Chronic malnutrition affects four out of ten Bolivian children in the most food-insecure municipalities in the country, where a child in a rural area is 2.5 times more likely to suffer from malnutrition than in urban areas. This Joint Programme supported the Bolivian government's Zero Malnutrition Multi-sectoral Programme (PMD-C) in 22 highly vulnerable municipalities by improving access to food, water, sanitation and information about nutrition and hygiene.

Paraguay struggles with considerable water and sanitation challenges. Only half of the poorest households have drinkable water, and only 10% of all sewage is treated. Paraguay's indigenous communities are particularly badly off: only 6% of households have drinking water, and only 3% have access to sanitation. The Joint Programme was aimed at increasing access to sanitation and potable water, with an emphasis on dispersed rural communities and indigenous populations.

Ninety-one per cent of the indigenous population of Panama's Ngöbe-Buglé Region suffers from extreme poverty. Their dispersion, mobility and location in remote and inaccessible areas raise the cost of traditional sanitation solutions, limiting investment and private participation. This Joint Programme used an intercultural and gender-based approach to increase basic services to marginalized communities and to empower local populations to manage their own water resources.

Less than 20% of people living in Nicaragua's Northern and Southern Autonomous Administrative Regions, home to many indigenous communities, have access to drinking water and adequate sanitation. The goal of the Joint Programme was to increase sustainable access to water and sanitation for poor population groups by strengthening democratic economic governance in the water and sanitation sector.