Latin America and Caribbean resumes issues and solutions of Forum

On 15 March, the six working groups of the Latin America and Caribbean regional sessions presented a general overview of the water issues in the Americas. Solutions were presented along with the conclusions of the regional process.

Most countries in Latin America and Caribbean have experienced strong economic growth during the last years, passing through the world crisis with little damage. One of the benefits of this fast growth is that 73 million people have been lifted out of moderate poverty since 2003.

However, this continent experiences huge gaps in terms of income distribution and inequality in the world, this is reflected in water access inequity, sanitation and infrastructure gaps, as well as in installed electricity capacity and road density, according to Ede Jorge Ijjaz-Vasquez, Director of Sustainable Development Department for Latin America and Caribbean (World Bank ). The preservation of natural resources, especially of water, in those countries is essential to support this growth, as Latin America  is largely a commodities producer and exporter.

Solutions to commitments

During this week, several solutions concerning to the human right to water and sanitation, water-based climate changes adaptation, water governance, food security and use of water in agriculture, harmonizing water, energy and ecosystem services were presented and discussed. The conclusions of this process were synthesized on 15 March, in a final session for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Some identified examples of solutions that are already being implemented in Latin America and Caribbean are tools to anticipate and attenuate the effect of climate changes and extreme weather events, methodologies to capacitate and increase agriculture productivity through a better use of water and payment for environmental services to secure water quality and quantity and reduce poverty.

Concerning water-based climate change adaptation, a number of commitments were reached, as part of the 6^th World Water Forum targets by the Regional policy dialog on water and climate change in the Americas - RPD.The Regional Policy Dialogue on Water and Climate Change in the Americas will further pursue the objectives of the 6^th World Water Forum.This includes the creation and implementation of at least 32 Water Funds by an alliance formed by The Nature Conservancy - TNC, the FEMSA Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank - IBD and the Global environment facility – GEF.

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