Regional Public Policy in Water and Sanitation, Cajamarca 2006 – 2015

The provision of water and sanitation services is a major issue and challenge in the Social
Agenda of Regional and Local Governments. Therefore, and before the implementation
of Target 10 of the Millennium Development Goals: "Halve, by 2015, the percentage of
people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation" consistent
with the "National Sanitation Plan 2006 - 2015, the Regional Government of Cajamarca
led a participatory process of developing regional public policies for water and sanitation.
Authorities of the 13 provinces of the region participated and the Regional Government
of Cajamarca was assisted by the Social Development Management Agency, the
Regional Director of Housing, Building and Environment, with technical support from
CARE Peru’s PROPILAS Project, and financing from the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation COSUDE.

The lack of potable water systems, disposal systems for sewage and solid waste, are
considered the main factors that increase the rates of child mortality, diarrheal and
parasitic diseases and in turn cause childhood malnutrition.

The challenge taken on by stakeholders has been the participatory development of public
policy, understood as the broad guidelines that will guide the activities of the
stakeholders to meet water and sanitation needs of the majority of the population, who
live in poverty and extreme poverty in mainly rural areas. Taking into account their right
to a dignified life, as well as responding to the global commitment to conserve and
protect water resources, promoting the attention of water and sanitation services and
integrated water resource management are an inseparable part of regional development
policies.

The policies adopted and the problems they confront in Cajamarca are:

1. Investment in water and sanitation to address the problem of limited access, low
coverage and poor quality of water and sanitation services in urban and rural areas
2. Investment in health infrastructure and solid waste management to address poor
coverage of services and inadequate collection and disposal of solid waste
3. Sustainable water resources that are safe for human consumption and use to
address contamination of water resources.
4. Healthy sanitary behavior, with priority in the school population to address
inadequate health behaviors of the public with respect to personal hygiene, food,
water use, and disposal of excrement, solid waste and sewage.
5. Participatory management of water and sanitation to address weak organization
and lack of public participation in water management and sanitation.
6. Organization and modernization of the management of water and sanitation
services to deal with insufficient knowledge of roles and functions of stakeholders
in the management of water and sanitation within the existing regulatory
framework.