3. Safe Water and Sanitation for a Healthier Caribbean

The challenge of meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, especially given climate change, disaster risks, poverty, and the economic disruption caused by COVID-19, is a major concern of Caribbean governments and policymakers. Anthropogenic pressures along with climate change impacts are significantly affecting water and sanitation services. Several Caribbean islands are already experiencing water insecurity arising from climate change and variability impacts on their freshwater resources. Paradoxically, many countries, with a few exceptions, have sufficient water resources to meet demand. A critical issue is that existing infrastructure, management, and institutional frameworks that should close the supply–demand gap are obsolete. In several countries water management institutions have not been substantially transformed for over 60 years. Growing demands for wastewater management due to population increase along with the inability of the Region’s governments to modernise sewerage treatment facilities have undermined efforts to ensure sanitation for all by 2030. Economic disruption from COVID-19 is expected to slow and divert investment in water and sanitation improvements to other critical sectors. This paper seeks to investigate difficulties in achieving Goal 6 and propose measures to accelerate the Caribbean potential to stay on track to meet this goal by 2030. Trinidad and Barbados were used as case studies. Although they differ from each other in several respects, for this reason these case studies allow salient lessons to be distilled and help craft key recommendations that would have applicability to a wide cross-section of Caribbean countries.