Living without Sanitary Sewers in Latin America: The Business of Collecting Fecal Sludge in Four Latin American Cities

This is an investigation of fecal sludge removal, collection, and disposal in peri-urban areas of Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras (all countries where sanitary sewerage coverage is below the regional average). Based on surveys and focus groups among users, surveys and interviews with operators, and interviews with strategic stakeholders, the author describes the existing institutional structures and markets for sludge collection services in these places and recommends ways they can be improved

Bolivia and the paradoxes of democratic consolidation

In Bolivia from the 1990s on, two presidents were ousted by popular protests, and protests were rampant. The protests expressed a growing discontent not only with successive administrations and their policies but with politics itself. The polity failed to built trust in democracy, ignored or repressed protests, and thus contributed to a process of democratic "deconsolidation." The main factors were corruption and the reluctance of the traditional political parties to discuss the neoliberal economic model. As a result, the current administration of Evo Morales faces two challenges: to change economic policies and to repair the support for democracy

Políticas e institucionalidad en materia de agua potable y saneamiento en América Latina y el Caribe

Incluye bibliografía.El presente documento describe las políticas públicas en agua potable y saneamiento de 22 países de América Latina y el Caribe: su marco normativo, planes sectoriales y la institucionalidad existente. En muchos países se ha modificado la estructura institucional del sector. Dichas reformas han impulsado la separación institucional de las funciones de rectoría y definición de políticas sectoriales, respecto de las de regulación económica y de prestación de los servicios. Sin embargo, la normativa sectorial de varios países todavía requiere ser actualizada conforme a las nuevas condiciones, cambios constitucionales y desafíos emergentes. Por ejemplo, la separación de funciones institucionales todavía es incipiente en algunos de ellos. Otra tendencia es la descentralización de la prestación de los servicios, casi siempre hacia el nivel municipal. En tercer lugar, en muchos casos se han adoptado políticas tendientes a asegurar la administración despolitizada de los servicios, con un criterio más técnico y comercial. Sin embargo, muchos prestadores públicos cuentan todavía con un gobierno corporativo con alta dependencia del nivel central o subnacional de gobierno, lo que les resta autonomía.Resumen .-- I. Introducción .-- II. Casos nacionales: Argentina - Barbados - Bolivia (estado Plurinacional de) - Brasil - Chile - Colombia - Costa Rica - Ecuador - El Salvador - Guatemala - Haiti - Honduras - Jamaica - México - Nicaragua - Panamá - Paraguay - Perú - República Dominicana - Trinidad y Tabago - Uruguay - Venezuela (República Bolivariana de)

Water for food systems and nutrition. Food Systems Summit Brief

In von Braun, J.; Afsana, K.; Fresco, L. O.; Hassan, M. (Eds.). Science and innovations for food systems transformation and summit actions: papers by the Scientific Group and its partners in support of the UN Food Systems Summit 2021. Bonn, Germany: University of Bonn. Center for Development Research (ZEF).Access to sufficient and clean freshwater is essential for all life. Water is also essential for food system functioning: as a key input into food production, but also in processing and preparation, and as a food itself. Water scarcity and pollution are growing, affecting poorer populations, particularly food producers. Malnutrition levels are also on the rise, and this is closely linked to water scarcity. The achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 and SDG 6 are co-dependent. Solutions to jointly improve food systems and water security outcomes that the United Nations Food Security Summit (UNFSS) should consider include: 1) strengthening efforts to retain water-based ecosystems and their functions; 2) improving agricultural water management for better diets for all; 3) reducing water and food losses beyond the farmgate; 4) coordinating water with nutrition and health interventions; 5) increasing the environmental sustainability of food systems; 6) explicitly addressing social inequities in water-nutrition linkages; and 7) improving data quality and monitoring for water-food system linkages, drawing on innovations in information and communications technology (ICT)

Water for food systems and nutrition. Food Systems Summit Brief prepared by research partners of the Scientific Group for the Food Systems Summit 2021

Access to sufficient and clean freshwater is essential for all life. Water is also essential for food system functioning: as a key input into food production, but also in processing and preparation, and as a food itself. Water scarcity and pollution are growing, affecting poorer populations, particularly food producers. Malnutrition levels are also on the rise, and this is closely linked to water scarcity. Achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) and Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) are co-dependent. Solutions to jointly improve food systems and water security outcomes that the United Nations Food Security Summit (UNFSS) should consider include: 1) Strengthening efforts to retain water-based ecosystems and their functions; 2) Improving agricultural water management for better diets for all; 3) Reducing water and food losses beyond the farmgate; 4) Coordinating water with nutrition and health interventions; 5) Increasing the environmental sustainability of food systems; 6) Explicitly addressing social inequities in water-nutrition linkages; and 7) Improving data quality and monitoring for water-food system linkages, drawing on innovations in information and communications technology (ICT)