Ecuador

Active programmes 2024:

ECU-051-B: Drinking water and sanitation programme in scattered rural communities in the Portoviejo Canton, Province of Manabí
ECU-052-B: Drinking water and sanitation in rural communities in the canton of San Lorenzo in the face of the COVID-19 health crisis
ECU-053-B: Cooperation Programme for the promotion of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation in rural communities

Other associated programmes:

Combined delegated cooperation and reimbursable cooperation operation: LAIF Ecuador. LA/2020/417-023 Sustainable drinking water and sanitation for the rural population of Portoviejo Canton, Province of Manabí, Ecuador. (ECU-LAIF-083)

Ecuador

ECU-051-B: Drinking water and sanitation programme in scattered rural communities in the Portoviejo Canton, Province of Manabí. (Extended in December 2024).

ECUADOR ESMERALDAS

The ECU-051-B Programme is focused on providing drinking water and sanitation to scattered rural communities in the Portoviejo Canton which, due to their location, cannot be supplied through the large drinking water system that is being built with funding from a larger programme involving Fonprode-AECID, IDB, and LACIF-EU-, and which supplies the parish capitals.

The programme includes the performance of water and sanitation infrastructure works, as well as social and community management, training for good hygiene practices and institutional strengthening, among others, to achieve the sustainability of the systems and services over time.

During 2024, the programme’s efforts have focused on consolidating and strengthening sustainability, accompanying the commissioning and first year of operation of five drinking water and sanitation systems, as well as family hygiene and sanitation solutions, reaching more than 700 families, representing more than 2,500 people.

The proposed service management model is a Public-Public Partnership (PuP) between the five Drinking Water and Sanitation Administration Boards (JAAPS), the municipal public water company (PORTOAGUAS EP) and the Municipality (GADMP); empowering the JAAPS to carry out the administration of the systems and services, with technical, legal and financial assistance from the duty-bearing institutions.

Finally, it should be noted that at the end of 2024, the Programme has been extended with a further €1 million, in addition to the initial €2.3 million, and the implementation period and scope have been extended. This will make it possible to strengthen and implement the alliance for the management of services, promote the association of the JAAPS, strengthen the social approach and gender actions, and implement specific actions in the area of Integrated Water Resource Management in the sub-basin where these drinking water systems are located.

ECU-052-B: Drinking water and sanitation in rural communities in the canton of San Lorenzo in the face of the COVID-19 health crisis.

This project, which has a budget of 500,000 from a FCAS grant, is aimed at strengthening the provision of water and sanitation services in highly vulnerable rural communities in the San Lorenzo Canton, Province of Esmeraldas. Its objective is to improve the health conditions and disease prevention capacity of the population through the improvement of drinking water and sanitation services in the beneficiary communities, and also introducing the variable of response to emergency situations related to the pandemic.

Throughout 2024, work continued on the «rehabilitation of the drinking water system for the Tambillo community in the San Lorenzo del Pailón Canton in the Province of Esmeraldas». In order to carry out this work it was necessary to replace the initially planned water catchment, so the construction of a deep well to supply the Tambillo community was tendered and awarded.

ECU-053-B: Cooperation Programme for the promotion of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation in rural communities.

The objective of the programme is to guarantee the human rights to water and sanitation, with a focus on a fair ecological transition, in order to favour sustainable water use and exploitation models in the rural areas of Esmeraldas and Manabí. It has a grant of €10.2 million, plus a €2.5 million counterpart.

The programme is implemented by the Banco de Desarrollo del Ecuador B.P. (BDE B.P.) with the support of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (MAATE) and the participation of the Autonomous Decentralised Municipal Governments (GADM) of Muisne, Quininde, Jama and Pedernales.

During 2024, work has been carried out on the development of the programme, which was approved in July, and visits have been made to the territories where the projects will be carried out. In December, funding for the implementation of the drinking water project in the parish of Chamanga was signed with the autonomous government of Muisne. At the end of December, an Inter-Institutional Cooperation Agreement was subscribed between BDE B.P. And the MAATE for the implementation of the social management and institutional strengthening activities of the projects.

Other associated programmes – Delegated cooperation and reimbursable cooperation

LAIF Ecuador. LA/2020/417-023 Sustainable drinking water and sanitation for the rural population of Portoviejo Canton, Province of Manabí, Ecuador. (ECU-LAIF-083)
Combined delegated cooperation and reimbursable cooperation operation.

In the Canton of Portoviejo, the Municipality (GADMP) is implementing a major programme (called the Triple AAA Plan) to improve access to water and sanitation for the rural population. To carry out this project, a broad partnership of donors has been formed, in which Spanish Cooperation has an important participation through three mechanisms (LACIF-EU delegated funds, reimbursable financing from FONPRODE and a grant from the Water Fund through the drinking water and sanitation programme in scattered rural communities in the Portoviejo Canton, Province of Manabí). The Triple AAA Plan aims to establish a large 47-kilometre drinking water and sewerage system along Rio Chico and small projects to serve scattered rural areas that cannot be connected to the general system.

The total operation combines a variety of funding and grants. On the one hand, there is the Base Project (BP), based on credits and loans for the construction of the large drinking water system, and on the other hand, the Scattered Zones Project (SZP), specifically to extend the benefits to scattered rural populations, which is financed by AECID through the FCAS and the EU through LACIF funds, managed by Spanish Cooperation.

The distribution of funds is as follows: three credit operations between the European Investment Bank (EIB), (€54.44 M), FONPRODE (€15.45 M), the IDB (€25 M) and the Municipal Decentralised Autonomous Government (GADM) of Portoviejo, and an additional contributions made up of grants from FCAS-AECID (€3,3 M), the LACIF project (€10 M) and contributions from the GADM of Portoviejo, with the aim of providing drinking water and sanitation to dispersed rural communities and offering comprehensive support for the implementation of the Base Project.

The programme involves important social and environmental actions, with a community development component to ensure the participation of the target population in all phases of the programme, in order to achieve the sustainability of the systems.

During 2024, the Triple AAA Plan has worked through the GADMP to execute 7 exploratory wells that are expected to supply five drinking water systems. For this purpose, studies and designs will be carried out prior to the procurement of the work, which is expected to begin at the end of 2025 and, in parallel to the formation and strengthening of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Administration Boards (JAAPS). This process incorporates all the lessons learned from the FCAS ECU 51 B programme for scattered rural communities in Portoviejo, a predecessor in scope and sector to the application of LACIF funds.

Likewise, through the Ecuadorian NGO Fondo Ecuatoriano Popolorum Progressio (FEPP), hygiene and sanitation improvements have been carried out in selected homes in the communities based on a socio-economic vulnerability study, 62 Family Technical Files have been prepared and hygiene and sanitation interventions have been implemented, with connections to the drinking water and/or sanitation network, as well as the rehabilitation and construction of bathrooms and kitchens.

On the other hand, FEPP has implemented Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) actions in the territory through the preparation of studies and the implementation of forestation and reforestation actions of up to 8.4 hectares through demonstration plots and planting for stabilisation of slopes and riverbanks, as well as specific infrastructure actions for the stabilisation of areas subject to intervention or for the recovery of natural watercourses.

Finally, an addendum to the Contribution Agreement between the EU and AECID (for the delegated cooperation programme) has been approved, which has enabled the Programme’s term to be extended by 36 months and thus to be brought into line with the actions of the other partners, facilitating the management and technical assistance work to be carried out with these funds until the full implementation of all partners.

More info about the Fund in Ecuador