Activities 2022
In SLV-059-B, aimed at supporting the sustainability of the drinking water and sanitation subsector in rural areas, the operational and management guidelines are already in place, and the implementation of eight projects for rehabilitating and improving water systems in rural communities in the Central region has begun. Regarding the governance component, changes in internal administration -such as the creation, in July 2022, of the Salvadoran Water Authority (ASA), the governing body for water in the country have led to some modifications in the structure and conception of the Program, while maintaining the same objectives.
In June 2022, a meeting was held between representatives of El Salvador and Spain to follow up on cooperation projects in water and sanitation, at which the importance of collaboration was highlighted, and the willingness to continue promoting the programs was reiterated.
Also, in July 2022, the Madresal Island desalination plant was inaugurated, a project corresponding to a program that had been completed the previous year (SLV-056-B) but had not yet been officially inaugurated due to the socio-health context. This project expanded drinking water coverage and improved the quality of life of more than 150 families, with more than 600 people residing on Madresal Island in the Usuluán apartment.
COUNTRY CONTEXT
Despite being considered a middle-income country, El Salvador still faces significant challenges. Thus, according to data from the Joint Monitoring Program of UNICEF and WHO, only 70% of the rural population has access to basic sanitation systems, and 1.12% still practice open defecation.
The Fund’s activities in El Salvador focus on two lines of work: 1) increasing water and sanitation coverage in rural or precarious peri-urban areas and 2) accompanying the process of strengthening public policy for managing rural systems.
Seventy million to various programs in El Salvador, which, in addition to improving access to water and sanitation services for rural populations, have contributed to the development of the National Integrated Water Resources Management Plan and the National Drinking Water and Sanitation Plan.
