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FINANCING COOPERATIONRegional cooperation in the water and sanitationsector: Latin America and the CaribbeanMiguel Campo Llopis, Anamaria Nunez and Jorge Ducci, Inter-American Development BankSince its creation in 1959, the Inter-American DevelopmentBank (IDB or ‘the bank’) has provided financial and technicalsupport for the improvement of water and sanitationservices in Latin America and the Caribbean. From 2007, with thecreation of the Water and Sanitation Division, IDB has workedjointly with the countries in the region 1 for the fulfilment of theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) and beyond; to ensureuniversal, quality access to suitable water and sanitation services.With regard to the water and sanitation sector, the MDGs are tohalve the number of people without access to safe drinking water 2sources and improved sanitation 3 by 2015, using 1990 as the baseyear. The most recent data on the whole region from 2010 showthat the goal of 93 per cent of access to safe drinking water sourceshas been overcome, but the goal of ensuring improved sanitationhas not (coverage in the region is 79 per cent and the goal is 84 percent). These coverage levels translate into 34 million people withoutaccess to safe drinking water sources and almost 124 million peoplewithout access to improved sanitation. 4In terms of funding, IDB’s commitment has been translatedinto financial support tools such as investment loansand donations, for a sum of around US$7 billion. Theseresources have been allocated to funding activities such asthe expansion and rehabilitation of water supply networksand sewage; basic rural sanitation and water systems;wastewater treatment plants; works for flood preventionand drainage; and construction of sanitary landfills.In order to be able to respond adequately to thedemands of countries in the context of climate change,the bank has reinforced its knowledge product rangeto emphasize issues related to the political economyand water resource management, strengthening of thesectoral institutional framework and incorporation ofnew work methodologies, among others. In addition,the IDB has put its technical and financial capacity atthe service of regional dialogue. It has established strategicalliances with other multilateral institutions andbilateral agencies, and increased the impact of the inter-The evolution of drinking water and sanitation coverage in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the MDG for 201510080Safe drinking waterImproved sanitationPer cent6040201990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015Source: IDB[ 156 ]