Human Development in Venezuela

Carlos Mora vanegas

President Hugo Chavez before the statement continued, that they should make every effort to ensure that the Bolivarian Revolution to achieve its basic objective of establishing a socialism of the XXI century, can not ignore what is in their plans, being attentive to relationship all those strategies, investigations, actions, commitment of way once and for all the commitments that previous governments unfortunately not given the importance that favors human development in the country.

Our vision, rather than a political commitment, ideology, issues that deserve further analysis is to emphasize what is human development, more in a contaminated Venezuela uncertainty, transition, facing changes to what its inhabitants were not prepared because its political history has never been imbued with a government of socialist tendencies.

The term Human Development refers to changes that the human suffering throughout his life, as an umbrella term that involves aging of the body, its structures and body growth and the influence of the environment. It involves only the growth of the organism, nor only the maturation of certain functions, but consider the existence of certain environmental conditions that stimulate or hinder this development and at the same time, situations arise that human beings must face change or modified, fix, adapt, transform and become part of this process of human development.

Comentapnud.org.ve / that the issue of regional and local development became more important in Venezuela as a result of the reforms on decentralization started in 1989. UNDP launched in 1999 to validate a strategy for Local Sustainable Human Development (DHSL) that lasted for four years to 22 municipalities in Venezuela. This strategy resulted in the production of a set of conceptual and methodological tools to facilitate the implementation of

DHSL. The Local Human Development Strategy is a systematic way to intervene in poor communities by expanding opportunities for people through training and local development organization, simultaneously encouraging the conclusion of the various development actors to take advantage of the strengths of the social, cultural, economic, environmental and political territories.

The orientation of this strategy is provided by the Human Development concept, defined as the process of enlarging people's choices to people to live the life they considered valuable.

It adds that currently, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has established a national development strategy that is referred to in the "Guidelines of the Plan of Economic and Social Development of the Nation 2001-2007," which addresses five areas balance (including land), that is, that this development plan is aimed at implementing projects to occupy Venezuelan territory and consolidate through a more balanced and rational and efficient occupation.

The main objective of the project is to develop DHSL Quick Impact Agendas. They are produced through a participatory, project ideas, proposals and agreements between community organizations and local government with the participation of government agencies, NGOs and the private sector. Agendas are aimed at responding to local problems, mainly to poverty, gender discrimination and sustainable development.

The technical assistance from UNDP-Venezuela Local Sustainable Human Development focuses on three specific objectives:

1. Advise on the design and promotion DHSL projects to national, regional and municipal governments.

2. Train technical and institutional capacities.

3. Implement the strategy DHSL in different parts of the country to confront the methodology for each specific situation and thereby produce a proposal validated in Venezuela, helping the authorities which have responsibility and interest in local development.

The results of this project may include:

• Training through seminars, technical human resources national governmental institutions, governors, mayors, NGOs, universities and academic centers.

• Development of proposals at the national DHSL with the Foundation for Community Development and Municipal Promotion (FUNDACOMUN), the Foundation for Training and Innovation to Support the Agrarian Revolution (CIARA) and the Ministry of Popular Power for Production and Trade.

• Development of technical assistance projects with the governments of the states of Trujillo, Guarico, Miranda and Vargas.

• Launching a direct implementation project in the municipality Valdez (Sucre state) and in the parish Jusepín (Municipality Maturin, Monagas State), executed between 2003 and 2006. In these municipalities has worked in partnership with companies Statoil, Conoco, Shell and Total.

• Since 2003 BANMUJER is developing a draft national execution in 13 municipalities in 12 states, called the Local Human Development, Governance and Gender Equity, which is the preparation of Agendas for Gender Equity with the active participation of the Network members BANMUJER users and representatives of women's governmental and non governmental organizations operating in the locality. Achievements through this product are strengthening the social fabric through the training of women from the People's Network User BANMUJER and other community organizations that work in each of these municipalities, strengthening social capital by building a reliable framework agreements in 13 municipalities, strengthening of democratic governance by creating opportunities for citizen participation and to agree collective action among community organizations and the many political, economic, social and cultural rights, among others.

• With the Social Management School Foundation was launched in 2006 the project to support the institutional strengthening of six municipalities of the north plains, the parish El Valle (Caracas) and Guiria.

It should be noted that within this study the relevance of human development, can not be neglected representing Human Development Index, according to UNDP, is the result of the combination of GDP according to purchasing power and expectancy rates alphabets and adult life, the latter determined by enrollment rates and attention to programs, facilities and / or educational institutions.

Poverty, in turn, is the deprivation of access to health, education and recreation that failure to achieve a comprehensive welfare state, and the Human Poverty Index was introduced by UNDP in its 1997 report to represent the multiple dimensions poverty, is calculated according to the percentage of people estimated to live no more than 40 years, illiterate adults, population without sustainable access to improved water source and / or health services, and the number of children under five years are below the appropriate weight and height.

Although UNDP used outdated figures on literacy and health in Venezuela, his latest report presents an important advance in human development, the highest in almost 10 years and the highest in the trend since 1975, and a significant reduction in poverty during 2004, which is not expressed in the poverty rate itself, which remains unchanged compared to 2003, but the percentage of the population living below $ 1 and $ 2 a day, and in decreasing infant mortality.

According to the report, human development index in Venezuela increased from 0.772 to 0.784, ranking at position 72 of the world list headed by Norway with a score of 0965 and Argentina in Latin America - position 36 - with a rate of 0863. The report also shows poverty rates unchanged, even when it presents a significant reduction from 15.0 to 8.3 and from 32.0 to 27.6 percent of the population living below $ 1 and $ 2 per day respectively . With respect to infant mortality rate, the downward trend has continued over the administration of President Chavez in this report showing a reduction from 18 to 16 per thousand live births, which represents about 2 000 children saved from death. However, the PNDU used data from 1999 and 2000 to calculate the educational indicators, in addition to using as reference a literacy rate of 93% which was in force until 2001 and does not reflect the progress of the Mission Robinson to UNESCO itself has acknowledged Venezuela to declare the country free of illiteracy.

Do not forget Arancibia as Sergio says that the? Human Development Index, HDI, UNDP fails to account for all content present in the human development concept

-Presented a theoretical or philosophical but almost in all cases is an indicator that goes beyond mere economic growth rates. UNDP considers only three fundamental concepts or parameters for the preparation of its HDI, each of which summarizes or need, in turn, other quantitative information to be built:

• long and healthy life, measured through the rate of life expectancy at birth, which in turn is constructed by taking into account the background on infant mortality and average age at death;

• the levels of education, where the indicators are the adult literacy rate and enrollment rate in primary, secondary and higher education;

He definitely knows that Venezuela will set new standards of values ​​in human growth and development. The Second National Study of Human Population Growth Venezolana own standards seek to establish biological and psychosocial through demographics, food habits, intellectual development and hematological and biochemical indicators, among others. The research will take three years to perform and help implement social policies more accurate.

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