Latin America: Regional workshop on “Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Infrastructure Projects” held in December 2009 in Lima, Peru

“Mainstreaming the gender dimension in infrastructure projects is an opportunity to implement gender equality in our society and to provide women with greater control over socio-economic resources”.

With this powerful statement, Mrs. Nidia Vilchez, Peru’s Minister of Gender and Social Development, opened a workshop on Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Infrastructure Projects which took place in Lima, Peru, on December 3rd and 4th, 2009.

Her words resonated with the 100 or so professionals from 19 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean who participated in the workshop co-organized by the World Bank’s Gender and Development Unit and LCR Region, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Caribbean Development Bank. This was the second workshop sponsored by the Multilateral Development Banks’ Gender Working Group. The Peru workshop focused on four key sectors: energy, irrigation, transport, water and sanitation. During the workshop, participants learned from successful projects from LCR and other regions.

Participants went on a one-day field visit which enabled them to witness first-hand the merits of integrating gender equality in the PRONASAR- rural water supply and sanitation program, and the PSI Sierra irrigation project, where women have assumed a leadership role in water user associations. [...] As one participant commented “What Peru has done in PRONASAR, we should all do in Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Water project presentations

In Guatemala, the Solar Foundation (Fundación Solar) has empowered women to lead the design of the Rio Naranjo Watershed sustainability program. “Thanks to the targeted training program, more than 40 percent of participants in water management associations are now women” commented Mara Rivera, a project beneficiary. Read the presentation.

Other presentations included:

• Justo Calixto Gonzales Coronel: Evolution of the Gender Perspective for Access to Water in Paraguay’s Rural Areas (PDF, 1143 kb)
• Virginia Ugalde: Mexico. Rural Water and Sanitation Project (Español, MS Powerpoint, 2075 kb)
• Nancy Namis: Belize, Rural Water Supply Project (PDF, 1268 kb)
• Erwin De Nys: Peru. Multisectoral Irrigation Project – PSI (Español, PDF, 5548 kb)
• Anne-Marie Urban: Haiti. Rural Water and Sanitation Project (Español, MS Powerpoint, 93 kb)

Next Steps & Challenges

A strong message from workshop participants was that day-to-day obstacles still exist, especially the challenge to convince decision makers of the importance of mainstreaming gender equality in infrastructure projects as a matter of development effectiveness.

The World Bank and its partner Regional Development Banks are all scaling up infrastructure lending, in particular in the context of the economic crisis as was stressed by Michel Kerf, Sector Manager for Sustainable Development in the Lima Regional Office. This represents a significant opportunity to mainstream gender equality.

Methods to address gender equality in various sectors already exist, but must be systematically used. However, participants also requested that the Banks coordinate efforts to deepen their monitoring and impact evaluation work, to showcase evidence of the development gains from gender equality.

The workshop agenda, list of participants, and presentations, including the television program which was aired on Canal 8, are available at http://go.worldbank.org/X8Z32USA00

Source: Dominique Lallement and Paloma Marcos, World Bank, 02 Feb 2010

Watch the Workshop video (2 hrs, in Spanish)

Peru-China: social responsibility missing in growing trade ties

China has become Peru’s second largest trade partner, with interests basically in mining and oil. However, it is viewed with caution by this Andean nation, because the Asian giant has a reputation for flouting environmental standards and labour rights.

China accounts for 40 percent of the total investment flowing into Latin America, while this region is an important source of commodities needed for China’s breakneck rate of growth.

But analysts say this relationship should be radically modified so that the emerging global power becomes an actual partner, making a real contribution to development in Peru.

Peruvian economist Víctor Torres Torres and U.S. political scientist Cynthia Sanborn have written “La Economía China y las Industrias Extractivas: Desafíos para el Perú” (China’s Economy and Extractive Industries: Challenges for Peru), a book that describes how Beijing’s increasing investment in Peru is concentrated in the extractive industries.

There are two leading Chinese mining firms in Peru: Chinalco, which runs the Toromocho mine, and the Zijin Consortium, which administers Río Blanco, the new name for the controversial project formerly known as Majaz.

The Río Blanco project has been at the centre of conflict with local people opposed to the mine since 2004. Several people have been killed and many more wounded, and legal charges have been brought against dozens of rural leaders and environmental activists.

