Learning from Rural Water and Sanitation

The Water and Sanitation Division of the IDB, since its creation in 2007, has been committed to closing access gaps in rural areas, achieving universal and quality access within the framework of the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and fulfilling the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation, recognized by the United Nations in 2010. From then until 2020, 27 loan and grant operations totaling more than $2.606 billion have been approved in 15 countries, complementing infrastructure interventions with sector strengthening and community development to ensure service sustainability.

From all this work, the Bank has gained valuable insights, which are important to capture to contribute to the development of future projects. That is why the Division, in collaboration with the IDB's Knowledge, Innovation, and Communication Management (KIC), has conducted an exercise to gather and analyze lessons learned from completed projects, based on Project Completion Reports (PCRs), workshops, and interviews with Bank specialists and implementing agency personnel. Additionally, in recent years, several technical notes and reports have been published on key topics in the rural water and sanitation sector, and various useful tools have been developed for program design and implementation.

This Rural Water and Sanitation Knowledge Platform systematically presents the work of the IDB in rural areas, with a particular focus on lessons learned and products resulting from the design and execution of projects. These aim to facilitate knowledge dissemination and the exchange of experiences.