UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative

Please 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 Uruguay

• Phase I activities in the country begun in early February 2010 and will be completed in May 2012.
• The thematic focus of PEI in Uruguay is on waste management, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.
• The immediate objective of the PEI in Uruguay is to promote greater impact of public social spending, by mainstreaming the environment into planning processes.
• The expected outcomes of the PEI in Uruguay are: (i) an improved understanding of benefits derived from mainstreaming environment into development planning and poverty reduction, (ii) institutional capacities strengthened to effectively mainstream environment into development planning and poverty reduction activities, and (iii) poverty-environment linkages mainstreamed into key sectoral strategies and into annual and five-year budgets. 
• Key government institutions involved are the Planning and Budget Office (OPP, Spanish acronym), the Ministry of Housing, Land Use Planning and the Environment (MVOTMA, Spanish acronym), the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES, Spanish acronym) and the Municipality of Montevideo (IMM, Spanish acronym).
• The implementation of the PEI programme will provide an opportunity to further develop policies and the capacity to expand the reach of the One UN Programme in Uruguay in the areas of vulnerability and environmental sustainability.
• The total budget (2010–2012) of the PEI project 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 primarily an urban society: 92 per cent of Uruguayans live in urban areas and 40 per cent of the country’s population lives in the capital, Montevideo. The country has a relatively low population growth rate compared to the rest of the region, with a 2.4 per cent increase in population between 1998 and 2004.
• One out of every five Uruguayans is poor. Some 56 per cent of children under five lived in poor households in 2005, a rate that has decreased to 38 per cent as a result of social protection policies for children, which currently account for 30 per cent of public social spending.
• In Uruguay there are clear linkages between the deterioration of the environment and its effect on the poorest sectors. The GEO Uruguay examines how the environment affects human well-being, both negatively and positively.
• 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.
• The capacity of the Government units in charge of centralized planning is weak. It is necessary to strengthen these Government units so as to ensure sustainable and inclusive development for those who live in conditions of poverty and vulnerability.
• There is no clear vision about the role of the environment in development planning, specifically as a variable that can increase the efficacy of public social policy.
• The planning process in Uruguay is largely sector-focused. Development planning is generally carried out sectorially through ministries such as MVOTMA and MIDES in conjunction with the OPP.
• Uruguay has a centralized planning office (OPP) with constitutional authority to influence policy formulation, coordination and planning. The OPP has been identified as a key institution for the implementation of the PEI in Uruguay.
• The most important platform for short-tomedium-term planning is the five-year national budget and annual review process.

 Main activities

• Determine and quantify the poverty-environment synergies in both the urban and rural sector, with initial emphasis on the interface between health, environmental quality, income levels, waste management, and marginalized population depending to a great extent on natural resources.
• Estimate the degree to which the synergies mentioned above have been mainstreamed into development plans and poverty reduction strategies.
• 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 around them.
• Build the technical/institutional capacities in the IMM, OPP, MVOTMA and MIDES to mainstream poverty-environment linkages into development plans and poverty reduction strategies.
• Facilitate the mainstreaming of poverty-environment linkages into key sectoral plans, with initial emphasis on those of MIDES, MVOTMA and IMM.
• Facilitate and support submission of mainstreamed poverty-environment plans into the five-year national budget and its annual reviews by the respective government partners.

 What has been achieved to date?

• Increased government allocation toward the thematic pilot area of the project (i.e. waste management, poverty and environment).
• Strong interest from the government to extend the project’s activities to include support on poverty-environment linkages for several elements of the public investments plan, including flagship initiatives in the areas of social assistance and housing.
• Solid partnerships with the MVOTMA, OPP and MIDES, all key partners of the project.

 Lessons learned

• Engaging national implementing partners in the PEI process has been pivotal for the project’s success. Their sense of appropriation has been key to overcome earlier difficulties, such as those derived from a presidential election in 2010, and facilitated the implementation of key activities.
• The PEI programmatic approach should be carried out with flexibility and responding to local needs. This is particularly important during the Scoping and Preparatory Phases.

 Way forward

• Further exploration of poverty-environment linkages in the urban and rural areas.
• Implementation of capacity strengthening programmes targeted to national partner institutions.
• Presentation of an integrated proposal for waste management and vulnerable populations to the national congress for funding.
• Explore avenues to extend the project’s activities to include support on poverty-environment linkages for several elements of the public investments plan, including flagship initiatives in the areas of social assistance and housing.