The IDB’s Water and Sanitation Initiative In Latin America, more than one-fifth of the rural population does not have access to safe water and nearly half the population lacks adequate sanitation. Studies show that access to water and sanitation services can reduce water-related diseases such as diarrhea and cholera by up to 80 percent. And according to the Pan American Health Organization, improved access to sanitation and water produces economic benefits that range from $3 to $34 per $1 invested, increasing a country’s gross domestic product by an estimated two percent to seven percent. Consequently, water and sanitation is the biggest area of investment for the IDB, with some $2 billion in annual investments in the Latin American and Caribbean region. The Bank’s Water and Sanitation Initiative, launched in 2007, offers a new set of tools and flexible financing and has developed strategic guidelines, specific targets and special financial products to support solutions tailored to each country’s needs – as well as a range of opportunities for public and private institutions to partner with the Bank.
Spanish Water Fund The IDB and the Government of Spain have established a partnership to mobilize at least $500 million in grants for projects to expand water and sanitation services to low-income people in the region. This partnership brings together the IDB’s ample water and sanitation projects portfolio, the Bank’s experience in this area, and its network of sector specialists in its country offices, and the vision and experience of Spanish cooperation. This has paved the way for the quick and efficient implementation of projects assigned top priority by the Bank’s borrowing members. The Fund provides grants for projects related to drinking water, sewage systems, wastewater treatment, urban rainwater drainage systems, water resources management, solid waste management (when it contributes to the sustainability of water and sanitation infrastructure) and efficiency and operations management. Grants are used for project preparation, strengthening of government entities and service providers, training and research, as well as to finance expansion and rehabilitation of services, and for wastewater treatment.
One of Opportunities for the Majority’s 11 approved projects in 2011 was a $2 million loan to El Salvador’s Banco ProCredit, aimed at improving access to potable water and sanitation in the country’s rural and peri-urban areas.
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