• CAF participated in the 2025 Sector Ministers' Meeting in Madrid and highlighted the importance of integrating climate action and sustainable financing to ensure water security and advance public policies that strengthen access to water and resilience in the region.

CARACAS, Venezuela – CAF – the development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean – participated in the Sector Ministerial Meeting (RMS) 2025, which brought together global leaders in Madrid to strengthen political and financial commitments around water, sanitation, and climate resilience.

In the plenary session“Political Leadership for Integration,” Christian Asinelli, CAF's corporate vice president of strategic programming, underscored the institution's commitment to sustainability and climate action.

This plenary session, moderated by Álvaro Lario, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and president of UN-Water, also included Hansaka Wijemuni, deputy minister of health and mass media of Sri Lanka; Veronica Manfredi, director of Zero Pollution, Water Resilience, and Green Urban Transition at the European Commission; Kinya Seto, CEO of LIXIL Corporation; and Fan Zhang, Global Leader for Water and Prosperity at the World Bank.

“CAF has set out to be the green bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and we're on the right path,” said Asinelli, referring to the USD 7 billion capitalisation, which has allowed CAF to double its investment portfolio and expand its reach.

Asinelli highlighted the importance of multilateral cooperation and innovative financial mechanisms to promote projects with environmental and social impact, such as the USD 100 million blue bond, issued jointly with UNDP, and the debt-for-nature swap for the conservation and restoration of the Lempa River in Central America.“None of this would be possible without institutional capacity, collective action, and integration. And that is achieved with political will,” he added.

Sustainable financing

Meanwhile, in a session dedicated to sustainable financing, focusing on integrated investment and efficiency, Julián Suárez Migliozzi, CAF's sustainable territorial development manager, emphasized that“governments must make water, sanitation, and hygiene a national financing priority, under an integrated water resources management approach.”

Suárez reaffirmed that, as part of its mandate and under the Cross-Cutting Water Security Agenda, CAF supports its member countries in prioritising water, sanitation, and drainage as essential public policies for sustainable territorial development, closely linked to the protection of water resources, basin management, and adaptation to climate change.

Additionally, CAF is developing the last mile of project preparation through its non-reimbursable Project Preparation Facility, supporting more than 30 projects to date with an estimated CAPEX of USD 1.5 billion-a clear opportunity to mobilise more resources and technical capabilities.

He also emphasised that, given the fiscal constraints facing many governments, public and multilateral development banks play a key role in mobilising innovative resources through blended financing, guarantees, and policy-based lending.“Institutions like CAF can be catalysts for attracting private investment and international cooperation toward common goals,” he noted.

In this regard, CAF's work in Latin America and the Caribbean is materialized through the implementation of projects such as the USD 1 billion debt swap in El Salvador, which released USD 350 million for adaptation programs in the Lempa River basin; the MiAgua program in Bolivia, with USD 385 million benefiting 1.8 million people; and PROMADEC in Ecuador, with USD 875 million invested alongside the Development Bank (BDE) to improve water and sanitation services.

In this discussion, moderated by Mathilde Mesnard of the OECD, CAF was joined by leaders and authorities from various countries, including Mongolia, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka; with Latin American representatives represented by the deputy minister of environment of Panama, Oscar Vallarino; the deputy minister of water of Guatemala, Jaime Luis Carrera; and the National Secretary of Water Security of Brazil, Giuseppe Serra Seca Vieira.

RMS 2025, organised by the government of Spain, the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partnership, and UNICEF, culminated in a high-level leaders' pact on water security and resilience, which will include concrete commitments to promote sustained leadership and integrated global water policies.

The CAF Water Dialogues, held the previous day in Madrid, served as a key preparatory space for this shared agenda between Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain, strengthening cooperation between regions to ensure safe, equitable, and sustainable access to water.

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