SIWI International Witness to Integrity Pact for public tenders in El Salvador

As part of the three public tenders carried out by the El Salvador National Administration of Aqueducts and Sewers (ANDA) to receive offers from companies for the projects to improve water networks and sewerage in the municipalities of Santa Tecla, Mejicanos, Soyapango and San Salvador.

The project aims to benefit 31000 people by improving service delivery and it has a $ 4 million budget from the Fund for Cooperation for Water and Sanitation (FCAS) of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID).

Within this framework took place the signature of the integrity pact, signed by the president of ANDA, Marco Fortin; the director of the UNDP Water Governance Facility, Marianne Kjellen, as international witness; the executive director of the Foundation for the Study and Application of the Law (FESPAD), Abraham Ábrego, as the social monitor, and the bidders.

The signature had as well the presence of the Vice President of the Republic, Oscar Ortiz, and representatives of the Secretariat for Citizen Participation, Transparency and Anti-Corruption and AECID, as witnesses of honor.

“We have a commitment to transparency and integrity in El Salvador, and I congratulate ANDA for their work on it, with the assistance of AECID, the Stockholm International Water Institute, and FESPAD” said the Vice President of the Republic of El Salvador, Oscar Ortiz.

One of the commitments made in this agreement is that ANDA and the bidders will act in strict accordance with the law and ethical principles and values contained in the Ethics in Government Act and ethical guidelines in the construction industry, as appropriate, as well as other applicable legal frameworks for the successful completion of the tender process and the execution of the work.

The document also specifies that ANDA will disclose all information related to this tender and subsequent execution of the work to FESPAD, so the process can be monitored by the civil society organization that will publish periodical reports publicly available.

The Integrity Pact signature is part of the “Agreement on Technical Cooperation on Improving Integrity in the Management of ANDA” between the Water Governance Facility and ANDA, supported by the AECID and with cewas as collaborators. This agreement aims to support ANDA in promoting and institutionalizing integrity into their organization’s culture, by conducting a series of workshops and activities in order to improve the management of the institution through integrity aspects.