Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there are silent dramas that persist and are forgotten. Like the one of the almost three million homes in Argentina who do not have access to safe water and sanitary services; according to data from the last Permanent Household Survey of the Indec.
The “Water Contest”, which has been organized for 13 years Coke from Argentina with Fundación Wild life and with the support of Ministry of the Environment and the University of San Andrés, finances projects that seek to provide safe water access to these populations.
This year they presented 40 proposals from all over the country. After a selection process, six projects were finalists. Here we present them:
Siwok Foundation – “Access to water and food production for Wichi families in the Chaco Salteño” (Salta).
The Siwok Foundation works with Wichis families in the semi-arid zone of Salta and Formosa, where today 4 out of 100 children do not reach the age of five due to malnutrition and lack of access to drinking water.
The work is based on the training of Wichis leaders in agronomy issues with INTA and construction of water wells with INTI, since, paradoxically, these communities are settled on an aquifer. In a second instance, they will be trained on irrigation techniques for their productions.
Mothers who care for the QOM culture- “Water supply to the Qom families of Pampa del Indio” (Chaco).
In the town of Pampa Grande, Chaco, 60 families live without access to drinking water and women must travel up to 6 kilometers a day to obtain it.
The project of Mothers who care for the Quom culture consists of installing pipes that distribute water from the aqueduct network and in this way take advantage of it for family and productive use.
Fundapaz – “Improvement of infrastructure for rainwater harvesting and storage” (Santiago del Estero).
In the central region of Santiago del Estero, overgrazing and deforestation increasingly make it difficult to access water in sufficient quantity and quality.
There, the grassroots movement Mocese works together with families to raise livestock and poultry for their own consumption; charcoal making, poles and firewood and crafts.
To improve access to safe water, the organization together with Fundapaz propose the construction of 10 cisterns of 16,000 liters each, which will benefit some 85 people, who will be trained for their construction and maintenance.
ABOUT (Agency for Rural Strategic Cooperation of the American Chaco) – “Provision and storage of water for consumption and organic garden in the impenetrable (Chaco).
This organization promotes the construction of rainwater collection roofs, community reservoirs and a dam for productive use in organic gardens, in addition to the purchase of water pumps, tanks and hoses to improve the irrigation system.
Asociación Civil San Miguel – “Water and healthy food, plus latrines in the Ramada Paso settlement” (Corrientes)
The project will be developed in the rural settlement Ramada Paso in the department of Itatí, province of Corrientes. It consists of the construction of a water source with a distribution network (drilling on the aquifer), together with ecological latrines and the creation of community agro-ecological gardens.
Bosques para el Futuro Foundation – “Conservation of wetlands and environmental monitoring of water quality against population growth” (Chaco).
The Parque Chaqueño ecoregion is part of wetlands threatened by cotton monoculture, extensive livestock farming and growing urbanization.
The project of the Bosques para el Futuro Foundation seeks to identify the main threats to the ecosystem, monitor water quality, manage best practices in agriculture and sanitation, and promote environmental education in the Los Chaguares nature reserve.
These projects will be evaluated by a jury made up of representatives from the Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, the Universidad de San Andrés and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, who will define the three winners.
The relevance, feasibility and innovation of the project will be analyzed, as well as its social and environmental benefits. Each of the winners will receive $ 750,000 to finance the initiatives. The results will be released on April 22, International Earth Day.
Date published: Apr 13, 2020
Corresponsal de Argentina, Encargado de seleccionar las noticias más relevantes de su interés a nuestro sitio web NewsPer.com
