Through this grant, Nicaraguan participants have increased their capacity and skills for designing and implementing policies to develop the IT-ITES sector, and as an ultimate objective, to implement one of the pillars of the National Development Plan. The exchange helped strengthen the collaboration between government, academia and private sector. Finally, it helped maintain momentum with the CARCIP Project and raised awareness to use CARCIP as a platform to catalyze the IT-ITES sector and to achieve the goals of the NDP.

The Government of Nicaragua (GoN) supports indigenous communities in the Northern Atlantic and Southern Atlantic Autonomous Regions (RAAN and RAAS) in their efforts to take ownership and manage their own forest resources---a policy that helps reduce poverty in the communities while also fighting ecological degradation. Although the Nicaraguan authorities have created a community forestry strategy, sector and regional forestry institutions had little or no experience implementing such an ambitious model.

The Governments of El Salvador and Nicaragua faced a mutual challenge on how best to protect recent investments in new and sophisticated medical equipment. On the other hand, Brazil had positive experiences in developing policies and administrative procedures for maintaining and repairing equipment that would increase longevity and efficiency of equipment used in the provision of health services.

The Nicaraguan Government, aiming to promote social and rural development and poverty reduction among its indigenous populations, recognized the much-needed task of building capacity for effective marketing among the small-scale cocoa farmers and their communities at local and national levels. In order to secure better market deals, Nicaragua’s small-scale cocoa farmers reached out to their counterparts in the Dominican Republic. They thereafter created a strategy to gain access to Fairtrade.

To improve the management and delivery of health services to its citizens, and address equity, efficiency, and access gaps in its public health sector, the Government of Nicaragua engaged in an exchange with Argentina. They learned new payment mechanisms that will help improve the quality of preventative care, and provision of basic health care to the poorest and most vulnerable.

Challenge

Chronic malnutrition, or stunting, is a serious problem in Central America. Stunting rates in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama are greater than 20 percent and the cost of malnutrition in these countries is estimated to range from 2.3 to 11.4 percent of GDP.¹  A growing number of studies show that community-based growth promotion (CBGP) programs can help reduce malnutrition rates.