Paraguay’s Water Information System (WIS) is a great example of how having access to the right data at the right time can make real, tangible differences in people’s lives.
As a country, Paraguay has enormous water resources but challenges in managing them affected progress to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: clean water and sanitation.
In 2019, at the launch of the Data For Now initiative, Paraguay’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) made addressing issues with water resources a national priority. Since then, we have been working with INE and other partners to create a system for sharing data from many sources and institutions, to improve water resource management and access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Read about the development of the WIS in English or in Spanish.
The WIS launched in March 2023. The system consolidates data on water quality, availability, sanitation, and other areas to help manage water resources in the country, identify gaps and shortages, and give a clearer picture of where support is needed.
What impact is this making?
Our impact stories look at how data from the WIS is helping to identify which communities need support to access clean water, and how INE disseminates data and partners are using it to improve people’s lives.
First up, we look at how the National Environmental Sanitation Service of Paraguay (SENASA) is using this information to target water supply projects (including rainwater harvesting systems and infrastructure such as wells, taps, and pipelines) to the areas where they are most needed.
View the full impact story in English or Spanish to learn about this work in the indigenous communities of Laguna Negra, Boquerón, and in Peguaho Kokuere, Itá:
- How data is improving access to clean water in Paraguay
- Cómo los datos están mejorando el acceso al agua potable en Paraguay
Since 2022, the Global Partnership has also been working with the Reservoir Division of Itaipu Binacional Paraguay, one of the largest dams in the world, to monitor progress on SDG 6.
In particular, we have been working together to measure SDG indicator 6.3.2 (which assesses water quality), using data collected at Itaipu Reservoir, and to include this data in Paraguay's WIS where it is freely available for decision-makers to use.
This data helps to ensure that the quality of the water meets the parameters for its specific uses, whether generating hydroelectric power or supplying drinkable water to people’s homes.
View the full impact story in English or Spanish:
- Better data for water quality and resources for better decisions
- Mejores datos sobre la calidad del agua para una mejor toma de decisiones
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