Governance for water and sanitation services in low-income settlements: Experiences with partnership-based management in Moreno, Buenos Aires

Environment and Urbanization

Volumn 17, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 183-199

  Hardoy, Ana ^a   Hardoy, Jorgelina ^a   Pandiella, Gustavo ^a   Urquiza, Gastón ^a  

^a Instituto Internacional de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo IIED America Latina   (Argentina)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

LOW INCOME POPULATION; PARTNERSHIP APPROACH; SANITATION; WATER SUPPLY;

ARGENTINA; BUENOS AIRES [FEDERAL DISTRICT]; FEDERAL DISTRICT [ARGENTINA]; SOUTH AMERICA; WESTERN HEMISPHERE; WORLD;

EID: 18144393799     PISSN: 09562478     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1630/0956247053633764     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, located in the province of Buenos Aires, includes the city of Buenos Aires (Federal Capital) and 24 other municipalities surrounding the city towards the south, west and north. Since 1996, the Federal Capital has had its own autonomous elected government; prior to this, the city was governed by the national government, which also appointed a mayor. The municipalities within the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area respond to three levels of government: municipal, provincial and national.
2. Budds, Jessica and Gordon McGranahan (2003), "Are the debates on water privatization missing the point? Experiences from Africa, Asia and Latin America", Environment and Urbanization Vol 15, No 2, October, pages 87-113.
3. See reference 2.
4. See reference 2.
5. Solo, Tova (1999), "Small-scale entrepreneurs in the urban water and sanitation market", Environment and Urbanization Vol 11, No 1, April, pages 117-131.
6. Brook Cowen, Penelope (1999), "Bail out: the global privatization of water supply", Urban Age Vol 6, No 3, pages 18-19.
7. Aguas Argentinas is the name of the consortium, led by the French multinational water company Ondeo (formerly Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux), that won the concession for the Federal Capital and 17 municipalities within Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. Azurix, led by Enron, won the concession for the area of La Plata and 47 municipalities; and AGBA, led by Aguas de Bilbao (Spain), won the concession for 7 municipalities in the province of Buenos Aires. In 2002, Azurix withdrew from its concession contract, and ABSA (Aguas Bonaerenses, a provincial company) assumed responsibility for provision for that area.
8. President Kirchner was elected following the economic crisis, and took office in May 2003.
9. Decree No 878 (2003), for which the regulations are awaiting approval. (El nuevo Marco Regulatorio preve la posibilidad de que el servicio publico pueda ser prestado por el Estado como titular o bien mediante la conseción o delegación en actors particulares.)
10. Azpiazu, Daniel and Martín Schorr (2003), "Regulación de los servicios privatizados y gobernabilidad en Argentina. Principales desafíos para una nueva administración gubernamental" ("Regulation of privatized public services and governance in Argentina: key challenges for the new national government"), Paper presented at the Second Argentine Conference on Public Administration, University of Córdoba, Argentina, 27-29 November.
11. Loftus, Alexander and David McDonald (2001), "Of liquid dreams: a political ecology of water privatization in Buenos Aires", Environment and Urbanization Vol 13, No 2, October, pages 179-199.
12. See reference 11.
13. This was the Share Ownership Programme (Programa de Propiedad Participada).
14. All the decisions were taken after having reached a consensus, even the dismissal of 36,001 workers. See reference 11.
15. The alternative water and sewerage network was initially funded by the International Development Research Center in Canada, and then by the German Catholic NGO, Misereor. For more details, see Schusterman, Ricardo and Ana Hardoy (1991), "Building community organization: the history of a squatter settlement and its own organizations in Buenos Aires", Environment and Urbanization Vol 3, No 2, October, pages 104-120;
16. also Schusterman, Ricardo and Ana Hardoy (1997), "Reconstructing social capital in a poor urban settlement: the Integrated Improvement Programme, Barrio San Jorge", Environment and Urbanization Vol 9, No 1, April, pages 99-119.
17. See Schusterman, Ricardo, Florencia Almansi, Ana Hardoy, Gordon McGranahan, Iris Oliverio, Ruth Rozensztejn and Gastón Urquiza (2002), "Experiences with water provision in four low-income barrios in Buenos Aires", IIED and IIED-América Latina for WEDC, Loughborough University, UK.
18. Projects carried out by IIED-América Latina have brought provision of water and sewerage to 252 families in Barrio Jorge Hardoy, in partnership with Aguas Argentinas, and provision of water supply to 400 families in Villa Zelmira, in partnership with Azurix.
19. Hardoy, Ana and Ricardo Schusterman (2000), "New models for the privatization of water and sanitation for the urban poor", Environment and Urbanization Vol 12, No 2, October, pages 63-75.
20. See reference 18.
21. See reference 2.
22. Mazzucchelli, Sergio, Martín Rodríguez and Margarita González (2001), "Private sector participation in water supply and sanitation: realizing social and environmental objectives in Buenos Aires" in Johnstone, Nick and Libby Wood (editors), Private Firms and Public Water: Realizing Social and Environmental Objectives in Developing Countries, Edward Elgar, London, pages 55-62.
23. This was supported by the Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment (PPPUE) initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
24. Provisional data from the 2001 census (Argentine National Institute for Statistics and Censuses).
25. The poverty line is an indicator used by the Argentine National Institute for Statistics and Censuses that assesses whether households have consumption levels above a defined minimum level. A price is given for a "basic needs basket" (canasta básica total) that combines essential foods, health, clothing, education, etc. Households fall below the poverty line when their income is insufficient to cover these essential needs.
26. The population of Moreno was 59,338 in 1960, 114,041 in 1970, 194,440 in 1980, 287,715 in 1991 and 380,530 in 2001 (Argentine National Institute for Statistics and Censuses).
27. This programme was managed and financed by the government of Argentina, with additional funding from the International.
28. The La Tradición cooperative was created in 1957 in Francisco Alvarez settlement, Moreno. It provides water to some 400 households and, since 2001, has been selling water in bulk to a closed neighbourhood of 300 families. They plan to expand in the future and install sewerage networks.
29. Families for Social Inclusion is a national programme that subsidizes low-income families with children and youth under the age of 18. For the family to receive a subsidy, the children must attend school and go to regular health check-ups.