2 October 2012: A series of pilot projects to improve access to water supply and sanitation in poor rural and peri-urban areas in Colombia is being supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). These projects aim to address findings that only 45% of rural communities in Colombia have water service and only 16.8% have sewage service.

The NGO Give to Colombia (G2C) will implement the pilot project, starting with an initial project to provide water supply and sanitation to 25 rural schools. The cost of the projects, US$2.1 million, is being provided by AquaFund, supported by IDB, the PepsiCo Foundation, the Governments of Switzerland and Austria, and the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. [IDB Press Release]