‘Somos Cooperación’ RNE: Spain is leading the change in Latin America.
Knowledge management comprises a broad set of initiatives developed by the Water Fund using a variety of strategic instruments aimed at strengthening and developing capacities, improving knowledge management and promoting the sustainability of its interventions.
During this year 2024, the Water Fund has focused its efforts on strengthening its internal knowledge management processes, with the aim of carrying out a comprehensive update, while external actions have been promoted to strengthen interaction with different actors and knowledge partners.
Progress has continued to be made in processes already underway, such as the preparation of the Management Manual, which aims to compile and update the instructions and models of all the procedures and operational documents required in the life of the programmes.
In addition, work has been done to gather experiences in order to extract lessons learned and good practices, for which two interviews have been carried out in the field with the staff of the Spanish Cooperation Offices in Guatemala and Colombia. This space has been key to making progress in knowledge management, analysing how cross-cutting topics are worked on in the programmes.
On the other hand, a documentary review and update has been carried out and the process of drafting the «FCAS Knowledge Management Strategy 2025-2028», which will guide knowledge management in the next four years, establishing the basis for its development and implementation, has been initiated.
It should be noted that the «Consultancy for the identification of good practices and recommendations for water and sanitation projects in Latin America and the Caribbean in the field of indigenous communities and in the field of schools» carried out by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), in coordination with the IDB, has been coordinated and accompanied. In this framework, interviews were held with various actors and missions were undertaken in Guatemala and Colombia to collect first-hand information, and detailed reviews of, and inputs to, the products generated were carried out. This effort has provided a basis for the implementation of recommendations that will strengthen future interventions in indigenous peoples and rural schools. In this respect, the knowledge generated has enabled key advice to be given to new Water Fund programmes.
These actions reaffirm the Water Fund’s commitment to continuous improvement and knowledge management as a driver of development. In the coming years, the generation and sharing of knowledge, alliances with knowledge partners and the strengthening of capacity building to maximise the impact of interventions and contribute to universal access to water and sanitation will continue to be promoted.
Communication
The Fund’s work is key in two directions: on the one hand, towards the beneficiaries of the programmes, and on the other hand, towards the Spanish public, as part of the commitment to transparency and accountability.
The main purpose is to show and document the particular changes brought about by the initiatives promoted. To this end, the communication strategy is based on two pillars: on the one hand, the exhaustive compilation of indicators carried out by the Fund, which provides objective and measurable data on the progress of the programmes; and on the other hand, the testimonies and real experiences of the communities that have benefited.
In order to disseminate both aspects, the Fund has its own website within the general domain of AECID, where news related to the progress of the projects, as well as events and activities promoted by the Fund are shared. During 2024, more than 30 news items were published on the Fund’s own website within AECID’s domain.
Additionally, the FCAS participated in or promoted various publications in other media, such as the programme ‘Somos Cooperación’ on Radio Nacional and various reports and stories published in iAgua:
On the other hand, with regard to the progress in transparency, a specific tab was created on the website itself for Strengthening Operators [Fortalecimiento de Operadores]. This tab provides access to the work carried out in various aspects: Tools, publications, training and twinning.
Audiovisual
In the audiovisual section, 16 new videos have been added to AECID’s Water and Sanitation playlist over the course of 2024:
One of the videos, produced for World Water Day, highlights the importance of Integrated Water Resources Management as a cross-cutting pillar of the Water Fund:
