03 June 2014: The Global Environment Facility-funded Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management (GEF CReW) Project will provide training in water and wastewater management for 125 persons from four countries of the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR). The Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (CAALCA) will provide training via the internet from June-November 2014 for participants from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. Participants can obtain a diploma in strategic management for water utilities or in energy and water efficiency for water utilities. The training program will also offer shorter courses in wastewater treatment fundamentals and commercial management of water utilities.

The online training by CAALCA is being provided as part of GEF CReW’s efforts to address capacity constraints in the WCR and improve the skills and knowledge needed for wastewater management policy, planning and financing. The training is also intended to help WCR countries meet their obligations under the Protocol on Land-Based Sources of Pollution (LBS Protocol) of the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Caribbean Regional Coordination Unit (CAR/RCU), which administers CReW and also serves as the secretariat for the Cartagena Convention, hopes to establish partnerships with other agencies to provide online training on water and wastewater management throughout the WCR.

Launched in 2011, GEF CReW is jointly implemented by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and UNEP CAR/RCU. CAALCA, based in Monterrey, Mexico, was created in 2008 by the IDB, Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM), and the FEMSA Foundation, the charitable arm of the beverage company FEMSA. [GEF CReW Press Release]