Fostering Water and Sanitation Markets in Latin America and the Caribbean: How the Public Sector Can Support the Private Sector to Bridge Coverage Gaps and Improve Service Quality for Low-Income Popul

Date
Aug 2016
In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), according to 2015 figures from the Joint Monitoring Program, over 100 million people do not have access to adequate sanitation services, and nearly 34 million do not have access to safely managed drinking water. A disproportionate number of these households are from lower-income market segments and wealth quintiles, primarily residing in the rapidly growing, high-density periphery of established urban centers, small towns, and rural areas. Access to water and sanitation has been declared by the United Nations to be a human right, indicating that there is still a significant challenge in LAC with respect to universal access to basic human rights. To resolve this challenge, traditional practices involving the NGO, aid, development and public sectors as leaders will not solve the problem efficiently or effectively without adequate engagement and enabling of the private sector.