3 June 2013: The 3rd Latin American and Caribbean Sanitation Conference, LatinoSan 2013, concluded with the signature of the Panama Declaration, in which delegates from the region agree to establish a Regional Meeting of Ministries of Sanitation, a Secretariat in charge of following-up on agreements from these meetings, and a Latin American and Caribbean Observatory on Sanitation.

In the Declaration, the representatives of the countries participating in the LatinoSan initiative: reiterate their commitment to universalize the human right to water and sanitation services in Latin America and the Caribbean; prioritize access to basic sanitation services with programmes related to the promotion of hygiene and sanitation education in order to reach total coverage of basic sanitation in the region within the next few years; enhance intergovernmental cooperation in the region through the establishment of a Regional Meeting of Ministries of Sanitation, to be held every two years within the framework of the LatinSan Conference; support the efforts towards global sanitation coverage through the institutionalization of the regional initiative LatinoSan with the creation of a Secretariat Pro Tempore of LatinoSan; establish the Latin American and Caribbean Observatory on Sanitation, in order to monitor the sanitation situation of States members of the LatinoSan initiative; promote the building of capacity of rural and urban communities and organization in the management of basic sanitation services; implement disaster risk prevention and management policies in the basic sanitation sector through the implementation of measures to reduce vulnerability and increase the resilience of infrastructures; and call on the UN to set a specific goal on access to water and sanitation beyond 2015.

LatinoSan 2013 took place in Panama City from 29-31 May 2013. [Panama Declaration] [LatinoSan 2013 Website]