The latest violent incident took place in December [2009] in the province of Huancabamba, where two local peasant farmers were shot and killed during police investigations in their villages of an earlier attack on the mining camp, according to the La República newspaper.

The view of local residents is that the government wants to impose the mining project on them because of the close relations between Lima and Beijing, reflected by a free trade agreement signed in April 2009. The trade deal was presented as a tool to affirm China’s position as the second purchaser of Peruvian exports, after the United States.

But the agreement does not include “any stipulations about environmental and labour standards, which is worrying in the light of the behaviour of the Chinese government and its companies in those fields,” Torres said.

One symbol of irresponsible practices by Chinese companies in Peru is Shougang Hierro Peru, which has been mining iron ore in the country since 1992, and has failed to fulfil its initial investment commitment with the Peruvian state.

The Chinese firm is also accused of causing pollution and flouting health standards and labour laws as well as the right of workers to form trade unions.

Moreover, local people in the district of San Juan de Marcona, where the mine is situated, have to get the company’s permission to obtain water, sanitation or electricity.

Read the full article: Milagros Salazar, IPS, 03 Feb 2010

Latin America: authorities aim to replicate programmes of Dominican Republic’s water authority Indrhi

Panama’s environment authority Anam and Mexico’s Querétaro University are interested in duplicating programs that have been developed by the Dominican Republic’s water authority Indrhi, the Dominican Republic’s local paper Listín Diario reported.

Representatives from Anam and Querétaro University visited Indrhi last week to learn more about its basin management policy, its institutional structure and the initiatives it has implemented to improve potable water supply.

The Panamanian group said they want to create a program, similar to Indrhi, to teach people the correct use of water resources, while the Mexican delegation showed interest in signing cooperation agreements with Indrhi.

The foreign delegation also visited the Centro para la Gestión Sostenible de los Recursos Hídricos en los Estados Insulares del Caribe (CEHICA), which is managed by Indrhi president Frank Rodríguez and supported by Unesco. (See also: Republica Dominicana: el INDRH alberga la sede de centro para la gestión del agua en los estados insulares del Caribe, Boletines de Noticias, 26 Oct 2009)

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 03 Feb 2010

Honduras, Tegucigalpa: water authority increases water rationing

Honduran water authority Sanaa has announced further water rationing in capital Tegucigalpa to combat the drought affecting the region, local paper El Heraldo reported.

The majority of neighborhoods will now only receive water twice a week due to the falling water levels in the Los Laureles and La Concepción reservoirs which serve the capital city.

Water levels in Los Laureles water reservoir decreased by 3% in just three days.

Meanwhile, Sanaa is drilling deep wells to obtain more resources. However, water from these wells contains a lot of salt, lime and magnesium and requires chemical treatment before it can be distributed.

Hospitals in the city will not be affected by the water rationing. A water pumping station will be installed in one of the deep wells to provide water to Escuela hospital, while Sanaa will use trucks to transport potable water into the city’s private hospitals, the report said.

The city’s plight is due to the effects of the climate phenomenon El Niño which has reduced rainfall in many Central and South American countries.

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 03 Feb 2010

Haiti: international aid efforts moving slowly but surely

Sanitation conditions in Haiti are gradually improving thanks to the efforts of aid workers following the earthquake that devastated the capital Port-au-Prince on 12 January 2010. However, progress has been slow and there are many obstacles that still need to be overcome.

As of 31 January 2010, the damage from the earthquake has left 112,405 dead, 196,595 injured and over 11 million people homeless, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The Haitian capital lacks sewerage infrastructure and the earthquake ruptured the city’s water lines. Garbage is also accumulating in the streets which is exacerbating the health risks.

The WASH Cluster is now reaching 500,000 people with 5 litres per person per day, according to the DFID situation report of 2 February 2010. With water provision now adequate, sanitation is the next priority. The cluster reports that 7,000 latrines are needed. A distribution plan for 1,169 latrine slabs has been agreed with partners in Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Jacmel.

UNICEF video on emergency water and sanitation in Haiti

The WASH Cluster Haiti Update of 30 January 2010 reports that 292 latrines have been completed or are under construction across the country, serving a potential 29,000 people assuming 1 latrine serves 100 people. The Sanitation Strategic Working Group composed of the WASH Cluster, UNICEF, Oxfam, Care, World Vision, ACF and ICRC are proposing the use of portable chemical toilets through a joint venture between a local sanitation firm and Armal Inc.

