What is the vision and mission of your organization?
The vision of Agua del Pueblo (Water for the People) is to be a front-line institution, committed to the sustainable development of the communities of the country, specialized in and a leader of the execution of integral water projects for human consumption and production, with an efficient and professional human team.
The mission of ADP is to satisfy the vital water, basic sanitation and production needs, in the communities of the country, based in integral technological alternatives. Also its mission is to satsify citizens’ participation oriented to development and local power.
Why did you decide to become a GWP Partner?
Due to the fact that GWP is a neutral platform that facilitates dialogue processes and discussion among all the organizations involved in the integrated management of water resources, it allows the entities as ADP to share the experience the organization has regarding rural work, and in some way, to translate the thoughts and community concerns about water. On the other hand, our decision was also based in the opportunity to learn and strengthen our organization from other experiences and to have the option to share some of our ideas.
What have you found to be the benefits of being a GWP Partner?
It is clear that the information that GWP provides about experiences, jobs, researches, debates and contradictions that at the global level are generated in the IWRM theme, contribute to improve our actions.
Also, it is very valuable to have the possibility to seat with other institutions of different nature such as the government, international cooperation, enterprises, academia, private sector, etc., to discuss the theme of IWRM as a topic of national interest. Likewise, and above all, we appreciate the opportunity to provide support and contributions together to actions for the national agenda in the water resources theme, considering the differences from each institution.
We also see the support provided by being part of a global network like GWP to be a benefit .
What is one challenge facing the management of water resources in your region?
Due to the conditions of developing countries, there is a very low dedication of efforts destinated to realize processes for - and integrated management of - water resources with a vision of a country and region. It is urgent to put attention in a coordinated and integrated way. Aspects from legal frameworks, investments, social participation, political recognition, generation of ethical and moral consensus, among others, need to settle in each country and in the region, for a sustainable development of natural resources, including water resources. There are efforts that the countries have already started, but it is neccesary to strengthen them. This is where GWP plays a strategic role.
Are there any special projects or initiatives that you would like more widely known?
We would like to share the methodology of our work at Agua del Pueblo, not only for the methodological components, but for the cultural values present in each of the stages. We believe that they can be a support of the community work done in other parts of the world. Also, we would like to learn from other experiences. It would be valuable if some day we obtain a direct interchange of experiences with other community organizations.