Lupa Bulletin analyzes investment in social issues in the Morona canton
Faro Group and UNICEF presented the bulletin in Macas to promote public surveillance
MACAS. Estimated investment per person by the State and the Municipality in social services in the canton of Morona amounts to US$350 per year. The joint work between central and local government can improve the quality of living of inhabitants, including children: that is the core message of the effort being made by the Grupo Faro and UNICEF to analyze social spending in the canton of Morona.
The Lupa Fiscal (Spanish for fiscal magnifying glass) Bulletin explains that municipal investment is additional to national investment, and it must be implemented effectively in those sectors where the government is less present. Of the per capita spending amounting to US$350 per year in social services, the State invests US$243 per person, and the Municipality US$107.
The social sector in Morona
Morona’s municipal budget is comprised of central government transfers (71%), tax collection (6%) and other sources (23%). Of this, 55% was allocated for social services, specifically clean water supply (40%), local development (12%), sanitary and sewage system projects (3%).
The Central Government invests about US$172 for each inhabitant of Morona; as a counterpart, the local government provides US$24.08. Thanks to this investment, 83.6% of the children and young people of Morona receive basic education, which is above the average for the Amazon region, which amounts to 82%. Nevertheless, there is still much to be done to achieve 100% observance of the right to basic education. Furthermore, all children must complete at least 10 years of basic education, but school enrolment in Morona is 6.6 years and the average for the Amazon region is 5.8 years.
Although the municipality does not include health in its budget, it does implement health projects such as the installation of latrines, which are indispensable to prevent disease. With its own resources, the Municipality improves clean water supply conditions to guarantee, directly or indirectly, the health of its inhabitants.
According to data from the latest census, in 2001, there were 31,000 persons (49% men and 51% women) living in the canton of Morona. Of this population, 39% is indigenous and 53% mestizo, and 43% live in urban areas. The canton accounts for 27% of the population of the province of Morona Santiago and 0.3% of the national population. Children and adolescents account for 47% of the canton’s population.
Faro (lighthouse in Spanish) Group: Collective action for the public good. UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund. The Magnifying Glass Bulletin (Boletín Lupa Fiscal) of the canton of Morona is published thanks to financial support from the Finnish Government.
The United Nations Children’s Fund is working toward having children develop their full potential. In Ecuador, children and adolescents comprise the most vulnerable sector of a population affected by poverty. UNICEF provides the Government with technical assistance and advocates increasing the country’s social investment so that children can benefit from basic social services that guarantee their right to health and nutrition, basic education, child development and protection. It underscores the work for the benefit of indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorian, poor rural and urban sectors, where the rights of the child are not as fully observed. UNICEF cooperates locally in 22 cantons. It advocates the full enforcement of the new Code for Children and Adolescents, as well as public participation and surveillance for the enforcement of their rights.
