The program has received a total contribution of 770,000 euro from the Water Fund. It is estimated to directly benefit some 37,000 inhabitants of the urban area of Santa Rosa de Copán, specifically affecting some 7,000 homes, six health centers, and 20 schools.
The work in the Comayagua Valley is another example of the Fund’s continued commitment to this area: for more than a decade, the municipalities of Comayagua, Ajuterique, and Lejamaní have been beneficiaries of a Fund intervention, which is now complemented by a new Water and sanitation program in the Comayagua Valley (HND-018-B). This complementary phase involves creating a macro water system that will benefit the entire population of the northwestern Comayagua Valley. In addition, the program provides sanitation solutions (120 water-closing latrines have already been built) to several rural communities in Lejamaní, Ajuterique, Isla del Triunfo, Ojo de Agua, El Porvenir, Casabeles and Carlos Miranda. Among other activities, this program has worked on designing improvements for five educational centers and has developed an Environmental Education Plan, from which some twenty workshops have already been set. It also has a robust institutional strengthening component for the Aguas de la Sierra de Montecillos provider, created in the previous phase of the program. For this reason, throughout 2022, several exchanges have occurred with personnel from the Municipal Water Company of Seville (EMASESA) to share experiences and advice.
The program places great emphasis on sustainable development: a person has been hired to support the training of the population in environmental issues and water use, in addition, to support in obtaining information in the communities to measure progress in learning knowledge and other activities assigned for the integrated management of water resources.
In the city of Choluteca, the program for the Optimization of Drinking Water and Sanitation Systems (HND-019-B), which began to be implemented in June 2020, is underway. This program is working on designing the city’s sanitation works, which will rehabilitate the sewage system for 28,000 people and improve the sanitation conditions of three health centers. In addition, work is being carried out to improve service by implementing a plan to reduce unaccounted-for water. A training process has also been carried out for the technical personnel in charge of the operation and maintenance of the treatment plants. In addition, work is being done to increase the degree of economic sustainability of the company Aguas de Choluteca, the digitalization of the drinking water network, and the future digitalization of the GIS user registry.
Finally, the program to improve water resource management in peri-urban and rural areas of the municipality of Siguatepeque (HND-020-B) is being implemented. This initiative began in mid-2022 and has been preparing the first management and administration documents. In addition, the first workshops have already been held, specifically aimed at raising community awareness of Integrated Water Resource Management.
This initiative led to the inauguration, in June 2022, of the first Water and Sanitation Workshop School in Honduras, in the municipality of Siguatepeque. The center has been set up in the facilities of the National Autonomous Service of Aqueducts and Sewerage (SANAA) under the operational and methodological processes directed by the National Commission for the Development of Alternative Non-Formal Education (CONEANFO) and, in its first phase, will directly benefit 80 young people of both sexes. FCAS Director Carmen Jover inaugurated the School during her visit to the country on June 15.
