Approaches towards assessing sanitation rights in Bolivia

Bolivia’s actual policy structure seeks to ensure a broad consensus on better water governance by relying on a participatory democracy approach and committing to sustainable development indicators. The newly implemented Water Ministry (2006) has radically changed the regulation model and administration system for urban and rural water and sanitation services, seeking to enhance the role of social participation. From the beginning, the Water Ministry discourse wanted to strengthen the reform agenda by introducing control mechanisms and water governance at the local level. The Entities for Water and Sanitation Services (EPSA) directive is to deliver sanitation services for semi-urban cities by protecting ecosystems and enhancing social control and participation, as well as improving overall local water resources governance. The following presentation is based on a recent study on integrated water resource management in several municipalities in the Bolivian Chaco region, and takes into account innovative methods such as the social and environmental impact assessment (SEIA) of the EPSA-Manchaco. The official legal framework is addressed in the reflections through an analysis of national and regional policy guidelines and field interviews with key water governance players. The analysis is utilized to illustrate the obstacles and challenges of governing sanitation systems in different regions and localities. The final aim is to identify any gaps between the official discourse and the local water governance realities and to suggest alternative methods for a more coherent public-civic action in water governance, control and transparency. The analysis includes the policy scenario for the use and control of water and sanitation rights in Bolivia on both local and regional levels and attempts to improve decision making contexts as well as institutional, financial and social sustainability of communitarian and public sanitation systems. [authors abstract]