Integrating water, sanitation and hygiene services in Guatemala

In Guatemala, inequities in access to quality water supply, safe sanitation facilities, and improved nutrition lead to poor health outcomes, especially for Indigenous populations that live in rural areas. USAID's Integrating Water, Sanitation and Health Services (I-WASH) programme focuses both on improving the public WASH sector and the governance and management of water resources. IWASH sets out to:

Increase coordination and collaboration between the community, municipal, and central levels of government surrounding WASH and WRM.
Improve the technical, administrative, and ﬁnancial management skills of the water services workforce.
Provide high-quality, accessible, sustainable, and equitable access to services.

Above: Photo of the I-WASH team in Guatemala

A major barrier to sustainable, equitable, and affordable services is a lack of accountability and capacity among service providers, such as in low-resource water and sanitation service providers. Similarly, a major barrier to effective water resource management is a lack of capacity in, and sustainable finance for, basin authorities, institutions, and water user entities. In particular, the service providers and stakeholders lack the information and insights needed to identify the most vulnerable populations, track critical infrastructure, and make optimised decisions on the distribution of resources.

There was little to no municipal capacity to monitor the coverage and quality of community water services. Akvo’s institutional reputation for innovative, adaptable, and scalable solutions helped turn that around. Municipalities are now using open-source platforms to take informed decisions on where to prioritise investments, and are presenting visual, dynamic dashboards that help local decision-makers quickly grasp complex issues. The establishment of water information systems in the MWSOs has been a major step forward.”
Marc Valentin, Country Director, Global Communities

I-WASH consortium partners are supporting the government of Guatemala and civil society to improve health outcomes in Huehuetenango and Quiché by establishing a high-performing WASH and WRM system with an emphasis on reaching rural Indigenous communities. Akvo’s role is to design and implement a data strategy that builds stakeholder capacity in data generation and use. Through Akvo’s task-based approach, key decision makers learn to equip themselves with the insights and information needed to effectively carry out their roles and responsibilities.