Central American Plan mobilizes over $400 million for peace, development.

Central American Plan mobilizes over $400 million for peace, development

The Special Plan was adopted in 1988 by the General Assembly (resolution 42/231) with the goal of mobilizing $2.3 billion in financial and technical assistance to the region. The job of devising and implementing such a comprehensive, complex effort was assigned to Augusto Ramirez-Ocampo, former Foreign Affairs Minister of Colombia, who now directs all United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the rank of Assistant Administrator.

"I am pleased to inform you that the goals of the Special Plan are being satisfactorily attained", Mr. Ramirez-Ocampo told a UNDP conference on 12 June 1990 in Geneva. The Plan, he said, had allowed the UN to "lend important support to the entire political and economic progress towards peace".

The Plan includes an emergency programme and programmes of immediate action and economic reactivation and social development. It also deals with institutional development and management.

Strong high-level support

From the beginning, the Plan found strong support at the highest level in the five Central American countries--Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Several key meetings had been held in the last two years to begin implementation.

The first meeting among Central American Governments and co-operating Governments and institutions was held in Geneva from 4 to 6 July 1989. At this meeting, the Central American Governments indicated their technical and financial needs, while the donor community pointed out their requirements for co-operating in the development process.

In June 1990, the Central American Presidents held their first economic summit meeting in La Antigua, Guatemala. They issued a Declaration and an Economic Plan of Action for Central America, which defines a joint strategy for development with equity. The UN Special Plan will take due account of the goals and priorities of the Presidents' Economic Plan of Action, Mr. Ramirez-Ocampo said.

Since 1988, more than a dozen ministerial and other high-level meetings, held under UNDP auspices, have helped shape, support, co-ordinate and implement the Plan.

Moreover, the Central American Governments and co-operating Governments and institutions have held a series of sectoral and thematic meetings on issues such as the electrical power sector, refugees, returnees and displaced persons.

Forthcoming meetings will deal with health, agriculture, the Central American Monetary Stabilization Fund, micro, small and medium enterprises, telecommunications, nutrition and road networks.

Emergency programme

Immediate assistance to populations uprooted by conflicts in the region is the focus of the emergency programme. One of its first practical results was the Central American Governments' decision to convene an International Conference on Central American Refugees (CIREFCA), which adopted a Declaration and a Plan of Concerted Action in favour of refugees, returnees and displaced persons (May 1989, Guatemala).

A total of $121 million was pledged for 59 projects at the First International Meeting of CIREFCA's Follow-Up Committee, held in New York this past June. Donors announced $98.8 million in pledges for the Plan of Action, which will benefit nearly half a million Central Americans.

Meanwhile, the Development Programme for Displaced Persons, Refugees and Returnees in Central America began its activities in November 1988, with a contribution announced by Italy; by July 1990, the first $16 million had been received.

Immediate food requirements for the region have been estimated at about $104 million. In 1988, the World Food Programme provided 92,035 tons of food, valued at $48 million. In 1989, it supplied 39,746 tons, valued at $29 million.

In the electrical power sector, the resources needed for increasing the voltage between the substations of Pavana (Honduras) and Leon, (Nicaragua) have been approved by Canada. Some $47 million have been pledged so far to improve services rendered by the Central American electrical companies.

Computerized information

system

Because external debt negotiations have advanced bilaterally, UNDP assistance in this area has been limited to technical aid to establish a computerized information system covering the debt issue in each Central American country. The project has been executed jointly by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

To help reactivate the Central American Common Market and reduce temporary imbalances in the countries' balance of payments, the European Economic Community has allocated ECUs (European Currency Unit) 120 million (about $163 million) to establish a subregional payment system, with adequate funding and a credit system to facilitate payments. In addition, ECUs 30 million (about $40.7 million) were allocated to Honduras and Nicaragua. The goal is to reactivate intra-regional trade, which has been on the decline in recent years.

Programme of economic

and social reactivation

Work is under way to assess the possibilities of industrial rehabilitation and reconversion of the food, leather and shoe, wood and furniture, cloth and clothing, metal mechanics and chemical industries. UNDP, in consultation with ECLAC and the General Treaty of Central American Economic Integration's secretariat, is discussing these projects with the Central American Governments.

Seminars have been held at the national and regional levels with the participation of business leaders. The Governments have requested a technical mission to analyse current policies and prepare technical assistance requests for industrial rehabilitation and reconversion.

In terms of agricultural development, the RUTA II project, financed by UNDP, Japan and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, is working to strengthen the technical units in each country's Ministry of Agriculture. In the past year, the project has carried out diagnostic studies of basic grains, coffee, soy beans, livestock and others. It also provided assistance in preparing 16 programmes representing investments of some $490 million.

The social investments envisioned in the Special Plan focus largely on health issues and the promotion of the project "Health: A Bridge for Peace", prepared in co-operation with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Pan American Health Organization and the Nutrition Institute for Central America and Panama. This initiative produced pledges of some $150 million by the international community for the implementation of regional health projects. In addition, UNICEF's Executive Board is currently considering $70 million in proposals oriented towards primary health care and related services.

In order to promote growth among micro, small and medium enterprises, the Action Committee for the Support of Central America's Economic and Social Development, which is part of the Latin American Economic System, has been requested to devise a programme for small businesses that includes projects in six areas: production and markets; financing; commercial and technological information; training; and technological and institutional strengthening.

Tourism, which plays a vital role in many developing nations' economies, will receive a boost from the efforts of the World Tourism Association (WTO), in close collaboration with the Governments and the Central American Secretariat for Tourism Integration. The group secured support from the Central American Governments and UNDP to finance projects on conservation and development of protected areas, human resources training for tourism and facilitation of the flow of tourists throughout the region. Other tourist-related projects will soon be financed with WTO support.

In an effort to restructure the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, UNDP has begun studies that will allow for the design of a two-and-a-half-year project to help restructure the Bank's commercial debt and improve the investment management system, diversify loans and increase those available for productive sectors, improve the information management system and contribute to the initiation of a debt reconversion process.

Improving Government

management

In the past year, progress was made in starting two projects to strengthen the Ministries responsible for the Special Plan's implementation.

Two other initiatives are expected to facilitate co-operation with Central America and provide information on the Plan's implementation. A computerized information system will allow for periodic updating on projects financed by UNDP or other international organizations, or through bilateral agreements. Regular information on the execution and impact of the Special Plan is also being provided to the media and six issues of the newsletter INFOPEC have been produced and distributed.