FEMSA Highlights Water Security Efforts at World Water Week

FEMSA Foundation reaffirmed its commitment to advancing safe, equitable, and sustainable access to water and sanitation in Latin America during World Water Week 2025. As part of the Focus on the Americas program, organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to bring Latin American and Caribbean perspectives to the global water security discussion, FEMSA presented projects combining innovation, collective action, and nature-based solutions to address the region’s most urgent water and climate challenges.

Carlos Hurtado, Water Security Manager, FEMSA Foundation, emphasized the organization’s long-term vision. “We envision a Latin America where everyone has safe, equitable and sustainable access to water and sanitation as the foundation for shared prosperity. The region cannot afford to lose time, and at FEMSA we are committed to investing in ambitious, transformative projects in a fair and environmentally responsible way,” Hurtado said. 

World Water Week, held annually in Stockholm since 1991, is considered one of the most important global forums for addressing water-related issues. The event brings together experts, leaders, and stakeholders from various sectors and countries to develop solutions to major challenges such as poverty, climate change, and biodiversity loss.

Latin America and the Caribbean face rising climate vulnerability, with more than 90% of natural disasters in the region linked to climate and water, according to the IDB. Climate change has tripled the frequency of these events over the past 50 years, driving the need for rapid, adaptive and collaborative responses. “No one can solve the problem alone. We need to rethink social, environmental and economic models and find new ways to collaborate in an agile and adaptive manner,” Hurtado said. 

FEMSA’s Foundation initiatives include the Latin American Water Funds Partnership, a regional multisector alliance involving the IDB, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the International Climate Initiative (IKI). Over the past 14 years, the partnership has supported 26 water funds and implemented field interventions to improve water security across more than 565,000ha, directly benefiting over 137,000 families.

Another example is the Lazos de Agua (Water Ties) program, a multisector collaboration that connects communities, governments, companies, and civil society organizations to improve access to safe and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services. In its first six years, the program has impacted more than 235,000 people across 412 rural and peri-urban communities in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Paraguay.