Project Update from Quiché, Guatemala

This project is being carried out in four municipalities in the department of Quiché, Guatemala: San Andrés Sajcabajá, San Antonio Ilotenango, San Bartolomé Jocotenango and Santa Cruz del Quiché.

In September 2018, 66% of the project’s final goal has been accomplished. Also, extraordinary creations such as murals, illustrated books and short films have been co-created with the local community, artist groups and other stakeholders, who have actively participated in the process of creation, production and use of these artistic and didactic materials.

At the end of the project, 37,000 people in the Quiché Department will improve their standard of living by accessing new or rehabilitated drinking water and sanitary services. Of these, nearly 6,000 people will also have access to new or rehabilitated handwashing facilities with soap and water, while hundreds will also capitalize financial products tailored to their local needs.

The 37,000 target beneficiaries, together with 37,500 more people from Quiché, will participate in the activities organized with the approach of Social Art for Behaviour Change (SABC), introduced by One Drop in the WASH sector. The project seeks to increase the adoption of healthier behaviours such as treatment and safe storage of water at home, handwashing with soap and water after using the toilet and before cooking and eating, payment of the water and sanitation services tariffs and connection to the sewage network.

Other numbers from Quiché – Guatemala

• 16,551 people have already benefitted from an improvement of their level of water and/or sanitation services and have also been participants of the social art activities framed in the SABC methodology.
• In addition to the above-mentioned beneficiaries, 42,137 additional people have participated in the SABC interventions.
• The total budget for the project is USD 9,715,454, with contributions from Lazos de Agua, local governments and communities, and Water For People. The contribution of One Drop to this project includes a generous contribution from The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
• Teachers, artists and technicians have been trained in different areas related to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, contributing to making the Quiché – Guatemala project a sustainable WASH project.
• Up to date:
  • 50 schools have received Water, Sanitation and Hygiene infrastructure.
  • Nearly 30 rural water systems and more than 400 family sanitation facilities have been built.
  • 43 parades, 131 theatre shows, 12 in-depth participatory artistic workshops in schools, numerous copies of an illustrated book and a teaching manual, 28 film screenings and forums of a short film recorded by community members, 14 mosaic murals, 6 photography workshops and one exhibit were created with and for the community to better understand and adopt healthy WASH behaviours.
  • More than 30 workshops have been imparted to various members of the supply chain for sanitation to reinforce it, so as to make it sustainable.

About Lazos de Agua Program

Lazos de Agua Program is a multi-stakeholder partnership of One Drop, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), The Coca-Cola Foundation and Fundación FEMSA. With a commitment of USD 25,000,000 from these organizations and complementary investments for a similar amount from national and local governments as well as from executing partners, Lazos de Agua seeks to provide access to drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene to approximately 200,000 people in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Paraguay by 2021.

Social art and sustainability are the core of this innovative program that contributes to improving living conditions in Latin America. Lazos de Agua introduces the Social Art for Behaviour Change (SABC) approach in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector and develops its projects based on the One Drop’s ABC for Sustainability model.

To have long-term positive impact in the region, Lazos de Agua engages with governments and communities to reinforce their leadership and leverage their financial resources. While supporting the targeted countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal No. 6: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all,” Lazos de Agua also seeks to influence governments’ policies and programs to adopt a behaviour change-centred approach and scale-up the methodology of the intervention through the Region.

Lazos de Agua ensures that all its projects are sustainable with the One Drop ABC for Sustainability approach, where A stands for Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene through infrastructure and capacity building; B for Behaviour Change through SABC interventions; and C for Capital to develop financial products and other support activities generating revenues to increase the pace of access to safe water and sanitation.