Author: María Eugenia Little & Gonzalo Meschengieser, AySA
On May 6, the Professional Training Program in Incident Command Systems (ICS) for water and sanitation organizations was carried out virtually. The Workshop was organized by Agua y Saneaientos Argentinos S.A. (AySA) and the Asociación Latinoamericana de Operadores de Agua y Saneamiento (ALOAS) and dictated by the prestigious Canadian organization Operators Without Borders (OWB) in conjunction with the collaboration of Watershare, SGBATOS and the Canadian Embassy.
OWB is a long-standig institution that helps public water and sanitation services in developing countries recover from natural disasters and other conflicts, through training and guidance for water and wastewater operators.
Greg Solecki an expert in conflict situations with more than 20 years of experience delivered the training, coordinated by Valerie Jenkinson, OWB, and Gonzalo Meschengieser from AySA. The activity was delivered in English with text in Spanish combining theory and practice, which made it a dynamic session.
The program generated a lot of interest for the more than 90 participants representing 12 countries such as Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico, Iran, Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. Attendees learned and discussed how to implement this system in their businesses and communities.
The objetive of this activity was to train and to create a team of professionals and technicians from the water sector in Latin America and the Caribbean to provide assitance to purification and treatment plants in emergency and catastrophic situations and prepare the trainees for eventual contingencies.
The President of AySA, Lic. Malena Galmarini provided a regional perspective regarding the challenges of water management and Climate Change, that is why she promoted this initiative from the outset. Jorge Muñoz and María Eugenia Little participated on behalf of AySA. SGBATOS was represented by Gabriela Sacco and the Canadian Embassy in Argentina by its Commercial Counselor Ana Fisher.
