Impacts des Water operators partnerships « WOPs » sur la prestation des services d’eau dans la ville de Quito, Équateur
To improve access to water and sanitation the United Nations created in 2006 a cooperation program among water operators, the Water Operator's Partnerships (WOP). This program was born in response to the general problems to achieve the UN's goals for water and sanitation.  There are still problems in the world, most especially in the South, to access drinking water. These problems will increase with the contamination of water sources, caused by lack of sanitation and lack of wastewater treatment. Urbanization, which concentrates more and more people, worsens this situation and brings together the most pressing problems in the cities. Latin America is the most urbanized region of the South. Marginal areas, not served by municipal services, are growing, and the absence of ownership of the lands of its areas makes it difficult for people to claim their right to be served by the services provided by the city. As defended by the urban political ecologies (UPE), urban water will organize the city, and social power will produce unequal urban environments. These changes must be understood in a global context of néolibéralisation of economies, and adoption of "private ethics" by the public sector. It seems that public companies that market water have become the most common model of water operator.  In this global context, the WOPs will be presented as a solution to strengthen local water services, which will improve access to water and sanitation. Since 2010 the UN to create a WOP database set up around the world. Subsequently, in 2013, they began to follow up on these partnerships, with the intention of highlighting a collection of WOP good practices. We were fortunate to be able to participate in one of its evaluations on a WOP conducted in Latin America between the water operators of the cities of Quito (Ecuador) and Medellin (Colombia)
Water Operator’s Partnerships Access to water Latin America