Can you imagine what it would mean for the indigenous peoples that live in the highlands in my country to lose the glaciers and the impact that this would have on biodiversity, agriculture, access to drinking water, life itself? - Pablo Solon, Ambassador of Bolivia to the UN, 2011
Water in Bolivia is a very difficult issue. Its access to the people in itself is difficult due to its scarcity, Bolivia being a semi-desert and landlocked. The country is very poor, founded on the lack of investments, bad water quality due to pollution, and the lack of water in rural areas. According to the World Health Organisation, only a little more than half of rural residents in Bolivia have access to drinking water due to high costs. A simple 1.5 liter bottle of water costs half of what normal person makes a day, making it hard for a breadwinner to provide for his whole family, which, according to UN statistics, number in almost five children. It also has a bad history of privatization, which although has been proven to improve access, was also proven to be inefficient in speed. Protests in major cities of Cochabamba and La Paz have led to the renationalization of water in 2000 and 2005, respectively.
Bolivia is heavily dependent on foreign assistance, with 58 % of funding being financed by international organizations such as the World Bank and the Japanese JICA. According to recent statistics, the amount of money being funneled to water sanitation in Bolivia has been steadily decreasing since 2004, or before the La Paz-El Alto water privatization protests.
There have been several projects to improve the water in Bolivia, such as the 2006 installment of the Ministry of Environment and Water by President Morales to formulate plans to improve the current situation, or the WSSA Project to educate people on their water hygiene and habits, or external donations from agencies such as USAID. There has also been a recent trend of putting up water cooperatives, a water system run by the consumers themselves. The largest city in Bolivia, Santa Cruz, has been internationally praised for its management of this system.
Bolivia is heavily dependent on foreign assistance, with 58 % of funding being financed by international organizations such as the World Bank and the Japanese JICA. According to recent statistics, the amount of money being funneled to water sanitation in Bolivia has been steadily decreasing since 2004, or before the La Paz-El Alto water privatization protests.
There have been several projects to improve the water in Bolivia, such as the 2006 installment of the Ministry of Environment and Water by President Morales to formulate plans to improve the current situation, or the WSSA Project to educate people on their water hygiene and habits, or external donations from agencies such as USAID. There has also been a recent trend of putting up water cooperatives, a water system run by the consumers themselves. The largest city in Bolivia, Santa Cruz, has been internationally praised for its management of this system.