CATIE contributes to the strengthening of local water and sanitation data analysis.

• This is part of the implementation of the Municipal Food Security and Nutrition Information System in Guatemala.

June 14, 2022. The Health District of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS, its Spanish acronym) of the municipality of Colotenango, Department of Huehuetenango, in Guatemala, held a meeting to contribute to the management, analysis and visualization of water and sanitation data in the municipality of Colotenango; These data contribute to the Water Quality Monitoring System (SIVIAGUA, its Spanish acronym) at the central level and are managed at the municipal level, as well as facilitate decision-making in the Municipal Commission for Food and Nutritional Security, as reported by Juan Diego Chang, statistics specialist of the National Information Platform Project (PiNN), implemented by CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center).

Cesar López, MSPAS environmental health inspector, and Juan José Palacio, director of the Municipal Water and Sanitation Office (OMAS, its Spanish acronym), shared with PiNN's technical team the four steps of the data collection process. López and Palacio coincided that the collaboration of the rural health technicians in monitoring the populated areas and performing the water chlorination tests has been important.

Palacio highlighted the importance of the PiNN project's support to add wastewater and solid waste monitoring to SIVIAGUA. 

The meeting was coordinated by CATIE, through the PiNN Project (which is funded by the European Union); the Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate and the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security (SESAN, its Spanish acronym) of the municipality of Colotenango.