The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a US$200 million loan to finance a water and sanitation program for small communities in Argentina. The program will benefit over 184,000 households from communities with less than 50,000 inhabitants by providing them with new and improved connections to these basic services. The Argentine government will provide an additional US$50 million, taking the grand total to US$250 million.
The goal of the project – which will be executed by the Public Works Ministry’s waterworks and sanitation agency, the Ente Nacional de Obras Hídricas de Saneamiento (ENOHSA) – is to improve the quality of life for families living in small communities throughout the country by providing them with water and sanitation services through two major operational components:
The first component consists of water and sanitation construction and rehabilitation works. This component also comprises feasibility studies, master plans, and executive projects that include hydro-climatic hazard adaptation moves and works-inspection related expenses. All operations will have a social, gender, and climate change resilience inclusion focus.
The second component will strengthen the institutional capacities of the program’s beneficiary operators and of ENOHSA, including costs and fees studies and the development and implementation of gender action plans, among other issues. This component includes training women in labor competencies in this sector order to generate entrepreneurial opportunities for vulnerable, female-headed households.
The loan is for a 23.5-year term, with a 7-year grace period and a LIBOR-based interest rate.
