In the Caribbean region, about 70% of the population lacks access to safely managed sanitation services, and 65%-75% of domestic wastewater is currently being discharged into surface and groundwater sources without an appropriate treatment, thereby having severe implications for environmental and public health risks. Substantial investments will be made in the next decade to achieve the targets proposed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nevertheless, in addition to improved infrastructure, long-term sustainability of sanitation services, will require appropriate planning, new regulations as well as enhanced technical competencies.
An integrated approach based on local action, and innovative ideas is needed to address these challenges as regional governments seek to achieve SDG 6 on Water and Sanitation and comply with their obligations under the only regional agreement to address marine pollution – the Land-Based Sources of Marine Pollution Protocol of the Cartagena Convention.
The GEF CReW+ project promotes the development and/or improvement of laws, policies, technological solutions, sustainable and tailor- made financing options and knowledge management on water and sanitation. In September 2021, an important initiative was carried out through the CReW+ Academy with the aim of improving knowledge and regional capacities. The online course was delivered in weekly sessions from August 24th to September 30th, 2021. Sessions on Tuesdays were delivered in Spanish and on Thursdays, were done in English, resulting in 12 sessions in total.
The course generated high interest with 1,184 participants from 35 countries participating. About 26% of the participants were government officials, 19% of the participants were from academia, 12% were technical staff of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) or other community-based organizations, 7% of the participants worked at water and sanitation utilities, 7% were private sector representatives, 6% were WASH service providers, 2% were staff of schools and the remaining 21% were students in the category ‘others’.
The course presented science-based data and information on wastewater management including global and regional best management practices. The concepts of long-term sustainability, management and circular economy were emphasized in all sessions. The sessions were delivered by Gustavo Heredia, a water and sanitation specialist with over 20 years of practical experience in the design and implementation of innovative sanitation and wastewater projects in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
In the first session, the current state of global water pollution was explained, as well as the urgent need to rethink the way wastewater is treated and disposed. The session also explored the opportunities that can be created by turning waste into resources via the reuse of treated wastewater and use of the byproducts of treatment.
Different technologies and solutions were presented in session 2, demonstrating that simple nature-based solutions are appropriate for treating wastewater under a reuse approach and high treatment levels can be effectively achieved.
A session was dedicated to discussing the state of national laws, regulations and standards in relation to wastewater treatment as well as international guidelines. Special guests were present at the session to discuss regional trends, projects, and specific cases. Amongst these guests were: Henry Moreno (IDB), Elvira Segura (INAPA) and Indhira de Jesús (INTEC) from Dominican Republic, Sara-Jade Govia (Ministry of Public Utilities) from Trinidad and Tobago, Anthony Headley (Environmental Protection Dep.) from Barbados and Selene Tripp (BORDA México).
The implementation of appropriate management and business models are of critical importance to guarantee that services operate effectively in the long run. A series of tools and guidelines were presented in session four.
Finally, the last two sessions were dedicated to presenting a wide range of case studies specially prepared for the course to visualize real on-the-ground innovative solutions that have been implemented in the last few years. The studies demonstrated good international practices and the paradigm shift towards circular economy and more sustainable water management strategies.
We have received excellent feedback from the participants. The first series of webinars on different topics related to integrated water and wastewater resources management was conducted during February-Abril 2021, and reached 471 participants over 19 countries with 97% of the participants perceived that the webinar improved their skills and knowledge. According to the feedback survey for this second block on reuse of domestic treated effluents, 100% of the participants agreed that the training helped to improve their knowledge in the field of sanitation and/or wastewater management. These successful results consolidate the CReW+ Academy that emphasize the importance of providing training to all the stakeholders involved. Therefore, in line with our commitment to provide continuous capacity building, we will hold a regional workshop on water sector reform on the next December 2nd and 3rd, 2021.
Some of the responses from participants include:
About the GEF CreW+ Project
CReW+ is a partnership project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) that is being co-implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in 18 countries of the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR). The project is being executed by the Secretariat of the Cartagena Convention (CAR/RCU), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and the Organisation of the American States (OAS) on behalf of UNEP and the IDB respectively. The main objective of the GEF CReW+ Project is to implement innovative, technical small-scale solutions in the WCR, using an Integrated Water and Wastewater Management (IWWM) approach and building on the sustainable financing mechanisms that were piloted through the Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management under the first CReW Project.
The CReW+ Academy is a free platform that brings together all the training initiatives within the GEF CReW+ project in a single point. The objective is to provide knowledge and use the space for the co-creation of water and sanitation solutions in the region. To this end, the CReW+ Academy offers short courses addressing the project’s main target groups both at the political level (ministries) and the private sector, like service providers, associations, and regional organizations, of the 18 participating countries. All interested parties are invited to attend.
For more information about the project kindly contact the Project Manager Pedro Moreo(PMoreo@oas.org), view the project website, engage in the CReW+ Academy, or visit the project page on iwlearn.net
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