Description

Water Funds have proven to be a successful, locally led mechanism for the protection of water resources, that constitute a governance platform for public, private, and community stakeholders to work together for the equitable access and supply of clean and safe water.  The 20+ years of Water Funds’ experience in the Andean region sustain the impact of protecting approximately 1.8 million hectares of high Andean mountain ecosystems that supply water to more than 30 million habitants in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.  However, the sustainability of these mechanisms is a continuous challenge. 

The Andean Water Funds Platform gathers ten Water Funds in the Andean region to work on a joint vision to mobilize action towards achieving the 2030 agenda.  The joint effort of these Water Funds–through a community of practice–aims to address these challenges by working together on local financial contributions or mechanisms, fostering political will and support, demonstrating greater impact at a larger scale, and peer-to-peer learning from what has or has not worked in other contexts. This virtual side event is led by Fundacion Futuro Latinoamericano–that facilitates the Andean Water Funds Platform, and jointly organized with FONAG-Fondo para la Protección del Agua (Quito’s Water Protection Fund–the first water fund of its kind), and South South North (SSN) through its Climate & Development Knowledge Network, to capture different points of view from stakeholders to address these challenges. Proposed speakers include representatives from the national Water Authorities of Ecuador, Water Funds from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and the private sector–a member of one of the Water Funds in the Andean Region.

The goal of the Andean Water Funds Platform highlights the voluntary commitments to the Water Action Agenda in sustaining and scaling implementation of local financial mechanisms–Water Funds.  These locally led mechanisms promote partnerships and action through a multi-stakeholder platform to improve coordination across institutions and sectors, for the achievement of SDG 6, recognizing the central role of healthy ecosystems for water security.

When: March 21, 2023 10:00 – 11:30 EST

Language: Spanish (with simultaneous translation to English)

Registration

Join and be part of the Side Event – Andean Water Funds Platform: a proposal to face the local challenges of joint watershed management in the Andean countries.

AGENDA

Introduction Side Event – 10:00 – 10:05

Facilitators 

Paola Zavala – Programs Director – Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano 

Karen Hildahl – Program Strategic Director – Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano 

Speakers

Block 1: What is a Water Fund? – 10:06 – 10:25

Gilma Forero – Community leader of Páramo de Guerrero – Colombia

Bio: Born in Bogotá, is a professional graduate in veterinary medicine from the National University of Colombia. She is dedicated to documentary research and the production of technical agricultural texts. After moving to intermediate cities and small towns, she began to recognize the needs of her neighbors and friends, especially the children, girls, and women with whom she interacted. Through alliances with entities and individuals, she organized sterilization and vaccination campaigns for pets, formed a reading group for children, and dance and guitar classes for mothers. She called this readers’ meeting the Children and Youth Literature Club «Let’s Tell a Story.» She also achieved significant recognition from the territory and its inhabitants in Subachoque, participating in bird watching groups and including the structuring of the Women’s Consultative Council of Subachoque. Currently, she is part of the team of professionals at the Alianza Biocuenca Foundation in the MiPáramo de Guerrero project, raising awareness among communities about the conservation and restoration of the high Andean forest and water resources for all. With passion and conviction, her work will be reflected in the well-being of everyone in the long term.

Analí Huamancayo – Corporate Affairs Manager – CBC – Peru

Bio: Communicator from Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola with a specialization in strategic communication and reputation management. She has more than 15 years of experience in strategic communication, public and corporate affairs, areas in which she has advised companies in various sectors, such as mass consumption, technology, ports, finance, hotels, among others. He currently leads the Corporate Affairs management of cbc Peru.

 

Block 2: Success factors and challenges – 10:26 – 10:45

Bert De Bievre  – Fondo para la Protección del Agua (FONAG) – Ecuador

Bio: Bert has 30 years of experience in the Tropical Andes. For 14 years, he worked in academia at the University of Cuenca, Ecuador, where he contributed to establish research groups in water and soil management and Andean hydrology. He then worked for 10 years leading projects in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, focusing on Andean ecosystems such as páramo, watershed management, and Andean watershed hydrology. In Peru, based in CONDESAN, he advised the Peruvian Ministry of Environment and the water regulator, SUNASS, in the design and implementation of policies that support incentives and retribution for water ecosystem services. Since October 2015, he leads the Water Protection Fund for Quito – FONAG in fulfilling its mission of conservation and recovery of water sources for the Metropolitan District of Quito (Ecuador). He holds a PhD in Applied Biological Sciences (2002), an MSc in Water Resources Engineering (1991) and is a Civil Engineer (1990) from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

Mariella Sánchez  – AQUAFONDO – Peru

Bio: Mariella Sánchez Guerra is a passionate collaborator of organizations with purpose; with social and environmental responsibility. Committed to contribute, from her experience, to add a clear strategic value that allows accurate identification of potentialities and possibilities, setting objectives, determination of actions, building allies networking and resources mobilization. Economist, with a Master’s degree in Business Management from the Piura University, specialist in development of multi-stakeholder alliances with more than 20 years of professional experience. Current Executive Director of Aquafondo, the Water Fund for Lima and Callao.

 

Olga Galindo – Vivo Cuenca – Colombia

Bio: Olga is a Veterinary Zootechnician with a Master’s in Regional Development and Territorial Planning. She is the Executive Director of VivoCuenca Corporation, the Water Fund for the Chinchiná River Basin, in Caldas (Colombia). Olga has experience as the Head of Planning of the Western Andes Territorial Directorate of the National System of Natural Parks (Territorial Andes Occidentales del Sistema Nacional de Parques Naturales) and as a consultant for the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. Additionally, she was the Coordinator of the departmental system of protected areas in Corpocaldas, Territorial Environmental Authority (Autoridad Ambiental Territorial). Apart from these experiences, she was the director of several civil society organizations and a Consultant at the International Centre for the Investigation of the El Niño Phenomenon.

 

Block 3: Andean Water Funds Platform – 10:46 – 11:05

Andrea Yáñez Ariza – Manager of the Bogotá Region Water Fund – Water Somos – Colombia 

Bio: Entrepreneur from Cucuta, passionate about the preservation of the environment in her region. She studied economics and has coordinated projects on urban desert landscaping. She has successfully implemented sustainable beautification projects in public and private spaces in the North of Santander region, with the goal of conserving water. Previously, she served as the manager of the Water Fund of the Northeastern Colombian Alliance BioCuenca (a collaborative platform created to bring together efforts for water governance through territorial actions for community strengthening and nature-based solutions in the northeastern part of Colombia). In May, she assumed the position of Director of the Water Somos Corporation, with the aim of bringing together stakeholders to work towards water security in the Bogotá region. Currently, she also serves as the director of the Network of Water Funds for Colombia, where collective commitments between water funds at the national level are coordinated.

Pablo Lloret – Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano – Ecuador 

Bio: Pablo is a specialist in natural resource management and civil engineer with more than 30 years of experience in environmental management, biodiversity conservation, watershed management and local capacity strengthening for the sustainable management of natural resources. Pablo is an expert in financial mechanisms for the conservation and governance of water resources. He has worked in the public sector both locally and nationally, in addition to teaching at various universities. Pablo has always been linked to the world of sustainable development and environment; he is a high-level visionary leader who works on the creation of consensus among diverse natural resources interest groups and the construction of working relationships with the government, community and private sector collaborators. Since June 2019, Pablo has taken on the role of Executive Director of FFLA.

Q&A Session and Closing of Event – 11:05 – 11:30

 

If you need more information, please contact Paola.zavala@ffla.net.