Slow Progress

Action Against Hunger (ACF) is distributing potable water and food, although the recovery process is moving slowly, according to Lucile Grosjean from ACF in Haiti. “There is garbage everywhere,” Grosjean said.

The local government did not allow ACF or any organization to dig trenches in the Haitian capital’s central plaza, the Champs de Mars, said Grosjean. These trenches were to be used to dispose of the accumulating waste and human feces of between 20,000 and 25,000 people which have congregated in the area.

As a result, ACF has started to build above-ground latrines and began digging trenches to install the latrines in the Croix Deprez area, according to Grosjean.

At the same time, International Migration Organization (IOM) is distributing tents, hygiene kits, blankets, jerry cans, plastic sheeting, water bladders and water purifying kits, donated by the US, Japanese and Turkish governments. These efforts are expected to benefit some 26,000 people, IOM reported on its website.

Meanwhile, international aid organization Care is distributing hygiene kits and training survivors to purify contaminated water.

Care representatives are showing people how to use the purifying packets, since the objective is for Haitians to start carrying out the process by themselves.

“We are trying to identify people in neighborhoods or communities and train them so they can then go on to train more people,” the official added.

Care will be distributing PUR packets in the coming weeks together with large buckets where water can be purified. The organization will also provide other items such as soap and sanitary napkins.

During the emergency phase of the earthquake, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ensured a round-the-clock supply of water by trucks to Cité Soleil, the poorest area of the capital Port-au-Prince.

Removing the rubble

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is working to remove rubble and garbage, in an effort to improve general sanitation conditions.

UNDP is currently employing more than 1,000 Haitians to restart economic activity. After the emergency, the organization hired 700 inhabitants to remove rubble and rehabilitate essential social infrastructure, such as street repairs and electricity.

Prior to the earthquake UNDP had 400 employees carrying out an ecological project in Carrefour, a neighborhood located south of Port-au-Prince. Following the earthquake, the workers and trucks from this project started to remove the rubble and clean streets so other trucks carrying aid could go through, the official said.

In spite of the urgency to reorganize capital Port-au-Prince, resources continue to be limited. UNDP estimates that a US$41.3mn donation is needed for early recovery initiatives in Haiti. This is part of a nearly US$600mn flash appeal launched by UNDP on January 15. The organization estimates some US$58.8mn needs to be invested in water, sanitation and hygiene programs.

Relocation

Using free transport provided by the government, more than 235,000 people have left Port-au-Prince and moved to rural neighborhoods where the effects of the earthquake were not so severe. Some 62,000 have relocated to Artibonite, for example. However, 800,000 people are still living in temporary camps in the capital, OCHA reported.

To avoid the spread of diseases, the government is planning to relocate another 400,000 from Port-au-Prince to new settlements which are being set up. The relocation program will be carried out in the coming weeks.

Next Steps

Haiti declared the search and rescue phase over on 23 January 2010 so international rescue teams are concentrating more on humanitarian aid for those who need it, instead of searching the rubble for survivors.

Multilateral entities such as the World Bank and IDB are already taking steps to waive debts. UK-based charity Oxfam has urged donor countries to have Haiti’s foreign debts cancelled. It called for about US$900mn owed to the UN, the World Bank and countries including the US, France, Canada and Brazil to be written off.

Go the Reliefweb site for latest Haiti earthquake water and sanitation updates.

Source: Indiana Corrales, BNamericas.com [subscription site], 25 Jan 2010 ; OCHA, 31 Jan 2010 ; DFID, 02 Feb 2010 ; ICRC, 29 Jan 2010

Guatemala: authorities to plant tulle, install biofilters to clean up Atitlán lake

Guatemala’s protected areas authority Conap will start planting tulle in Atitlán lake in Sololá province by March 2010, Conap’s Atitlán technical unit director Juan Mendoza said.

Tulle acts as a natural filter and will help clean up the highly contaminated lake, Mendoza said, adding that if all goes according to schedule, tulle will be fully planted in specific areas by June.

Conap has already identified where to plant the tulle as it must be planted in shallow waters where there are no rocks.

The initiative will require an investment of approximately 500,000 quetzals (US$60,130), according to Mendoza.

