The OLAS LAPOP 2021 dataset provides information on water and sanitation access for 18 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. The dataset uses microdata from the 2021 wave of the AmericasBarometer project from Vanderbilt’s Latin America Public Opinion Project (AB-LAPOP).
The AB-LAPOP is a comparative survey that aims to create a temporal data set for the western hemisphere that includes a broad range of topics, produced by a standardized method and the use of a common core questionnaire which permit valid comparisons across countries and over time on topics. Technical information on the sampling methods and survey design can be access for each country surveyed on the LAPOP website. The OLAS LAPOP 2021 dataset focuses on water and sanitation access information, covering topics like type of water source used by households for different purposes, continuity of access, type of sanitation facility and whether households have exclusive access.

LAC is the most water-rich region in the world by most metrics; however, water resource distribution throughout the region does not correspond demand. To understand water risk throughout the region, this dataset provides population and land area estimates for factors related to water risk, allowing users to explore vulnerability throughout the region to multiple dimensions of water risk.

This dataset contains estimates of populations living in areas of water stress and risk in 27 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) at the municipal level. The dataset contains categories of 18 factors related to water risk and 39 indices of water risk and population estimates within each with aggregations possible at the basin, state, country, and regional level.

The population data used to generate this dataset were obtained from the WorldPop project 2020 UN-adjusted population projections, while estimates of water stress and risk come from WRI’s Aqueduct 3.0 Water Risk Framework. Municipal administrative boundaries are from the Database of Global Administrative Areas (GADM). For more information on the methodology users are invited to read IADB Technical Note IDB-TN-2411: “Scarcity in the Land of Plenty”, and WRIs “Aqueduct 3.0: Updated Decision-relevant Global Water Risk Indicators”.

| https://www.wri.org/data/aqueduct-global-maps-30-data |
| https://www.worldpop.org/ |
| https://gadm.org/ |

The OLAS Simplified GLAAS for LAC dataset provides information on water and sanitation governance in 30 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) from 2018 and 2021. The data is from the UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS), which is a global survey carried out by UN Water and the World Health Organization (WHO) that collects country-level information on provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene services. The survey covers topics like governance, monitoring, finance, and human resources in the sector. This simplified version of the dataset contains information relevant to WASH governance in LAC.