The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Spain will provide a total of US$ 139 million (€ 93 milion) in grants and loans to Boliviai (US$ 100 million = € 66.8 million) and Haiti (US$ 39 million = € 26.1 million) for water and sanitation projects. These are the first projects jointly funded by the IDB and the Spanish Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Spanish Fund), an initiative announced in 2008 by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

The funds will be used for the construction of new infrastructure in unserved areas, for the completion of water and sanitation master plans, institutional strengthening, the establishment of a full-time programme coordination unit to audit, the evaluation and monitoring project execution and will help expand the drinking water coverage and finance individual and collective sanitary systems installation, develop waste collection, transportation and disposal systems, facilitate maintenance of storm drainage systems, and support public hygiene programmes.

In addition to Haiti and Bolivia, the IDB and Spain are expected to jointly finance projects in Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay between now and mid-2010.

Related web sites:

• Water and Sanitation Spanish Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean
• IDB - Bolivia – Water and Sewerage Program in Peri Urban Areas Phase I
• IDB - Haiti – HA-L1039 : Water and Sanitation for Intermediate Cities (II)
• IDB - Haiti – HA-X1013 : Water and Sanitation for Intermediate Cities (II)

Source: IDB - General press release – Bolivia press release - Haiti press release, 16 Oct 2009

Tags: financing, latin america & caribbean, urban wash