Bolivia Sanitation Models

The Embassy of Sweden in Bolivia and Diakonia accorded by agreement to implement the Sustainable Sanitation Models programme initially for the period from 1st October 2016 to 30 June 2019 with an initial budget of SEK 48 million and together with the participation of the foundations AguaTuya and Sumaj Huasi as implementing organisations in the programme. During the programme’s first months, certain problems were identified in the budget, mainly concerning overhead costs of Diakonia. Their budgeting was prepared considering only resources directly managed by Diakonia and not including the risk that third-party transfers imply. This situation was solved with an important commitment of the Embassy to conduct an internal control and management assessment of AguaTuya and Sumaj Huasi during the first year of the implementation of the programme. The main objective was to determine if both local organisations had adequate fund management capacities (especially since both Bolivian organisations managed around 40 million SEK of the agreed budget). In September 2017, the internal control and management assessment for Sumaj Huasi determined that they presented institutional and administrative weaknesses. Immediate actions needed to be taken to mitigate future risks. In broad consensus with all the involved stakeholders it was decided to refocus the programme by reducing the scale of implementation and change the programme period to 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2018, including a responsible phase out period from 1 January to 30 September 2018. The purpose of the phase out period was to assure the provision of decentralised sanitation services to vulnerable peri-urban populations (mainly in some districts in El Alto), which was one of the main commitments of Sumaj Huasi. The financial contribution of the Swedish Embassy due to this adjustment was reduced to SEK 19,777,751. As part of their programme commitment, AguaTuya concluded on 31 December 2017 the pre-investment stage for the construction of Wastewater Treatment Plants and Fecal Sludge Treatment Plants in the country. Since January 2018 and based on the satisfactory results of their capacity analysis, AguaTuya is implementing another programme under a new agreement with the Swedish Embassy that makes the construction stage of those treatment plants viable. Diakonia reimbursed SEK 8,848,829 to Sida in Sweden and remained responsible for a budget of SEK 10,928,922 for the period October 2016 to 30 September 2018, including the responsible phase out stage. At the end of the whole intervention an additional amount of SEK 225,738 was reimbursed to the embassy according to the planned phase out budget.  Based on these changes, the programme has achieved some results but the overall objectives have not been reached. Work in many areas will still be needed in the future. Below is a presentation of some of the partially achieved results (per intermediate and immediate effects): - “Intermediate effect: The coverage of sustainable sanitation services among the target population has increased”: inhabitants in El Alto (3,250), Sucre (300), Montero (300), Cliza (10,000) and Tolata (5,000) have benefited from the coverage of non-traditional or decentralised sanitation services implemented in peri-urban contexts with service models that allow for the treatment of liquid and solid waste with three main purposes: (i) reuse of water for irrigation of perennial species; (ii) production of liquid bio-fertilizers and (iii) production of solid bio-fertilizers.’ - “Immediate effect: Replicable models of sustainable sanitation in different ecological levels have been implemented”: * Eco-Sanitation Model: Initially implemented in El Alto city (altiplano), replications were achieved in the cities of Sucre (valley) and Montero (flatlands) benefiting 50 families in each site. However, sustainability of this eco sanitation model in El Alto and Montero has not been reached. Currently, and through a new WASH programme with UNICEF, the Embassy will work in this area to achieve the sustainability of the model with local stakeholders (the municipalities of El Alto and Montero and the WASH utilities EPSAS and COSMOL). * Wastewater Treatment (PTAR) Model: Initially implemented in the municipalities of Cliza and Tolata (valley’s) with a tertiary level of treatment, an effort to replicate the treatment model design was programmed for the city of Tarija in close coordination with the Tarija municipality. * Fecal Sludge Treatment Model for nutrient recovery: a feasibility study has been executed for the implementation of what would be the first sludge treatment plant in the country, located in the municipality of Cliza. It is expected that this plant would process 1,560 m3 of fecal sludge per year in 300 m2 with SaniC technology which bases its treatment on sludge aeration and addition of urea. The construction of both plants will be done with the new decentralised sanitation models programme carried out by AguaTuya. - Products: Financial sustainability via social marketing: In order to establish potential markets for the products that result from the sanitation processes, Diakonia´s Economic and Social Justice Platform conducted trials regarding the use and applicability of liquid and solid bio-fertilisers that derives from ECOSAN and Water Treatment Plants models in the valley and lowland areas, as well as commercial studies regarding possible markets in which these sanitation derivatives could be marketed. Some of the main studies are: Validation of a systems protocol considering four sorts of fruit for production in Agroforestry Systems in the municipalities of Ascensión de Guarayos and San Ignacio de Velasco (lowland). A current demand for liquid bio-fertilizer at national level has been identified through a market study.

Long term effect: Increased climate resilience among the population in Bolivia through access to sustainable sanitation that improve living conditions in poor and marginalized peri-urban areas. Short term effect: Increased access to sustainable sanitation solutions among the target population. Immediate effects: (i) Scalable sustainable sanitation models developed and adopted to the various climate and sociocultural conditions in Bolivia (The models should be scalabe, i.e. with the potential to be implemened on wider nation wide scale in the country); (ii) Apropriate technical solutions that contribute to mitigate the effects of climate change are adopted in participating municipalities; (iii) The national policies and norms for sanitation are applied in participating municipalities.