Organisation and operation of the Found
The Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation (FCAS) has two main governing bodies of its own: the Advisory Board and the Executive Committee. These bodies are regulated by Royal Decree 1460/2009 [1460/2009], on the organisation and operation of the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation, approved on 29 September 2009. Royal Decree 1424/2012 [Real Decreto 1424/2012] introduced changes to the structure of the Advisory Board.
ADVISORY BOARD
This board is composed of experts from various fields of the water and sanitation sector, such as non-governmental organisations, specialised companies and universities, in addition to the Technical Secretariat of the CODIA. It currently has 28 members. It plays a key role in advising the FCAS, improving the focus of work, increasing impact in achieving the SDGs, and strengthening alliances with other partners. Its main function is to advise the Executive Committee.
In 2024, the Advisory Board met in March and received detailed information on the current status of the Water Fund.
Advisory Board Task Force
The Advisory Board Task Force was formed within the Advisory Board and is composed of seven members representing each stakeholder group of the Board. This allows for a more agile and specialised management, facilitating decision-making based on in-depth and specialised knowledge, improving the quality of the recommendations and opinions issued. Its existence ensures that decisions are taken with the participation of representatives of all relevant stakeholders, which contributes to the transparency and effectiveness of the Advisory Board.
This Task Force met twice during 2024, during which five proposals were considered, all of which received a positive opinion from the Task Force and a number of contributions that enriched the development of the programmes. They were as follows:
- €3.5 million to strengthen the institutional framework for Integrated Water Resources Management in El Salvador.
- €1.6 million to strengthen the management of water and sanitation services in the municipalities of Lake Peten Itzá in Guatemala.
- €2 million for the National Water Quality Monitoring Network in the Dominican Republic.
- Phase II – RUK’U’X YA’ Programme: €2 million for the consolidation of the Governance and Sustainability Model for water and sanitation services with an integrated and territorial management approach in the Lake Atitlán Basin in Guatemala.
- €1 million to expand the Water and Sanitation programme in dispersed rural communities in the municipality of Portoviejo in Ecuador.
In addition, three technical cooperation initiatives –which had already been presented to the Advisory Board at the March meeting– were presented and approved. These TC initiatives were as follows:
- Panama: Support for the sustainability of services built in rural and indigenous communities.
- Costa Rica: Support in meeting the objectives of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Programme.
- Paraguay: Support to the water and sanitation sector for sustainable service provision.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
It is the Fund’s decision-making body, responsible for approving the financial statements and deciding on new programmes. It is composed of authorities from various ministries, including the head of the State Secretariat for International Cooperation, who chairs the committee.
In 2024, the five new programmes that had previously passed through the Advisory Committee were proposed to the Executive Committee and all were approved.
Of these, three were submitted that same year to the Council of Ministers (Phase II of the RUK’U’X YA’ programme, the programme to strengthen water and sanitation services in the municipalities of Lake Petén Itzá, and the extension of the Portoviejo programme), and were authorised at the end of December.
Miembros del Comité Ejecutivo
CHAIR
- Chair: the State Secretary for International Cooperation.
VICE-CHAIRS
- First Vice-Chair: the Director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
- Second Vice-Chair: the Secretary General of the Treasury and International Financing of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.
MEMBERS
- First Member: AECID’s Director of Cooperation for Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Second member: the Director General of Sustainable Development Policies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
- Third member: the Director General of International Trade and Investment of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
- Fourth member: the Director General of Water of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
- Fifth member: a person, with at least the rank of Deputy Director General, representing the Official Credit Institute, appointed by the President of the Official Credit Institute.
- Sixth member: the head of AECID’s Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation Department, who shall also act as secretary of the body.
- Seventh member: the head of the Ibero-American General Secretariat, who shall attend the meetings of the Executive Committee, with the right to speak but not to vote
