Advances in Labour Relations in Nicaragua
On 13 March, NSCAG and the Alliance for Global Justice co-hosted a webinar on the advances which have taken place in labour relations in Nicaragua since 2007. Please see here to download the presentations given by NSCAG.
Women in Nicaragua: power and protagonism – virtual course and study tour
In just 15 years, Nicaragua has closed the gender gap by more than 80%. Today, the country is number one country in the world for educational attainment for women and girls, number one for women cabinet ministers and number three in the world for women in parliament. How has this small Central American country made such a difference in such a short time?
To find out more, you can join an online course organised by Alliance for Global Justice and the Casa Ben Linder cultural centre and/or join an optional in-person delegation to Nicaragua from 6-15 August. Details of the online course can be found here, where you can also sign up to future sessions and information about the August delegation (deadline to apply 25 June) can be found here. The online courses are free of charge and future sessions will take place on 9 July, 10 September, 24 September and 8 October.
Nicaragua wins World Health Organisation (WHO) award
Nicaragua has won a WHO award for the ‘essential work performed’ in the fight against malaria. The award is one of the six awards given by the WHO during the 75th World Health Assembly. In addition, official data from the Pan American Health Organisation (WHO/PAHO) indicates that Nicaragua is the second country in Central America to have a complete vaccination scheme against COVID with 70.9% of the country vaccinated so far.
Good News from the 2022 Nutritional Census The Ministry of Health (MINSA) presented a report on the Nutritional Census carried out from 1-9 March to study the nutritional conditions of children between the ages of birth to 14 years in rural and urban areas. MINSA Health Services Director General Carlos Cruz said, “The census surveyed 1.5 million boys and girls throughout the country and found that, among children between 0 and 6 years of age, acute malnutrition has been reduced 2.3% and chronic malnutrition fell by 8.6%. Likewise, among children between 6 and 14 years, acute malnutrition was reduced by 11% and chronic malnutrition decreased by 16.5%. Dr. Cruz explained that “based on this data, programmes like Zero Hunger, Family Gardens, School Lunches, and Food Production Packages will be strengthened, enhancing the efforts to eradicate malnutrition.” He added that MINSA, with support from the Ministry of Education, will be establishing the Family Support Plan that will provide guidelines for adequate nutrition, vaccination, and periodic weight and height monitoring of children.
Maternal Mortality Reduced by 66%
The Government has reduced maternal mortality from 92.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2006, to 31.6 in 2021, a reduction of 66%. Dr Carlos Cruz, general director of health services of the Ministry of Health, said that these rates are thanks to the maternal wait homes built by the government. In 2006 there were 50 maternity homes, while at present there are 181. “Since 2007, the family and community health model has been promoted giving value to the work that our community does every day to preserve their health,” said Dr Cruz. Another of the strategies for the reduction of maternal mortality is to have well-trained midwives; there are 7,247 midwives serving in the country’s maternity homes.
Nicaragua and FAO Sign Agreement
The representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Iván León Ayala, indicated that at the global level, a new cooperation framework has been proposed to promote progress in better nutrition, production, and environmental protection, things that, he noted, Nicaragua also prioritises in its public policies. The Nicaraguan government and the FAO signed a cooperation agreement for the period 2022-2026. Foreign Minister Denis Moncada reported that it establishes three strategic areas including resilient production, sustainable rural investments, and sustainable ecosystem management. He said that the objective is to help achieve results that contribute to the “National Plan to Fight Poverty and for Human Development 2022-2026,” with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Summit of the Americas
As reported in our May update, US President Biden has barred Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from a regional summit to be held in Los Angeles later this month. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) have denounced this move and a number of countries in the region have now refused to take part if these countries are not invited. For more details see here For further information about the Summit, the Organisation of American States and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states, see this article – ‘And then there was no more Empire all of a sudden’ – link here
Webinar recording
A recording of the webinar ‘Light and Legacy: Ben Linder’s Work Continues’ hosted by the Alliance for Global Justice on 22 May can be found here. 40 years ago as a young juggler, unicyclist & electrical engineer, Ben Linder came from the U.S. to Nicaragua to install rural hydroelectric systems in villages in the war zones with no electricity. On April 28, 1987, Ben and two Nicaraguan colleagues, Sergio Hernández and Pablo Rosales, were ambushed and murdered by the Contra. This webinar addresses the continuing legacy of Ben Linder community-led projects.
Managua’s Missing Murals
An interesting article which talks about Nicaragua’s history and what happened during the years of US- backed neo-liberal governments 1990-2006 – see link here
Louise Richards,
Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group
www.nscag.org