LatinoSan 2007

The presence of several members of the Gender and Water Alliance at the Latin American Conference about Sanitation, LATINOSAN 2007, which took place from 12 to 16 November 2007, in Cali, Colombia has proved to be very effective.

The objectives of LATINOSAN were to contribute to the improvement of health, welfare and dignity of the population of Latin America, seeking to support the protection and preservation of the environment and water resources, without bypassing the promotion of values such as peace and conflict resolution. The main themes of the conference, with 850 participants from 42 countries, were:

1. Education on sanitation, hygiene and disposition of excreta
2. Solid Waste Management
3. Management of domestic waste water
4. Financial and Institutional management, and
5. Prevention and control of contamination.

At the first day of the conference, 4 sub-regions of Latin America presented a report on the sanitation situation in their respective countries. Parallel to the main programme, other events took place, like a seminar about transparency and corruption and several discussion sessions.

The GWA contributed to LATINOSAN with the following 3 presentations:

• Presentation of research on Gender Aspects in Urban Solid Waste Management by Anna Lúcia Florisbela dos Santos, in the session "Solid Waste Management".
• "Behavioural change in hygiene, water and sanitation by young Quechua women and girls in Aiquile Bolivia" a case-study by Betty Soto Terraza, presented by Hebe Marta Barber in the session "Education on sanitation, hygiene and disposition of excreta".
• "Gender and corruption in water resource management. Results of the e-conference on Gender, Water and Integrity facilitated by GWA", presented by Christine Verheijden, GWA secretariat in the seminar "Transparency, corruption and accountability of provision of basic services."

Apart from these presentations GWA also intervened actively in other sessions and managed to generate awareness for gender aspects of sanitation.

The most significant achievement and result of the LATINOSAN 2007 conference has been the signature of the Statement of Cali, by 16 Latin-American countries that will place the problems of sanitation as a priority on their political agendas. GWA members assured that gender aspects were incorporated in this statement.

The remaining challenge is to translate the statement into local actions which will generate impact in the lives and the health of the poorest, especially now the Assembly of the United Nations has declared 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation.