Mexico

Programme to improve access to drinking water and sanitation services in rural towns in the municipality of Tekax, Yucatan.

After several years without the Water Fund operating in Mexico, a programme was approved in December 2023 to return to work in the country, in collaboration with the state of Yucatan. Throughout 2024, progress was made in the drafting of the programme, with a focus on improving sustainable access to water and sanitation in indigenous rural communities in the municipality of Tekax, Yucatan. These communities face persistent poverty, geographic isolation and low coverage of basic services. Some of them have distribution networks, but the service is poor and unaffordable; others, such as San Antonio Tuk, have no systems at all and must travel to purchase water. Access to sanitation is even more limited, exacerbating health risks, especially from water-borne diseases.

The intervention will benefit around 3,900 people in ten prioritised communities through infrastructure works, community capacity strengthening and promotion of integrated water resource management. The entity responsible for implementation will be the Drinking Water and Sewerage Board of Yucatán (JAPAY), with an estimated duration of 30 months. It has a joint financing of €1,057,183, with contributions from the FCAS (€500,000), the JAPAY (€232,553) and the municipality of Tekax (€324,630).

This initiative works in coordination with AECID’s Indigenous Programme, which contributes an additional €80,000. This action, implemented by the Institute for the Development of Mayan Culture of the State of Yucatan (INDEMAYA), aims to strengthen the effective participation, social inclusion and exercise of rights of indigenous peoples in the framework of access to water and sanitation, through a prior diagnosis and the development of free, prior and informed consultation. The objective is to obtain recommendations on how to work within similar programmes with indigenous peoples, which can serve as a guide for other FCAS programmes or for other actions in Mexico.

It was developed with a territorial, intercultural and participatory approach, in coordination with local and institutional actors, and incorporates priorities of Spanish cooperation with Mexico in terms of social cohesion and attention to indigenous populations.