circular water management, in harmony with the natural hydrological cycle of water and with an approach where the health of our ecosystems is assured.