The AquaFund is a multi-donor fund led by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which develops knowledge products and platforms and replicable pilot projects, building the capacity of water institutions and providing support for various technical studies. In 2020, it had available credits of $13.7 million. Since 2008, the AquaFund’s capital amounts to $125 million, $41 million of which comes from the Multidonor AquaFund (MAF), in which Spain participates, and $84 million from the IDB’s contribution to its Strategic Development Programme for Ordinary Capital for Infrastructure (INF). Up until 2020, the AquaFund has financed 241 projects in total.
In 2020, Spain contributed €500,000 to the AquaFund, which this year approved 20 new technical cooperation projects worth almost €10m. During the year, projects continued to be implemented and 12 operations were closed. Most of the technical cooperations promote studies and reports that can develop future water programmes associated with each countries’ needs, which will improve their development and effectiveness.
The 2020 portfolio has performed satisfactorily, with completed projects achieving most of the anticipated outcomes and outputs. The Fund continues to support investments in water and sanitation services, climate change adaptation, water security measures and gender mainstreaming.
In 2020, the AquaFund provided support to address the water challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it further developed the implementation of the action plan agreed with donors following the AquaFund’s external evaluation in 2017. The Fund’s progress was guided by the updated Results Framework for 2018-2021, together with the prioritisation of climate change mitigation and adaptation activities, resulting in a large and rapid increase in climate finance. The strengthened communication and visibility protocol developed in 2019 complemented this work.
