Sanear Amazônia Project: social technologies and protagonism of communities improve quality of life in the extractive reserves

Abstract

A process for rural sanitation infrastructure implementation is in progress in extractive reserves in the Amazonia, through integrated actions between civil society, public institutions and the beneficiary population. This article portrays the history of the Sanear Amazonia project development, describing the social organizations protagonism and their impacts on the quality of life of the beneficiary population. A description is made of the actions of the social movement and its role as a central element in all phases of the process of implementing water access through social technologies in extractive reserves along the entire process. The role of the partners involved in the development of the project is described, presenting the arrangement that instrumented the execution of the project since 2007.The methodological framework was based on the research-action method, involving qualitative and quantitative methods applied in 5% of the universe of the attended families of the extractive reserves. The results indicate that the Sanear Amazonia project improved in 100% the access of the extractive reserves populations to water and sanitation through a process that favoured the participation and protagonism of organized civil society integrated with other institutions. In addition, an improvement in the quality of life of these populations was observed from indicators that showed a 22% reduction in the rates of intestinal parasitosis infection and a 65% reduction in the prevalence rate of diarrhoea in children under 12 years of age. Beneficiary population oral reports were relevant to show quality of life improvement with the implementation of the technologies. It is concluded that water and sanitation access for the rural population in the Amazonia, considering quality, quantity and accessibility should associate social protagonism along the process to guarantee its effectiveness.