Uruguay

uruguay-flagsmallPlease download the PEI Country fact sheet on Uruguay (PDF) [English] [Español]
Please check here for the PEI LAC independent programme website [Uruguay]

 
Basic Facts about the PEI in Uruguay

  • The PEI country programme Uruguay begun in early February 2010 and will be completed in December 2012.
  • The key programme objectives of the PEI Uruguay are to promote greater impact of public social spending, by mainstreaming the environment into planning processes.; and the thematic focus is on poverty-environment linkages in the areas of informal waste management, exposure to toxics, marginal population groups.
  • Key government institutions involved are the Planning and Budget Office, the Ministry of Housing, Land Use Planning and the Environment, the Ministry of Social Development and the Municipality of Montevideo.
  • The total budget (2010–2012) of the PEI programme amounts to USD 876,136. Parallel funding, amounting to USD 945,050, is provided by on-going programmes of the Government and the One UN Programme in Uruguay.

 

The context of poverty-environment mainstreaming in Uruguay

  • Uruguay is an urban society: 92 % live in urban areas, and 40 % live in the capital, Montevideo. One out of every five Uruguayans is considered poor.
  • Main environmental challenges facing the country include the growth of the forestry industry, soil degradation, and urban environmental problems such as pollution and waste management. In Uruguay there are clear linkages between the deterioration of the environment and its effect on the poorest sectors.
  • The planning process in Uruguay is largely sector-focused. Development planning is generally carried out sectorially through ministries. The most important platform for short-to medium-term planning is the five-year national budget and annual review process.
  • The capacity of the Government units in charge of centralized planning is weak and there is no clear vision about the role of the environment in development planning.

 

 Main activities

  • Identification of poverty-environment synergies in both the urban and rural sector with emphasis on the interface between health, environmental quality, income levels, waste management, and marginalized population.
  • Facilitate the mainstreaming of poverty-environment linkages into key sectoral plans, with emphasis on those on Ministry of Housing, Land Use Planning and the Environment, the Ministry of Social Development and the Municipality of Montevideo.
  • Facilitate and support submission of mainstreamed poverty-environment plans into the five-year national budget and its annual reviews by the respective government partners.
  • Building technical/institutional capacities of the Planning and Budget Office, the Ministry of Housing, Land Use Planning and the Environment, the Ministry of Social Development and the Municipality of Montevideo on poverty-environment mainstreaming.
  • Design and implement an awareness-raising campaign on poverty-environment issues in key urban and rural sectors, in order to build national consensus and commitment.

 

 Main achievements

  • Increased knowledge on poverty-environment linkages in urban areas of Uruguay.
  • Increased government allocation toward the thematic pilot area of the project (i.e. waste management, poverty and environment).
  • Strengthened technical and institutional capacities of partner government institutions.
  • Integration of poverty and environment linkages in national development processes and increased budgetary allocations to the thematic area of the project.

 

 Lessons learned

  • Importance of incorporating ethnicity in the analysis of poverty environment linkages.
  • The progress achieved regarding exposure to toxins, informal waste management and poverty has generated awareness and renewed interest in the benefits of poverty-environment policies and served as an engine to search for similar dynamics in other areas of government.
  • The PEI programmatic approach should be carried out with flexibility and responding to local needs.

 

 Way forward

  • Further exploration of poverty-environment linkages in rural areas.
  • Implementation and completion of technical and institutional capacity strengthening programmes targeted to national partner institutions.
  • Consolidate the expansion of project's activities into other areas of development policy that are priority for the national government.

 

Key documents for PEI Uruguay