Panama

2020 Voluntary National Review

Panama reported the percentage of the population having access to safely managed sanitation services is 70% at the national level, 85% in urban areas and 41.8% in rural areas as of 2018. The country further reported improvements to drinking water access in rural areas from 92.9% of the population in 2015 to 94.1% of the population in 2018.

Panama noted to face some challenges, as it saw a deterioration of access to drinking water in urban areas from 99% in 2015 to 98% in 2018, highlighting one of the main issue to be the frequency with which this service reaches homes. Panama also reported a very large disparity in access to water between the poor, non-poor, and indigenous populations. It is noted that the percentage of the poor population with access to water remains around 80% and in the non-poor above 97%, while in some indigenous areas it does not reach 35%, which aggravated the conditions of poverty even further. 

Panama acknowledged that for effective conservation, it is necessary to establish new and innovative mechanisms in basins of the country, with the direct contribution of users to protect, restore, recover and remedy watersheds in critical condition. 

Read the full report here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/26427Panama_Informe_Voluntario_Reducido_1_reduced.pdf 

*The information reflected on this page has been taken directly from the official VNR received from this Member State. The information does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations.