The Water Fund in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia is considered a “partnership country”, and the presence of Spanish Cooperation is justified by the conflict situation that the country has experienced and to which it is committed to overcoming.

The majority of Spanish Cooperation actions that provide access to water and sanitation services focus on areas of displacement due to the conflict, such as Chocó and Nariño, settlement areas of displaced populations (mainly on the outskirts of Cartagena de Indias) and rural areas and indigenous communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Guajira, Sucre and Cauca.

Of the eight FCAS-funded programmes in Colombia, four are in the implementation phase and four have already been completed.

COL-018-B: All for the Pacific.
The aim of the programme is to improve water and sanitation services in 10 municipalities and one population centre in Chocó, including Istmina, the department’s second city in terms of population and importance. In 2016, the first water supply systems in operation and functioning were delivered in two of these municipalities (Nuquí and Bahía Solano). During 2019, works were completed in four of the municipalities (Atrato, Tadó, Capurganá and Acandí), which were subsequently handed over and accepted by their respective mayors. The remaining municipalities (Río Quito, Novita, Novita, Medio Baudó and Istmina) are expected to complete the works in 2021. Once implementation is complete, the programme will have reached almost 100,000 people, whose human right to water and sanitation will be guaranteed.
COL-022-B: Integral Multiveredal of the Pacific.
The objective of the programme is the construction of a water and sanitation system in the town of Espriella, which will benefit 2,300 people, as well as adjustments to the design and viability of the so-called Multiveredal Aqueduct, which would serve other towns in the area (Guayacana, Caunapí, Llorente and Espriella). This programme is being implemented in the municipality of Tumaco (Nariño), a priority area for Spanish Cooperation in Colombia, and the beneficiary of the grant is the Government of Nariño. The complex social context and the programme’s own weaknesses have caused implementation to be delayed. In 2020, COVID’s impact has not allowed for significant progress.
COL-035-B: Water Supply and Wastewater Management Programme in Rural Areas.
The programme aims to contribute to increasing the coverage of efficient and sustainable drinking water and sanitation services in the rural communities of Fonseca (La Guajira), San Onofre (Sucre) and Totoró (Cauca). This programme is experiencing major delays related to the approval of the technical designs of the works to be carried out, as well as economic, administrative and organisational problems of the executing entity.
COL-036-B: Expansion of the El Bosque Drinking Water Treatment Plant and supply to the neighbourhoods in the south-western area of Cartagena
The objective of the intervention is the construction and commissioning of a unit in the El Bosque drinking water treatment plant, its connection to the general supply network and the aqueduct and sewerage system of the Villahermosa neighbourhood (peri-urban area of Cartagena de Indias home to a vulnerable population group) to improve the living conditions of the population. The construction of the treatment unit has been completed and the plant is now operational. The programme is currently focused on the construction of 1,100 intra-domiciliary connections in the most vulnerable houses in the Villahermosa neighbourhood, as well as actions to improve sanitation systems in two schools in the south-western sector of the city. The beneficiary of this grant is the Mayor’s Office of Cartagena.

Intradomiciliary constructions and water and sanitation solutions in the Villahermosa neighbourhood.

More information

As a complement to the Fund’s interventions, the COL37-B Programme: Methodological proposal to identify the population in a state of social vulnerability, in order to make them beneficiaries of the minimum subsistence water subsidy, in Bogotá D.C., was launched bilaterally in Colombia, with an AECID budget. With a total budget of €120,000 (AECID grant of €96,000), it aims to establish a roadmap for the improvement of the application of the minimum subsistence water subsidy for the city of Bogotá. The beneficiary of this grant is the District Habitat Secretariat of the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá . This is a project that, despite its small budget, is highly strategic, as the potential impact of its results will help to guarantee the human right to water of the most vulnerable population of the city of Bogotá (approximately 800,000 beneficiaries).

More about the Fund in Colombia