At the end of 2020, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador remained at the bottom of the Human Development Index ranking, while Costa Rica and Panama were better evaluated.
The report entitled The Next Frontier, Human Development and the Anthropocene, which was published on December 15, 2020 at the global level, updates the Human Development Index (HDI) that is calculated by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The United Nations Development Programme in Costa Rica is putting out to tender the conceptualization and design of a communications plan for the project Global Sustainable Supply Chains for Marine Commodities.
Purchase by UNDP - Costa Rica No. 32259:
"UNDP Costa Rica wishes hire a specialist communications company to develop a strategy / communications plan for the projectGlobal Sustainable Supply Chains for Marine Commodities,Costa Rica Chapter.
The Ministry of Transport and Public Works will put the works out to tender at the end of the first quarter of 2014.
From a Press Release by the Presidential House of Costa Rica:
"By signing an addendum to the voluntary agreement between the Association Council for Real Estate Development (CODI) and the National Council for Roads (Conavi) there will be an extension to 5 -lanes of the ring road Santa Ana- Belen two kilometers long, and 4 bridges located on this highway in which an investment of $34 million is estimated to be carried out. The first phase of work will involve the relocation of utilities and will start next January in order to have the necessary space to allow extending the lanes.
The fair "Knowing the South: regional exchange of solutions," which aims to present solutions of the South-South Cooperation (SSC) on issues of social and sustainable development will take place from 8th to 10th May in Panama.
From a press release from the United Nations Program for Development:
In recent years the region has advanced in a process of political, economic, social and cultural development.
Crime and violence associated with drug trafficking brings with it overwhelming economic costs, estimated at about 8% of GDP.
In this illegal activity, that in the 90's was centered in the Caribbean but has migrated to Central America, cartels move about 300 tons of cocaine to North America, valued at $38 billion.
According to the National Civil Police, between 2008 and 2011 40,000 murders were committed in the country, of which a high percentage are related to drug trafficking.
The prevailing violence and crime in Guatemala has led to an increase in the supply of services and products to provide security.
There are currently 150 security companies, employing about 120,000 people offering services such as surveillance and custodial care among other things.
"These kinds of services are mainly sought by businesses and neighborhoods, due to a distrust of the services provided by state security forces.
A number of public tenders were announced covering $2 million in flood prevention works in San Salvador.
The processes are being handled by the purchases office of the United Nations Development Programme. Roberto Góches, Public Works Vice Minister, commented that "what we do in six months, they do it in two and a half; this is shorter, more transparent and less expensive".
The vast majority of Guatemalan workers have not completed elementary education. The average schooling is 5.6 years.
The results of the National Survey of Employment and Income (ENEI 2010) done by the National Statistics Institute (INE), also reveals that education of Guatemalan workers has not improved over the last six years.
"The situation gets worse in rural areas, while workers in metropolitan zones have an average of 8.35 years of schooling; rural areas have averaged just 3.8 years of education. The remaining urban workers have an average of 6.36 years of schooling," Lorena Alvarez writes for Elperiodico.com.gt.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will give the funds to the Suppliers Development Program (PDP), which trains SMEs to make them more efficient.
The program, administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is called “Programa de Desarrollo para Proveedores” in Spanish. It intends to prepare Small and Medium companies to work with large enterprises by being more competitive.
The region spends over $6.5 billion each year to fight insecurity and violence.
Central America is the world's most violent region, with an average murder rate of 33 homicides per 100.000 inhabitants, stated a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
"Central America has become the world's most violent region. With the exception of areas of intense political violence, such as the South African region, the Central American countries together have the highest murder rate in the world, found the study, which does not include Irak, due to its state of war.
A program in El Salvador will train micro, small and medium companies on the quality standards required by large corporations.
The project will also provide training for delegates of large companies on how to make business with SMEs.
Elsalvador.com published statements by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative in the country, Jessica Faieta: "The team in charge of the project is located in the offices of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry... UNDP will provide $1 million to start the project".
El Salvador now has the funds for the construction of 23,761 homes in the poorest areas during the next 18 months.
The total budgeted amount for the construction of 25,000 units of El Salvador’s social housing program is $87.1 million, of which, $81 million is already committed by the Central Government, international organizations like the Inter-American Development Bank (BID, acronym in Spanish) and the Central American Integration Bank, among others. The government still must obtain $6.2 million.
The funds provided by the European Commission are aimed at boosting agricultural development and improve the food supply.
The funds, $20 million for Guatemala and $10 million for Nicaragua, are part of a total of $42 million, which also includes Bolivia.
The support will run for three years, until 2011 and “it will finance measures to improve access to agricultural production means such as fertilizers, seeds, veterinary services, micro credit, rural infrastructure, training and support for professionals," according what was reported in the Finanzas.com website.
In the face of the crisis, the government hired a consultancy by the UNPD to develop a new labor policy.
The consultancy will take place over a period of three months and it will look for ways to continue to implement part-time work without ratifying Agreement 175 of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Journalist Lorena Alvarez wrote in Elperiodico.com.gt: "Afterward, the proposal will be reviewed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, as well as the Tripartite Commission for Labor Affairs."
This month the project to improve competitiveness at the Panama Banking Center will be put in place.
Pa-digital.com.pa reports: "According to the Superintendence of Banks in Panama (SBP) the projects has four components: the first is a integral diagnostic of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), the second phase will be a comparative study (Benchmarking) of other similar banking centers, the third component includes an study of the international market and in the fourth stage a strategic action plan will be established in conjunction with the corresponding authorities.