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POLICY AND PRACTICE REVIEWS article

Front. Water
Sec. Water and Human Systems
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frwa.2024.1406301
This article is part of the Research Topic Water Supply and Sanitation in Rural Communities View all 6 articles

Priorities for the rural water and sanitation services regulation in Latin America

Provisionally accepted
Lourdes Alvarez Lourdes Alvarez Laura Vargas Laura Vargas Alejandro Jimenez Alejandro Jimenez *
  • Stockholm International Water Institute, Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In 2022, 65.1% of people without access to at least basic water services and 44.6% of people without access to at least basic sanitation services in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) lived in rural areas. Addressing the disparity of access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services requires appropriate and differentiate regulation for rural areas. This paper presents the results of a research and consultation process, with more than 80 experts in governance and WASH from 14 regulators and other WASH institutions in LAC on regulatory priorities for rural areas in the region. The 11 priorities identified are related to the development of rural services governance, support to rural service providers and users' role. These priority areas include the formalization and association of providers, the definition of specific service delivery standards for rural areas, the design of subsidies and noneconomic incentives, training and technical assistance to providers, inter-institutional coordination and peer learning, information reporting, integrated management of water resources, and the promotion of user´s participation and accountability, behavioral change programmes, gender equity and an intercultural approach. While promising experiences are presented in all areas, we propose that collective action is required to transform rural WASH regulation into a supportive, collaborative and integrative function that improves quality access to sustainable and resilient WASH services in the region.

    Keywords: Drinking Water, Sanitation, wash, regulation, governance, rural areas, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

    Received: 24 Mar 2024; Accepted: 14 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Alvarez, Vargas and Jimenez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alejandro Jimenez, Stockholm International Water Institute, Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

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