Common Crisis, Collective Duty: Uniting for Latin America's Water and Climate Challenges
Around 50% of the world’s population is already dealing with severe water scarcity for part of the year—a number only expected to rise as climate change intensifies.1
The global water and climate crisis is increasingly disrupting our daily lives with extreme weather events that lead to floods, water shortages, and population displacement. And as we know, the impacts of these challenges are not felt equally across the world.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, where 1 in 6 children reside in regions already facing high to very high water scarcity,2 climate change poses an escalating threat. In Mexico alone, 76% of the country was experiencing some degree of drought at the end of 2023.3 Although recent data underscores the urgency of the situation, these challenges are far from emergent. Latin America and the Caribbean have been confronted with the harsh realities of scarce freshwater resources for decades, repeatedly urging the global community to unite around changing the status quo.
At the One Drop Foundation, we believe that people are at the centre of this change—and that every single person has a part to play. Through the Lazos de Agua Program, we’ve united public, private, and philanthropic partners, as well as artists and community, to endeavour toward a shared goal: enabling access to sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene services for 200,000 people in Latin America.
Here’s how we surpassed that goal, together.
Investing in behaviour change has proven to be a cost-effective means of sustaining results, particularly in water and sanitation initiatives. That’s why our projects in Latin America deploy One Drop’s Social Art for Behaviour Change™ approach, which empowers participants to address their water, hygiene, and sanitation behaviours and needs on their own terms.
As part of the Lazos de Agua Program, we have collaborated with dozens of Latin American artists, leaning into various art forms such as mural art, theatre, and music to raise awareness, promote empathy, and empower individuals to take collective action towards positive social transformation.
As part of the Lazos de Agua Program, the play “La Divina Garza Enjabonada” has emerged as a key driver in boosting water tariff payment rates in Mexico. Photo credit: Terry Hughes.
To meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals for water and sanitation, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) estimates that the region requires a total investment of $142 billion in water infrastructure—with an additional $230 billion needed for sanitation infrastructure.
In this context, the Lazos de Agua Program stands out as a model of successful collaboration between public, private, and philanthropic organizations, all committed to improving quality of life for people in Latin America. By combining our resources, expertise, and innovative approaches, we have enabled access to sustainable water and sanitation services for more than 235,000 people so far. Now, we are ramping up our efforts to reach at least another 1 million by 2030.
Aiming to rally others to our cause, One Drop and our Lazos de Agua partners recently made waves at World Water Week in Stockholm and the Impact Minds conference in Oaxaca, where we had the honour of engaging with global leaders in the social and environmental impact ecosystem. We’re very excited to continue these conversations next month in Cali, Colombia, as part of the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 16). Let’s keep the momentum going!
As we come to grips with the water and climate crisis, we must recognize that its impacts will not be distributed equally among us. Regardless, every single one of us has the power to make a difference.
Since 2016, the Lazos de Agua Program has empowered community members to take ownership of their community's well-being. Whether stepping up as members of a water committee or using their artistic talents to promote handwashing with water and soap, individuals are making meaningful commitments to create a healthier, brighter future for everyone around them.
“I can't begin to express my gratitude for the [Lazos de Agua] project that has come to our communities. Before it was a struggle. Now with this social participation project we have organized the communities to clean toilets, do chores, everything you can imagine. And now with the water service we have drinking water in every house—it is a total change in our lives.”
— Abel Belmonte,
member of the central drinking water committee, community in the commune of El Rosario, Guanajuato, Mexico
By standing up for the causes you believe in and contributing however you can, you become an agent of change, as we collectively shape a more equitable and resilient future for all.
This transformation doesn't always require grand gestures—philanthropy is often most powerful through the smaller, day-to-day actions you take. Whether via donations, volunteering, or offering up your own unique skills, all these efforts create serious momentum towards the most meaningful and lasting impact.
1 IPCC, Sixth Assessment Report Working Group II, 2022
2 UNICEF, The Climate-Changes Child – A Children’s Climate Risk Index Supplement, 2023
3 WMO, State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2023
