In terms of the working scheme, the FCAS seeks to create strategic alliances with key national and international actors and networks within the sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. Among these institutions, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) deserves special mention. Efforts are being made with this institution to achieve a greater impact, given its long experience in the sector.
Future cooperation needs to integrate a plurality of public and private actors, mobilising both financial resources and technical experience and capacities, using diverse means and instruments, such as technical cooperation. One of the strengths of Spanish Cooperation and the FCAS programmes is that they take advantage of the experience and excellence of leading Spanish institutions in the water sector to cooperate through studies, field visits, technical reports and training in Latin America, within the framework of SDG 17 to promote a global partnership for development.
The alliance with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is strategic, combining the development agency approach provided by AECID with the technical and management experience of large infrastructure programmes and the IDB’s significant presence and dialogue in the region’s development and water agenda. On the other hand, in the framework of various assignments, the Fund relies on Spanish companies and public institutions to improve its impact, as is the case of the assignments to Tragsatec, CEDEX or IGME.
The Fund collaborates with Ibero-American water institutions, and especially with the three main networks with regional impact: the Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors (CODIA), RIOCC (Network of Climate Change Offices) and CIMHET (Conference of Directors of Ibero-American Meteorological and Hydrological Services), with whom the Central American Lightning Detection Network has continued to operate with the advice of the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).
In 2019, collaboration continued with the NGO ONGAWA on the diagnosis of the human rights approach to water and sanitation, and with public companies, such as Tragsatec, the public water company EMASESA (Seville), and the company responsible for water treatment in Navarra, NILSA. Finally, it is worth mentioning the collaboration with research organisations such as the Centre for Hydrographic Studies (CEDEX), the Spanish Geological and Mining Institute (IGME) and the Centre for New Water Technologies (CENTA), as well as with universities and study centres such as the universities of Alcalá, A Coruña and Alicante, among others.
During 2020, Spain joined the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) initiative, led by former water rapporteur Catarina de Alburquerque, which drives forward the policy agenda in the region.
This year, Spain also joined in the work to set up the Latin American Water Observatory (OLAS), which will provide a tool for monitoring Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
