In Honduras, there are some long-due reforms taking place in the water resources sector for applying the usual integrated water resources management (IWRM) package. This places some new challenges for the WASH sector in engaging in IWRM. Yet, there is also a lot of unclarity on what kind of tools can be applied and what this means for institutional arrangements for IWRM.
Published on: 15/07/2011
In Honduras, there are some long-due reforms taking place in the water resources sector for applying the usual integrated water resources management (IWRM) package. This places some new challenges for the WASH sector in engaging in IWRM. Yet, there is also a lot of unclarity on what kind of tools can be applied and what this means for institutional arrangements for IWRM.
In view of the above, RAS-HON decided to organize a workshop on IWRM to explore the scope for setting up a thematic group on IWRM. This workshop, organized in January 2009, counted with contributions from SANAA, CATIE and IRC on the subject. One of the first activities of this group was the documentation and publication of experiences from different organisations with IWRM in the WASH sector. This resulted in the document ‘Experiences in Water and Sanitation with a focus on Integrated Water Resources Management in Honduras’, published in December 2009. This exercise was carried out in coordination with the Global Water Partnership (GWP) - Honduras.
The group has begun to work on climate change issues and risk management and is planning to develop training materials for the water committees and to promote capacity building activities of various stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector. It is also planning to work towards improved coordination with other organisations and groups involved in the issue of IWRM.
This thematic group is currently being coordinated by CATIE, and lists members from the Honduran water and sanitation utility (SANAA), the Honduran Association of Water Committees (AHJASA), the regulator of water and sanitation services (ERSAPS), CRS, the LIFE Foundation, the Peace Corps, the national supervisory board for water and sanitation (CONASA), the Inter-Institutional Environmental Sciences Committee (CICA), the Honduran Social Investment Fund (FHIS), the Secretariat for Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), Agua para el Pueblo (APP), OPMS/WHO, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Global Water Partnership (GWP)-Central America.
