August 2013: The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), based on the Economics of Sanitation Initiative (ESI) methodology, has produced a report that analyzes the economic and social impacts of poor sanitation in Nicaragua, estimated at US$95 million in 2009. The study recommends higher investments in sanitation, particularly in the poor urban and rural areas.

According to the World Bank, only 52% of the population in Nicaragua has access to improved sanitation, which is below the average of Latin American and Caribbean countries. The report indicates that efforts to raise sanitation coverage face the challenge of demographic growth, with an additional 80,000 Nicaraguans per year in need of improved sanitation facilities.

The study, titled ‘Economics of Sanitation Initiative Nicaragua: The Cost of Inadequate Sanitation,’ provides an overview of inadequate sanitation on health, premature deaths, tourism, water resources. It concludes that: the lack of sanitation represents considerable economic losses for the Nicaraguan economy, in the public and commercial sectors, as well as in the private sphere; more investments in sanitation infrastructure and in the promotion of better hygiene practices are required; and improved sanitation and the rest of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) such as poverty reduction, child health improvement, and larger access to safe drinking water are closely linked. [Publication: Economics of Sanitation Initiative Nicaragua: The Cost of Inadequate Sanitation] [World Bank Additional Information]