Municipal Investment in Children and Adolescents for the 2009-2012 Period – Nicaragua

In the last two decades, Nicaragua has made progress in the promotion of the human rights of children and adolescents. Although there is still much to be done, the national government, various municipal governments and social organisations have furthered programmes to fulfil the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Code on Children and Adolescents. In 2006, Save the Children Norway  published a study called ”Investment in Children and Adolescents by 39 Municipal Governments in Nicaragua – 2001-2004 Period and 2005”, which served as a baseline for measurement of the progress made over the period. In 2009, and In coordination with the network of municipal governments in Nicaragua, the decision was made to realize a second study covering the municipal period 2005-2008 (published in 2010).

This third study, entitled Municipal Investment in Children and Adolescents, which encompasses the period  2009-2012, is aimed to stimulate municipal investment in children and adolescents for fulfilment of their rights. It describes, analyses and consolidates the information on investment by 50 municipal governments in areas related to the rights of children and adolescents in Nicaragua. It highlights information about indicators that support the fulfilment of the rights of children, investment directed at these indicators, with an emphasis on education, health-nutrition-environment and recreation-culture. The study is focused explicitly on the rights of children and adolescents and analyses the actions of municipal governments working toward fulfilment of those rights. It presents amounts and percentages of investments, assesses trends and suggests next steps.