Search News

Money isn't everything

July 01, 1997

Despite the fact that Latin America has the worst income distribution in the world and high levels of poverty measured by income, the region compares favorably with other parts of the developing world when it comes to health and education. A new Human Poverty Index (HPI), produced by the United Nations Development Programme and published in the UNDP's Human Development Report 1997, shows that eight Latin American and Caribbean nations rank among the top 10 in a survey of the 78 developing nations for which there is sufficient information.

Brazil in three dimensions

July 01, 1997

Fifty-two pieces by 19 outstanding 20th century Brazilian sculptors have gone on display in the IDB Cultural Center Art Gallery and the IDB building's atrium.Including large-scale works, such as Maria Martins' 300-kilogram bronze Impossível, the exhibit "Brazilian sculpture from 1920 to 1990: a profile," is the most ambitious undertaking of the IDB Cultural Center to date, according to its director, Ana María Coronel de Rodríguez. The showing was produced with the collaboration of the office of the IDB's executive director for Brazil and Brazil's Washington embassy.

The fruit of foresight

July 01, 1997

Travelers flying over the arid flatlands of the Monagas and Anzoategui provinces in eastern Venezuela are often startled by the sight of an immense patch of green. They are looking at one of the world's largest tree plantations: close to 500,000 hectares of Caribbean pine. Owned by Productos Forestales del Oriente, C.A. (PROFORCA), a Venezuelan government company, the plantation is the product of an ambitious project that began nearly 30 years ago.

River blindness in retreat

July 01, 1997

When Merck & Co., the United States pharmaceutical giant, announced 10 years ago that it had found a drug that could prevent onchocerciasis, one of the leading causes of blindness in Latin America and Africa, and that it would donate the medicine "wherever needed for as long as needed," it appeared that the last barrier to conquering this disease had fallen.

Improving education in Panama

July 01, 1997

LOANS Panama: $58.1 million to help improve the quality, efficiency, and accessibility of education from preschool to 12th grade. The resources will enable the Ministry of Education to modernize curricula, train teachers, develop and acquire learning materials, establish better evaluation and management systems, and improve efficiency. Special emphasis will be placed on making basic education more accessible and relevant to indigenous and rural communities with the participation of parents' associations.

Job placement in Belize

July 01, 1997

Management training in Guyana

July 01, 1997

Sugar and rice output booms

June 01, 1997

Seven years ago, the economy of Guyana was in a shambles. Sugar and rice production, which accounted for half of the country's exports and foreign exchange, had dropped by half in just four years. One-fourth of the country's agricultural equipment and machinery was out of commission due to lack of foreign exchange to buy spare parts. It was a vicious circle: the lower the production and exports, the less foreign exchange was available to buy spare parts and machinery, further reducing production.

Extending rural education in Costa Rica

June 01, 1997

LOANS Bolivia $7 million from the Fund for Special Operations to improve public investment programming and preinvestment management at the departmental and municipal levels. The project, to be carried out by the Secretaría de Inversión Pública, will help implement the National Public Investment System, which will demand efficiency in the programming of public investments. The project will include Bolivia's nine departments and 11 of the principal municipal governments, including all departmental capitals. Costa Rica

Modernizing health care in Paraguay

June 01, 1997