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About us
CERREJÓN FOUNDATION FOR WATER IN LA GUAJIRA
Who we are
Since 2008, the Foundation's mission has been to work on water supply solutions, promote basic sanitation and hygiene practices, and the environmental sustainability of water sources in the Colombian province of La Guajira, where water scarcity affects the whole region. None of the Guajira provinces have continuous access to a treated water supply.
The need for water
Half of La Guajira's 650,000 inhabitants live in rural areas and 9 out of 10 of those live in poverty. As one of the most arid parts of South America, temperatures can reach 45ºC and rainfall averages 500mm each year, and up to 2,500 hours of sunshine per year - the highest in the country.
In 2007, water mains covered just over half of the province, but they only reach 16.3% of the rural areas. The statistics are worse for sewers, which cover just 39% of the region and drop to a scant 7.9% in the countryside. Areas such as Media and Alta Guajira are so arid that conventional solutions to water and sanitation are simply not feasible.
This explains why rural La Guajira is so vulnerable to disease and why it presents a considerable challenge to the local authorities.
How we help
The Foundation's approach is to foster collective construction of solutions with the participation of local government and the community. We aim to create local empowerment at all levels and for communities to create the capacity to understand and find working solutions to their own reality. All of our lines of work are geared towards helping communities adapt to climate change challenges.
We manage 19 projects that fall under three lines of work: water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and integrated management of water resources. We aim for this work to transform the standard of living for indigenous and vulnerable communities and prevent further ecological deterioration.
The Foundation for Water in La Guajira is led by Paula Peña Amaya, Executive Director. Mrs. Peña formerly headed up the Human Rights Programme at Cerrejón and has acted as an advisor for the Colombian Cooperation Agency responsible for US development cooperation. She was previously Chief of the Planning Office in the Administrative Department of Security (DAS) and Associate Expert of the International Centre of Crime Prevention at the UN in Austria.
Contact: paula.pena@cerrejoncoal.com
Testimonial
María Cecilia Cuartas Arango
Nutrition, Health and Education Officer, United Nations World Nutrition Program in Colombia
“Water in the indigenous communities of La Guajira is scarce, of poor quality, and they have problems using it. In addition, they do not recognize its importance to humans. In the area of food and nutritional safety, the availability, access to, and quality of water contribute to the use and biological usage of foods. If we ensure this, morbidity will be lower among the boys and girls and the acute diarrheic disease (EDA), in particular, will be reduced; there will, therefore, be a greater likelihood of appropriate growth and development because they will not be malnourished.
When the Cerrejón Foundation for Water in La Guajira works specifically on this concern, it makes a very significant contribution to the subject of the "Guajira without Jamushiri" Food and Nutrition Safety public policy. It contributes to guaranteeing a basic need, a fundamental right, and to improving the nutritional situation of the indigenous boys and girls.
For the World Food Programme, the Cerrejón Foundation for Water in La Guajira has been a strategic ally in the joint responsibility and joint management of social investments, which has allowed us to generate capabilities within the communities. We have achieved a technical and financial leverage that should result in the sustainability of actions taken up until now. During this time of working together as equal partners, we have shared visions and missions under the premise that everything can be done, everything is possible, and that has allowed us to work creatively”.
