The International Water Association (IWA) and the Association of Regulators of Water and Sanitation of the Americas (ADERASA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to bring experts of both networks together in order to stimulate innovation in the sector and to boost sustainable development.
“Our goal is to learn from the region and to accelerate the development of new solutions, promoting integration and cooperation in the Americas. Regulators are connectors, so working with ADERASA’s regulators network can help us reach out and connect with the other stakeholders in the water sector,” said said Carolina Latorre, IWA Water Policy and Regulation lead. “We aim to bring experts of both networks together, to ensure that policies and regulations in the Region are enablers of innovation and sustainable development. With this MoU, together we generate synergies.”
By working together, IWA and ADERASA aim to be a source of regionally-specific, leading-edge water knowledge and to better connect practices to policy. To this end, the MOU identifies areas of strategic convergence, with a particular emphasis on promoting a holistic approach to policy reform, institutional arrangements, and regulations. These approaches target operational improvement and commercial efficiency of water utilities in the region and strengthening of the Latin American and the Caribbean water sector through professional and capacity development.
“I would like to highlight the great opportunity [the MOU] represents to link up with an internationally prestigious institution, such as the International Water Association, and strengthen our activities in pursuit of the implementation of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation in compliance with SDG 6,” said Oscar Hugo Pintos, president, ADERASA. “Working together, we can extend the theoretical and practical knowledge of the regulation of water and sanitation services, providing our associates with a quality improvement for their daily activities.”
Through their work, IWA and ADERASA seek to promote the universalisation of water and sanitation services, a holistic link between cities and their basins, and integration of innovation and new technologies within the sector.
“The water sector’s development is in the focus of IWA’s activities in the region, and the water professionals of this global network foster the important and necessary exchange of knowledge and expertise,” said Latorre. “This MOU shows how IWA values its members in the Americas and our commitment to do more.”
