The Northern Triangle: Building Trust, Creating Opportunities
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The Northern Triangle: Building Trust, Creating Opportunities Strategic Actions of the Plan of the Alliance for the Prosperity of the Northern Triangle El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras The Northern Triangle 1 The main challenge we face is the lack of opportunities The pace of economic growth in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras (the countries of Central America’s Northern Triangle) has been low, and has not made it possible to bring about a substantial change in the generation of opportunities for progress available to a mostly young and growing population. This non- inclusive growth, the lack of opportunities, and the upsurge of violence and insecurity have become the main drivers of emigration from our countries. Three times more Lack of Low growth vulnerable to natural opportunities and poverty disasters than the rest of Low and Latin America for young non-inclusive people economic growth 30 percent of youths aged 14–25 57 percent of the (1.7 million people) population live in poverty, with neither study marked territorial disparities nor work 2 Building Trust, Creating Opportunities The outflow of migrants assumed particular significance in 2014, when there was a substantial rise in the number of minors arriving in the United States without documentation and unaccompanied by an adult. This emergency situation has led us to take immediate, short-term steps to propose a solution to the structural causes of this migration. High levels of violence The number of people who have decided 65 percent of the to emigrate is more than five population in the three times greater than in the other countries countries is under the age of Central America of 29, and about 10 million of those are youths between the ages of 15 and 29 High rates of migration The homicide rate 91 pregnancies is three times per 1,000 girls between higher than the rest the ages of 15 and 19 of Central America are evidence of the high rates of teenage pregnancy, a rate that exceeds the Central American average of 9 percent of the 75 and the average for total population has medium/low-income decided to migrate in countries of 47 recent years The Northern Triangle 3 The Plan and its strategic lines of action To tackle these challenges, the three countries have proposed the Plan of the Alliance for the Prosperity of the Northern Triangle. This promotes the coordination and inter-linkage of actions over a five-year horizon (2016–2020), and seeks to give people incentives to stay in their own countries by means of structural change that offers economic opportunities and transforms our citizens’ quality of life, mainly in regions affected by the highest rates of poverty, migration and vulnerability. A 3 x 3 alliance: three countries and three key partners The three countries of the Northern Triangle comprise a region with great economic potential, invaluable cultural wealth and abundant human capital. Investment in our people’s development offers the possibility of transforming the structure of our societies and embarking on a path towards inclusive and sustainable prosperity. The Northern Triangle is: 13th in land 9th economy 9th exporter 30 million 4th exporter of area in the region inhabitants manufacturing The alliance with the private sector, cooperation partners and civil society is crucial. Growth, job-creation and an improvement in the quality of life will only be possible if the private sector invests decisively and continuously in the region, if our cooperation partners take steps that complement our own efforts, and if civil society takes part in these endeavors and monitors them. 4 Building Trust, Creating Opportunities Strategic Lines Developing Economic Opportunities Developing Improving Fostering the Strengthening human capital public safety productive institutions and access sector to the justice system The Northern Triangle 5 6 Building Trust, Creating Opportunities Developing human capital To develop human capital, especially among children, youths and women, steps will be taken to improve the coverage and quality of education, primary healthcare, sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, and early childhood development. These actions will be complemented by the construction and upgrading of housing and the residential envi- ronment, and by targeted interventions geared to the social and economic reinsertion of returning migrants. Lines of action Broadening the Fostering coverage and Improving Building Expanding social the social improving the healthcare, and upgrading protection systems and economic quality of nutrition and housing and and conditional reintegration secondary, tertiary early childhood the residential transfer schemes of returning and vocational development environment migrants education The Northern Triangle 7 We will seek to maximize the impact of conditional transfer Expanding programs, paying particular attention to measures that aim to social protection keep youths aged 14–18 in school. This strategy will be linked systems and to other programs geared to averting teenage pregnancies, conditional transfer schemes introducing youths into the labor force, and preventing youth violence. STRATEGIC ACTION The Plan seeks to expand 300,000 youths the coverage of secondary between the ages of 14 and 18 in priority areas will be education in the priority included in transfer programs regions from 73 percent that emphasize their staying to 92 percent by 2020 in school Broadening the coverage and The operational experience of conditional improving the transfer schemes shows that their effectiveness quality of depends fundamentally on the quality of the secondary, supply of social services. Hence it is essential tertiary and to expand the coverage and improve the quality vocational of educational programs. education STRATEGIC ACTIONS 800,000 secondary 1 million youths with 150,000 teachers school students vocational training to benefit trained in priority subjects, to benefit from the construction from strengthening workforce and improvements in monitoring, and upgrading of classrooms, training centers, job centers, the assessment and incentives in the the introduction of alternative training of trainers, and youth teaching career methods of education, and the enterprise schemes use of innovative technology in schooling 8 Building Trust, Creating Opportunities Malnutrition and late entry into the education system Improving have severe consequences for students’ cognitive healthcare, development and usually affect their path through school nutrition and and into the labor force in adulthood. Hence nutrition, early childhood access to healthcare, and early childhood care and development development are crucial to making a significant change to the quality of our human capital. STRATEGIC ACTIONS 7.4 million people 1 million youths 260,000 children to benefit from expanding the benefitting from sexual and to benefit from alternative coverage of maternal and child reproductive health programs programs for childcare, building healthcare and nutrition, and the through educational centers and upgrading classrooms construction and equipping of and the network of healthcare and community spaces at the hospitals and healthcare centers centers preschool level Housing conditions and the residential environment affect the Building life quality of our population, as do their access to economic and upgrading housing and opportunities and their vulnerability to social problems. Hence access the residential to housing and an improvement in the quality of the residential environment environment are essential. It will be a priority to attend to and Fostering protect returning migrants. They the social STRATEGIC ACTIONS will be provided with coordinated and economic and integrated attention that reintegration 220,000 families seeks to protect their rights and to benefit from the construction of returning migrants ensure their social and economic of new housing or the refurbishment reintegration. of existing dwellings STRATEGIC ACTION 71,000 families to benefit from access Returning migrants will to clean drinking encounter better levels of water, treatment of protection, social reinsertion, waste water, and vocational training, and electricity supply productive employment relationships The Northern Triangle 9 10 Building Trust, Creating Opportunities Improving public safety and access to justice A comprehensive response to the problem of insecurity and violence will be provided. Strengthening prevention schemes, through citizen participation, and the construction of safe spaces; supporting vulnerable populations; and ensuring that justice is accessible to all so the rights and duties of every citizen are effectively guaranteed. Lines of action Expanding Strengthening Broadening community security Improving the capacity of and strengthening programs and prisons and judicial officials integrated care schemes for the centers attending and reducing case centers for social prevention to minors backlogs victims of crime The Northern Triangle 11 Expanding community security programs A model of security and crime prevention, which emphasizes and schemes improving people’s living conditions, especially among sectors for the social at social risk. prevention of crime STRATEGIC ACTION 7.4 million people to benefit from expanding The Plan seeks to lower the coverage of community security programs and local centers that monitor violence, making the murder rate by coordinated efforts with communities and about 10 percent a year schools, and upgrading public and community