Actions to improve sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean

• Advance action towards social inclusion and gender equality aspects in sanitation services

Although social inclusion and gender equity were considered part of the LatinoSan agenda, there was a greater interest on technical aspects, innovations and financing mechanisms, revealing that there is still a long way to go to bring attention to social and gender considerations in the region’s sanitation sector. This is even more pronounced when current gender and social inclusion approaches tend to focus on increasing participation of women and vulnerable populations in terms of numbers and not so much on meaningful participation and decision-making power.

With the official declaration of this year’s LatinoSan pledging to “move forward in the duty of the States to gradually expand water and sanitation services, particularly in rural and marginalized urban areas, taking into account particular needs of indigenous populations, local communities, women, girls and boys…and this way reduce existing gaps and gradually eliminate inequalities”, there is a greater need to advance research and practice on this topic in the region to commit to this statement.

• Circular economy approaches can also be applied to rural sanitation

The circular economy and resource recovery from sanitation systems were also prominent on the LatinoSan agenda, focusing mainly on the productive management of sludge and wastewater from conventional systems. Given that only a minor part of nutrient resources in sanitation systems end up in the sludge of conventional septic tanks and wastewater treatment plants in combination with the challenges of reusing discharged wastewater, it would have been interesting to see more examples of alternative sanitation solutions. These include source separating systems such as separate management of blackwater (only urine, faeces and minimal flush water) or urine-diverting systems, which enable a more complete and often safer resource recovery, but need more research and piloting to refine technologies and gain traction and acceptance.

SEI contributed with a report on the prospects for more sustainable sanitation in the Bolivian city of Montero, including governance capacity, user preference and demand for reuse products. UNICEF and Montero’s utility also presented the experience of urine-diverting dry toilets with a collection service for more than 300 families. Separately, AguaTuya in Bolivia showcased decentralized treatment plants for wastewater in the city of Cliza, with 100% coverage and strong focus on wastewater reuse in maize plantations around the city.

Rural sanitation received little attention, although it lags behind in several countries, especially in Bolivia, where only 42% have access to basic sanitation in rural areas. SEI had two presentations on the potential of resource recovery and how the Clean and Green implementation framework can support more productive sanitation in rural areas. However, urbanization has now reached around 80% in Latin American countries, higher than most other regions of the world, which also explains why urban sanitation challenges and more conventional solutions dominated LatinoSan conference.