Uruguay is one of the eight pilot countries of the UN Reform

and the only high middle income country with the highest

levels of human development in Latin America. According to

the Human Development Report 2007/2008, Uruguay ranks

46th among the 70 countries classified as having “high”

Uruguay is one of the eight pilot countries of the UN Reform

and the only high middle income country with the highest

levels of human development in Latin America. According to

the Human Development Report 2007/2008, Uruguay ranks

46th among the 70 countries classified as having “high” human

development. However, a complex process of social

change along with a severe economic and financial crisis in

2002, put the once “small model country” in trouble.

In recent years, unheard of levels of poverty (half of the

children born in Uruguay come from poor or extremely poor

households), demographic stagnation and emigration have

put the country before an abyss of unexpected challenges,

making the social and economic foundations of Uruguayan

society vulnerable.

However, social investment efforts in Uruguay are supported

by the country’s solid institutional framework, and

its existing capacities form a fertile ground for innovation.

Relatively small efforts can therefore still make a significant

contribution in Uruguay.

 

The Uruguay One UN Programme’s eleven joint programmes,

funded through the One UN Coherence Fund,

provide a unique opportunity for the Government of Uruguay

and the UN System to team up and address many of

the challenges facing the country. One of the best examples

of this is the joint programme on “Development of tools for

environmental monitoring”, where UNEP and UNESCO have

worked closely with numerous Government offices to support

environmental protection through the development of

monitoring instruments that incorporate socio?economic,

environmental and territorial indicators. To reach these

goals, many organizations – public, private and civil society

based – were called upon to share their own diverse indicators.

The project allowed the unification of scattered information,

which resulted in a true road map for decision and

policy?making in all areas, environmental, productive and

social. The information, which will be made publically available,

will be updated regularly and will be included in the

cartographic base, also initiated by the project.

Another revealing example is the Project “Support of the

modernization processes of public management”. As part of

its activities, numerous Citizens’ Centers have been established

in strategic locations. Their aim is to improve access

to people of scarce resources or living in unpopulated areas,

a wide range of services and public information, helping

them to fulfill their rights. As in most other cases in the

country, a relatively small external investment has enabled

the Government, with the support of the UN, to address

considerable challenges.