His Royal Highness, Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Chair of United Nations Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB) welcomed participants to the Inter-American Dialogue on Water and Sanitation. He thanked H.E. President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia for joining the Dialogue and expressed his gratitude to the Government of Colombia, for hosting UNSGAB so graciously and for supporting the meeting. He also thanked the other Dialogue hosts, the Inter-American Development Bank, Germany's GTZ, and the Government of Japan. Mr, Sha Zukang, Under Secretary-General of the United Nations for the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), thanked the Government of Columbia along explained that DESA hosts the secretariats of both UNSGAB and the International Year of Sanitation and was poised to support the Inter-American Region in their efforts to meet the MDG targets on water and sanitation.
H.E. President Alvaro Uribe thanked UNSGAB for coming to Colombia. He stressed the importance of fostering both social prosperity and economic prosperity; neither is possible if safe water and sanitation is not available to all citizens.
Mr. Roberto Vellutinni, manager, Infrastructure and Environment Department, IADB, outlined areas which can improve performance in water and sanitation sectors. He said serious managers who know the water business are needed along with stable regulatory frameworks.
Ms. Leyla Rojas Molano, Vice Minister of Water and Sanitation reviewed the Cali Ministerial Declaration signed at the conclusion of the LatinoSan Conference, 12 - 16 Nov. 2007. The agreement included, inter alia, commitments to: increase consciousness and actor commitments so they know the importance of reaching the MDGs; mobilize governments at local and national level and other actors through rapid implementation agreements; and ensure commitments to strengthen sanitation policies. She said a working group comprised of LatinoSan countries was formed. The group will meet annually and similar LatinoSan event will be held in 2010.
Prince Willem-Alexander welcomed participants to discuss the range of issues outlined in sets of questions and UNSGAB's suggested actions on financing, capacity building & governance, sanitation and the International Year of Sanitation (attached as Annex 1 
).
Participants spoke openly and frankly about how the delivery of water and sanitation services is a technical and economic issue as well as a social challenge. Those currently living without water and sanitation services are overwhelmingly in poor communities in both rural and urban areas. The provision of water and sanitation services as in input to poverty alleviation, health, dignity and development were emphasized.
How to increase financing for water and sanitation, especially at the municipal level was discussed. Although systems can and should evolve toward improved levels of cost recovery to maintain the health of systems, state investment in water and sanitation is indispensable and must be maintained, particularly in initial stages as an input to the public good of greater health. Several requested greater flexibility on the part of International Financial Institutions. The need for capacity building to improve the performance of existing financial resources was stressed especially for water operators. Water Operator Partnerships (WOPs) were welcomed as the way to enhance the management capacity at the local level.
Decentralization of water and sanitation service delivery has meant in several instances that once transfers for these services are made to the local level, national governments do not have control over the funds, and it is difficult to track where the money is spent. The difficulties for local governments to reconcile economies of scale and the need to promote a regional approach to solve this problem were noted.
The proposal to hold an Inter-American Summit by Heads of State was given careful consideration by participants with several in agreement that this would be a way to increase political will and financial commitments to meet the MDG targets on water and sanitation. Most participants felt that to be worthwhile such a Summit would require extremely careful preparation focused on the real results to be sought, and should be based on as precise as possible analysis of the existing situation, funding potential, contribution of water and sanitation to national economy and changes being advocated. Finance and planning ministers might usefully be brought together to consider the financial and operational constraints of water operators as well as the actual return that investment in water brings to social and economic development.
Participants stressed that providing sanitation services in rural and urban areas raises different challenges. Reaching rural areas is often difficult where there is an acute need for training on basic sanitation. In urban areas, good planning and urban design with a long term perspective will both reduce costs and ensure wider sanitation coverage. In addition, there needs to be more regional attention given to other appropriate technologies, not just water borne sewage, and that knowledge could be diffused as to operation and maintenance costs. Industries must also be accountable for treating waste water through laws and strong regulations.
The importance of sanitation education was highlighted and several mentioned hand washing and personal hygiene campaigns can yield good results. How citizens take advantage of offered sanitation services was discussed. While even poor people are willing to pay for affordable sanitation facilities, at times they do not connect their homes to available sewage systems if they are unaware of the benefits derived from better sanitation. Adapting to local conditions, selecting appropriate technology, and involving social anthropologists were stressed as ways to ensure the success of sanitation programmes.
Participants concluded that both the Cali meeting on sanitation and the opportunity for extended policy discussions had brought great mutual benefit; all expressed the hope that such discussions would continue in different times and places in the future.
Annex 1 -Actions to be taken to achieve the Hashimoto Action Plan in the Latin American Region