Biofilters

Conap also plans to install biofilters in certain areas of the lake. Conap – together with authorities from the Amatitlán lake sustainable use authority Amsa – has finished a study to determine the feasibility of this initiative.

Both the tulle and biofilters will prevent waste from spreading into the lake and, in addition, tulle provides a habitat for flora and fauna, said Mendoza.

The feasibility study carried out by Amsa and Conap cost 100,000 quetzals (US$12,000) and, once the conclusions are reached, authorities will determine the exact amount required for the installation and maintenance of the tulle and biofilters.

These actions are part of environment ministry Marn’s 310mn quetzal (US$37.4mn) plan to clean up Atitlán lake, which currently has high levels of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. The algae’s proliferation is caused by the presence of domestic waste and untreated wastewater in the lake.

The overall plan also involves building wastewater treatment plants, septic tanks, sanitary sewerage systems, closing down unauthorized garbage dumps, the gradual prohibition of inorganic fertilizers and chemical soaps, technical and economic support for municipalities in the province, and sanctions for domestic and industrial users caught polluting the lake.

Source: Indiana Corrales, BNamericas.com [subscription site], 29 Jan 2010

Venezuela: Chávez announces Alejandro Hitcher as new environment minister

Ing. Alejandro Hitcher nuevo ministro del Poder Popular para el Ambiente

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced that Alejandro Hitcher will take over as the new environment minister.

Hitcher is currently president of state-owned waterworks company Hidrocapital and will replace Yubirí Ortega who resigned on 25 January 2010 “for strictly personal reasons.”

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 27 Jan 2010

Bolivia: Morales names new environment and water minister

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has appointed María Esther Urdaneta as the country’s new environment and water minister as part of a cabinet shuffle on the second day of his new presidential term.

Urdaneta, a former researcher at the center for investigation and promotion of rural communities, will replace former minister René Orellana. She has campaigned for recognition of the right to water as a universal human right, according to the ministerial web site.

The ministry will now redouble efforts to improve potable water, sanitation and irrigation services, Urdaneta said at a handover ceremony in La Paz.

Mary Esther Udaeta (r) inaugurated as new water minister

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 26 Jan 2010

Costa Rica: Govt developing US$270mn wastewater treatment plan

Costa Rica’s state water utility AyA will invest US$270mn to start treating the 2,800l/s of wastewater currently produced in the greater metropolitan area in and around capital San José, local paper La Nación reported.

The project involves the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the sewerage networks in nine municipalities in San José and one in Cartago province. A total of 360km of secondary pipelines will be installed and four trunk sewers will be repaired.

A wastewater treatment plant will also be built in the La Uruca municipality.

A US$17.4mn tender to carry out studies and draw up the master plan for the underground network was awarded to a consortium formed by Japanese NJS and the French firm Sogreah on January 22.

Pending contracts include the construction of the underground network and for the wastewater treatment plant. Two Spanish firms and a French firm are participating in the tender process to build the plant, the report said.

The initiative is being financed with a US$130mn loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Another US$140mn will be provided from the country’s own resources.

Upon completion in 2015, wastewater produced by the 1mn people living in the San José municipalities of Desamparados, Goicoechea, Alajuelita, Vázquez de Coronado, Tibás, Moravia, Montes de Oca, Curridabat and Central will be treated. La Unión municipality will also benefit.

Currently, wastewater from these municipalities is disposed of without treatment in the rivers Torres, María Aguilar, Rivera and Tiribí.

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 25 Jan 2010

Nicaragua: Congress to create national water authority in 2010

Nicaragua’s congressional environment and natural resources committee has approved its 2010 work plan which gives priority to the creation of the national water authority (ANA), congress reported in a release.

The national water law was approved in 2007 to protect and preserve the country’s water resources. Under the law, ANA will be a decentralized organization, with administrative and financial autonomy.

ANA will be responsible for drawing up a national water resources plan, keeping track of water levels in basins, maintaining a public registry of water rights, and promoting the use and development of water resources. The authority is also expected to monitor the construction of water infrastructure.

In Q1, the legislative committee also plans to finish drawing up a bill on potable water and sanitation committees, as well as move forward with bills on biological diversity and preservation. The committee will also visit companies that have problems with pollution in Tipitapa, Nindirí and Granada, the release said.

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 25 Jan 2010