Closing the water security financing gap in Latin America and the Caribbean requires more than capital — it requires the institutional capacity to turn pressing needs into well-structured, bankable projects. This report applies the Financing Framework for Water Security (FFWS) to the LAC region, addressing one of its most urgent challenges: persistent gaps in water access and sustainability amid climate change, accelerating urbanization, and constrained financial resources. While the region has made progress on basic water and sanitation access, structural deficits continue to threaten the universal realization of the human right to safe water and sanitation, along with sustainability, equity, and resilience. Adapting the FFWS methodology — grounded in New Institutional Economics and systems thinking, and aligned with the UK's "five-case model" for public investment appraisal (strategic, economic, commercial, financial, and management) — the report offers a step-by-step process for governments, operators, the private sector, and civil society to co-build robust investment cases, design effective contractual arrangements, and strengthen governance, funding, and financing structures. In doing so, it bridges two critical gaps: between policymakers and technical experts, and between investment needs and existing financial mechanisms.

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The report unfolds across six chapters, moving from diagnosis to action. After framing the regional context and rationale, it examines the implementation challenges and gaps standing in the way of regional water security, then analyzes shifts in the global and regional financial architecture. It explores emerging financing mechanisms — green and blue bonds, blended finance, water and carbon credits, and philanthropic capital — before turning to applied strategies for channeling climate finance at the local level, drawing on cases from Surat (India) and South Africa. The heart of the report details the regional application of the FFWS itself, illustrated through cases across LAC, before closing with recommendations for policy reform, institutional strengthening, and investment priorities. Taken together, the regional FFWS offers a practical, common-language roadmap for catalytically mobilizing public, private, and philanthropic capital — enabling transformative investments in water security across Latin America and the Caribbean.

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