13 June 2014: El Salvador, Honduras and Panama will need an additional US$864 million in annual investment to meet their national goals for water and sanitation, according to the findings of the Monitoring Progress of the Country in Water and Sanitation (MAPAS) programme. The programme released three reports, which examine bottlenecks in water and sanitation service delivery and identify reforms to efficiently convert funding into quality, sustainable services for the poor.

The reports underscore the gaps between planned investments in water and sanitation services and the annual funding required to expand quality services to populations. According to the report, El Salvador requires US$255 million, Honduras will need US$350 million and Panama has a shortfall of US$259 million.

The reports also highlight challenges in meeting growing demand for water and sanitation services. In El Salvador, urban populations are growing faster than water and sanitation services can handle. Honduras has low user satisfaction, as a result of limited quality and performance, which is further hindering the sustainability of results. Rural and peri-urban areas in Panama remained “largely unserved,” according to the report. MAPAS uses a Water and Sanitation Scorecard to evaluate four ‘service delivery pathways’ through which countries transform funding into water and sanitation services.

Based on these findings, governments have begun implementing reforms and identifying priorities for service delivery. In Honduras, for example, government officials are applying equity criteria to target investments towards populations that lack access to drinking water and improved sanitation. The government is also decentralizing urban services to municipalities.

“Neither money nor political will alone is sufficient to deliver universal water and sanitation access and to reduce poverty effectively,” stressed Antonio Rodriguez, World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). He recommended better planning, human resources and reliable information systems.

The Central American and Dominican Republic Forum for Water and Sanitation (FOCARD-APS) lead the MAPAS programme, with support from WSP. [World Bank Press Release] [Publication: El Salvador: MAPAS] [Publication: Honduras: MAPAS] [Publication: Panama: MAPAS]