United Nations Developmental Plan

www.undp.org

I went on a field trip to the UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAM (UNDP) Costa Rican office on tuesday with the Latin American Issues Seminar with the most brilliant professor, who is actually my professional role-model.

WOW! I feel so much smarter, with a sense of pesamistic hope.

Did you know that there is a tax on the gasoline in Costa Rica that is given to the UNDP? Then the UNDP uses that money, about $15mill/year, to pay Costa Rican farmers to protect forest or naturally regenerate it. Certain farms have a priority, like those along the Mesoamerican Corridor.

After learning about the UNDP Global and National reports, we talked about the Human Development Index on both a global level and also a national level. The index takes into account many factors, but mostly health, education and per capital income. Furthermore, the UNDP is interesting in evaluating what is happening with people's freedom and how to improve those conditions. Did you know the per capita income for men in Costa Rica is $9,606/year and for women it is about $5000/year, even if they occupy the same position?!? We also talked about the Gender-Related Index and the Gender-Empowerment Measures, which focus on equality.

We learned about the most important problems for the UNDP in Costa Rica. The quality of secondary school (high school) is going down due to desertion and repetition. Costa Rica has not reduced poverty for the last 10 years, which is at 22%. There has actually been a worsening of inequality in the last 10 years as well, meaning that the rich-poor gap is growing.

Have you heard this quote?: "There are two families in the world: The Haves and the Have-Nots."

The cost of ending poverty by 2015 would be about $300bill, and this is less that 10% of the richest people in the world's income. Thus, there IS money in the world to help!

Did you know that the richest 500 people in the world make more than the poorest 480mill people in the world?!?

Did you know extreme poverty means people that live on less than $1/day and poverty means people that live on less than $2/day? !!!!!!!

Why does inequality matter to the UNDP? They are concerned with social justice, focusing on the welfare of the poor, growth and efficiency, political legitamacy and... Sounds nice, right?!?

So, what are a few of the MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENTAL GOALS (MDGs)? Create common values and principles in the world. Peace, security and disarmament. Development and poverty eradication. Protecting our common environment. Etc.

And how do they impement thses MDGs in Costa Rica? Well, they have 7 targets, that face so many challenges, maybe too many. 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. 2. Achieve universal primary education. 3. Promote gender equality and empower women. 3. Reduce child mortality. 4. Improve Maternal Health. 5. Combate HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases. 6. Ensure environmental sustainability. 7. Global partnership for development.

The UNDP contributes to the MDGs by giving technical and monitary support to national governmental institutions, and help civil society make national reports analyzing problems and actions.

However, in too many countries there are too many problems and not enough actions.

This trip was interesting because it showed a MACRO attempt to alliviate global problems. The UN speaker was honest though, and said that to realistically achieve these goals, they need an extra $50bill in resources and world participation.

While the lecture was positive, the reality is pesamistic, in saying that we are falling down and it might be too hard to not only stop our decline but also reverse humanity's problems & environmental degradation.

But, every drop counts. Use less toilet paper. Re-use plastic bags. Eat organic. Contribute to fair trade. Donate. Help. Help. Do. We can try!