A transformative recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean with basic drinking water and electricity services as key sectors.

Currently in Latin America and the Caribbean, 17 million people do not have access to electricity and 75 million to clean fuels and technologies for cooking. At the same time, 161 million people (1 in 4) do not have adequate access to drinking water, and 431 million (7 in 10) to safely managed sanitation. In both cases, although with significant differences between countries, deficiencies are associated with problems of access, affordability, that is, a difficulty in paying or the absence of infrastructure.

First, people without access to these basic services belong to the lowest segment of the national income distribution. In this way, the most vulnerable populations must make a proportionally greater economic effort, up to 2.5 times more than the wealthiest, to assume its cost. Second, to this economic inequality is added geographic and social inequalities, with rural, indigenous and Afro-descendant populations being the ones with the most deprivations. Lastly, the quality and structure of housing also influences access to these basic services. In the region, 15% of the population that lives in precarious housing does not have access to electricity.

Latin America and the Caribbean: proportion of the population without access to electricity by quintiles. A quintile represents population groups of 20% of the total, ordered by income distribution (from lowest to highest) of income (rural, urban, and total), last available year.

Inequality in access to drinking water and electricity has increased people’s vulnerability

Inequality in access to these basic services, accentuated by the impact of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, has increased the vulnerability of the population in the region, physically, socially, and economically impacting millions of people. On the one hand, people with less access to drinking water and sanitation at the start of the pandemic were at greater risk of contracting the virus. On the other hand, due to the reduction in income associated with the loss of employment due to the pandemic, as well as the increase in the prices of fossil fuels in the current war context, the situation of households to face payments for these has worsened. services.

During the pandemic, almost all the countries in the region took measures such as the partial reduction and postponement of collections. However, once these are completed, the energy costs of drinking water and sanitation service providers could amount to 40% of their total operating expenses. Therefore, it is important to take these factors into account to guarantee the satisfaction of basic needs and to ensure resilient systems.

Differences in access to basic drinking water services in selected countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

Drinking water and electricity policies to drive a transformed recovery

To face the growing vulnerability of the poorest population, ECLAC assumes an important role in the transition and proposes a 10-year investment policy to universalize these basic services. This would mean investing 2.6% of the regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually (1.3% to achieve SDG 6 and 1.3% for SDG 7) and would bring multiple positive effects:

• Reduction of infections by COVID-19 and health improvements.
• Reactivation of the regional economy through the generation of employment. 700,000 new jobs in the development of new energy infrastructures, and 3.4 million associated with the drinking water and sanitation sector, per year.
• Reduction of air and water pollution, through a transition to more efficient and cleaner energy sources, with circular approaches.

For this, it is necessary the institutional strengtheningplanning and regulation. Along with a more relevant role for cooperation agencies and the banking.

Investment synthesis and investment benefits to universalize drinking water, sanitation and electricity coverage in Latin America and the Caribbean (18 countries).