First projects in partnership that will channel $620 million in grants and loans to benefit 4 million low-income people in 12 countries
The Inter-American Development Bank and the Government of Spain will provide a total of $139 million in grants and loans to Haiti and Bolivia in the first stage of an unprecedented partnership to tackle water and sanitation problems afflicting Latin America's poorest communities.
These are the first projects jointly funded by the IDB and Spanish Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Spanish Fund), an initiative announced last year by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
The IDB and the Government of Spain signed an agreement in July 2009 to jointly finance and execute projects with a portion of the Spanish Fund's grants. The partnership will take advantage of the IDB's extensive portfolio of water and sanitation projects, as well as its network of sector specialists in country offices throughout the region, to rapidly and efficiently execute projects identified as priorities by Latin American and Caribbean governments.
In addition to Haiti and Bolivia, the IDB and Spain are expected to jointly finance projects in Brasil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay between now and mid-2010. In all, Spain will contribute $407 million in grants to these projects, while the IDB will contribute $213 million in grants and loans, while also assuming the bulk of the project preparation and execution costs. Governments in the region will contribute an additional $77 million in counterpart funds. Around 4 million people in low-income urban and rural communities are expected to benefit directly from these projects.
See links to the press releases at right for detailed information regarding the Haiti and Bolivia projects.
