Towards a Water Information System in Paraguay

November 6, 2020

“The establishment of an annual plan with goals and objectives in terms of information surveys for all member organizations of the Water Information System, is a desirable coordination instance to achieve a coherent, consistent and sustainable system over time”.

The following report presents a synthesis of the information shared in the peer-to peer exchanges and workshop sessions, organized by Cepei together with the General Directorate of Statistics, Surveys and Censuses and the Directorate of Drinking Water and Sanitation of Paraguay, within the framework of the Data for Now (D4N) initiative. It includes a series of reflections and recommendations about the design and implementation of the future Water Information System of Paraguay.

To develop this report, the author makes a recap of the objectives and activities that have been developed up to now. The main objective was to obtain a broad view of Paraguay’s still segmented and under construction water information system by conducting an assessment on the implementation of governance mechanisms in terms of human and physical resources, but also technological and data needs. 

Principales hallazgos

To obtain accurate information, an open call to other actors producing information is necessary. In this case, the Directorate of Meteorology and Hydrology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock are mentioned. Likewise, the creation of a set of cooperation networks with academia, civil society, United Nations agencies, private sector, multilateral credit organizations and regional organizations is proposed, in that order of preference according to the participants.

During the workshop, the products that would lead to a first stage of the Paraguayan Water Information System were defined, including a statistical yearbook, a water atlas, a web platform, an analysis report on the water situation in the country and other products such as studies on specific topics.

During the workshop, information about the organisms and their relationship with data was revealed. Half of these organizations stated that they do not have a thematic area dedicated to information about water service, so there is an evident deficit in the production and collection of data around this subject.

Main Findings

To obtain accurate information, an open call to other actors producing information is necessary. In this case, the Directorate of Meteorology and Hydrology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock are mentioned. Likewise, the creation of a set of cooperation networks with academia, civil society, United Nations agencies, private sector, multilateral credit organizations and regional organizations is proposed, in that order of preference according to the participants.

During the workshop, the products that would lead to a first stage of the Paraguayan Water Information System were defined, including a statistical yearbook, a water atlas, a web platform, an analysis report on the water situation in the country and other products such as studies on specific topics.

During the workshop, information about the organisms and their relationship with data was revealed. Half of these organizations stated that they do not have a thematic area dedicated to information about water service, so there is an evident deficit in the production and collection of data around this subject.

About the author

Hernán Muñoz

Economist of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), with postgraduate studies in Finance (UBA) and Public Policy (University of San Andrés). He has specialized in strategic planning, capacity building and good statistical practices. He was National Director of Planning, Institutional and International Relations of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) of Argentina from 2015 to 2019.

Acerca del autor

Hernán Muñoz

Economist of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), with postgraduate studies in Finance (UBA) and Public Policy (University of San Andrés). He has specialized in strategic planning, capacity building and good statistical practices. He was National Director of Planning, Institutional and International Relations of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) of Argentina from 2015 to 2019.

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