Nicaragua - Poverty Assessment : Raising Welfare and Reducing Vulnerability

[摘要] This poverty assessment was launchedwith three broad objectives: (1) to update the povertyprofile for Nicaragua with data from the 2001 LSMS surveyand assess key changes between 1998 and 2001; (2) to reviewprogress with respect to PRSP targets and MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs), including an analysis of thoseareas where advances have been weak to orient greater publicattention; and (3) analyze the dynamics o f families movingin and out o f poverty using panel data from the 1998 and2001 LSMS surveys, in order to obtain clues about strategiesthat may have led to improving incomes. This report findsthat Nicaragua has made significant progress in reducingpoverty over the last decade, despite its status as one ofthe poorest and least developed countries in Latin America.Although poverty declined significantly more in rural thanurban areas, poverty and extreme poverty continue to beoverwhelmingly rural.Progress in poverty reduction between1998 and 2001 reflect significant income gains for mostNicaraguan households as well as lower food prices.Better-off families in Nicaragua exhibit high educationallevels, small family sizes, residence in Managua and thePacific Region, and diversified incomes. However, povertychanges between 1998 and 2001 varied substantially byregion. Despite overall gains in poverty, nearly half of allPRSP targets are not currently on track. The areas whereindicators show least progress since 1993, raising concernsfor prospects of future poverty reduction, include thefollowing: 1). Fertility rates continue to be high inNicaragua, particularly among adolescents with no education,and a large unsatisfied demand for family planning servicescontinues. 2) Progress in education is mixed. 3) Productiveinfrastructure has been practically stagnant since the early1990s. 4) Basic water and sanitation infrastructure hasprogressed very modestly, with less than half of the homesin rural areas having access to safe basic services. 5)Diarrhea and upper respiratory infections for children underfive show little progress since the early 1990s. The reportconcludes that continued progress in Nicaragua'sMillennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction StrategyP goals will be closely linked to the recovery of growth.Successful strategies for broad-based growth and povertyreduction should include aiming for macroeconomic stability,key interventions in education, increased access toproductive and basic infrastructure, increasedcompetitiveness and efficiency in financial services wouldimprove access to credit for poorer families, Increasedaccess to reproductive and perinatal healthcare services forwomen with maternal and child care becoming a priority, andaccess to timely and targeted social protection interventions.

[发布日期] 2003-12-23 [发布机构] Washington, DC

[学科分类] 社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

[关键词] ADAPTABILITY;ADOLESCENTS;BREASTFEEDING;CHILDREN;COMMUNITY HEALTH