Nicaragua

Location: Managua, Masaya

Health, education, protection and promotion of gender equality

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America. The context of the country is characterized by lack of fixed work, organized crime linked to drug trafficking, alcoholism, family violence, exploitation of girls and child labor. In Nicaragua, 80% of women have a history of sexual abuse and 50% of these cases of abuse have been perpetrated on girls under the age of 14. Nicaragua is the country in Latin American with the highest number of pregnant teenagers, mostly as a result of sexual abuse.  In rural areas, the conditions are of extreme social and economic marginalization and the rate of school dropout is very high. The public school system is unable to provide quality eduation and the infrastructure is in poor conditions. Regarding public health, there are serious shortcomings, both at the level of health facilities and public hygiene. Many families do not have access to sanitary facilities and over 50% of children in the rural areas suffer from various health problems such as acute respiratory infections, intestinal parasitosis, acute diarrhea and malnutrition.

Specific Goals