Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2010
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Elías Jaua
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD BY COMMANDER HUGO CHÁVEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE
BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA ........................................................................................................8
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................9
IV.
COOPERATION, COMPLEMENTARITY, SOLIDARITY AND UNITY AS KEY ELEMENTS FOR THE
FULFILLMENT OF MDGs .......................................................................................................................16
• TARGET 1: HALVE, BETWEEN 1990 AND 2015, THE PROPORTION OF PEOPLE IN EXTREME
POVERTY ................................................................................................................................................. 22
• TARGET 2: HALVE, BETWEEN 1990 AND 2015, THE PROPORTION OF PEOPLE WHO SUFFER
FROM HUNGER ....................................................................................................................................... 24
GOAL 2: ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION .................................................................................31
• TARGET 4: ENSURE THAT, BY 2015, CHILDREN EVERYWHERE, BOYS AND GIRLS ALIKE, WILL BE
ABLE TO COMPLETE A FULL COURSE OF PRIMARY SCHOOLING..............................................31
GOAL 3: PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN ...............................................................37
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• TARGET 5: REDUCE BY TWO-THIRDS, BETWEEN 1990 AND 2015, THE UNDER-FIVE MORTALITY
RATE. .........................................................................................................................................44
GOAL 5: IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH .......................................................................................................49
• TARGET 6: REDUCE BY THREE QUARTERS, BETWEEN 1990 AND 2015, THE MATERNAL
MORTALITY RATIO .....................................................................................................................49
GOAL 6: COMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA, AND OTHER DISEASES ....................................................................53
• TARGET 7A: HAVE HALTED BY 2015 AND BEGUN TO REVERSE THE SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS........ 53
• TARGET 7B: ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO TREATMENT FOR HIV/AIDS ................................. 54
• TARGET 8: HAVE HALTED BY 2015 AND BEGUN TO REVERSE THE INCIDENCE OF MALARIA,
TUBERCULOSIS AND DENGUE ............................................................................................................. 55
GOAL 7: ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY .................................................................................62
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FOREWORD
BY COMMANDER HUGO CHÁVEZ,
PRESIDENT OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA
In the year 2009, Venezuela, together with the other UN member States, assumed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as a
commitment to global solidarity to eradicate poverty and improve standards of living of the world population. MDG have served as a
guide for national development strategies in priority areas, which guarantee the exercise of Human Rights.
With the coming into power of the Bolivarian Government, social policies have been guided by the constitutional principles of social
inclusion and people’s participation. In this regard, it’s not only a matter of making the exercise of rights something universal, but also of
transforming citizens into agents of their own development process.
Unlike the past neoliberal practices, this new approach, based on new practices and institutions and on the State’s obligations with
respect to Human Rights, promotes shared responsibility as a formula to enhance people’s capacity to influence the decision-making
processes that have an effect on their day-to-day life.
To date, we have come to the 11th year of the Revolution. More than one decade of changes at all the levels of the national life. This
has been a process that, in spite of difficulties, has made it possible to improve living conditions of Venezuelans in a wide range of
areas, both objective as well as subjective. Much has been attained, big steps have been taken and there is still a lot of work to do.
Looking to the future, it is still necessary to consolidate a society guided by the values of Socialism; in other words, solidarity, equity,
social justice and full democracy.
In the international sphere, we have championed a new integration model in which respect for sovereignty and self-determination and
solidarity with our brother peoples prevail over commercial and financial interests. The time has come to rescue the ideal of the “Great
Homeland” that defended our liberators, reaching out to other countries to help them to face the situations that we all have gone through
after decades of exploitation under a model that is completely alien to our own self: the human being.
This document is a clear proof of the number of integrated and comprehensive strategies that the Bolivarian Government has
undertaken to attain the different Millennium Development Goals within the deadlines set. It’s worth highlighting the achievements made
in the fight against poverty, child nutrition, reduction of child mortality rates, and sanitation, among others. This is a time to reflect on and
debate ideas, but, above all, it’s a time for the State to commit to creating an increasingly inclusive, new social structure. This is not a
final report, because there is still a lot of work to do.
INTRODUCTION
“The most perfect system of government is the one that results in the greatest possible measure of happiness, the highest degree of
social security and the highest measure of political stability”
Simón Bolívar
Address to the Congress of Angostura on February 15, 1819,
In the year 2010, within the framework of the commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Independence, the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For these purposes, the Venezuelan State has
proceeded with the implementation of all institutional initiatives and has ratified its obligation to guarantee human rights in areas such as
health, food, education, culture, sports, recreation, labor, social security, and science and technology for all citizens.
The transformation of policies and institutions in Venezuela since 1999 have made policies, programs, projects and socialist missions
more dynamic, by evaluating and restructuring the same, so as to develop a strategy to apply the different policies to provide an efficient
and timely response to social demands. All of them base their guiding principles on the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela, which is the beacon that guides the Government’s official policies that are underpinned by universality, substantive equality
and shared responsibility. In this regard, the different Missions, as a system, continue to develop the fundamental strategy to reach
mass and accelerated social inclusion, which will make it possible to overcome social inequalities and poverty.
The Government of Venezuela, in its “Simón Bolívar” First Socialist Plan for 2007-2013 has set as one of its main goal achieving the
greatest possible measure of happiness under the principles of the Bolivarian Socialist project that is being developed today by the
Venezuelan society.
Since MDGS are part of a broader commitment assumed by the National Government to attain substantial equality levels, this document
presents official initiatives in other areas of utmost interest for social development, which, even though they are not included in the
Commitment to the Millennium Goals, they should be mentioned, because their implementation strengthens and consolidates a general
climate of satisfaction and social peace within the framework of an integral social policy.
Achievements made in terms of the implementation of social policies, evaluated through a permanent follow-up process, allow us to
visualize our reality in the light of the Millennium Development Goals, so as to adjust programs and projects to the emerging demands in
the framework of the population’s real needs.
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Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and Unemployment rate, 2nd semester. 1990 – 2nd
hunger semester 2009
Trend in nutrition deficit in children under five
years of age, 1990 – 2008
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Target 7A. Have halted by 2015 and begun Number of pregnant women with HIV that have
to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS been attended, G2001- 2009
Target 7B: Universal Access to treatment Patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy per
against HIV infection. year, 2002 – 2009
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, Malaria incidence rate, 1990- 2009
and other diseases Dengue recorded rate, 1990- 2009
Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to Death rate associated with tuberculosis, 1990-
reverse the incidence of malaria, 2008
tuberculosis and dengue Reported tuberculosis prevalence rates –
Venezuela, years 1990- 2009
Reported tuberculosis incidence rate, 1990 –
2009
Proportion of land area covered by forest, 1990-
2007
Use of sowed surface, 2009
Number of sowed hectares per type of use,
2006-2009
Yearly average geometrical concentrations of
lead in total suspended particles (TSP) in
monitoring stations in the Caracas Metropolitan
Target 9: Integrate the principles of Area, 1996- 2008
sustainable development into country Yearly average geometrical concentrations of
policies and programs and reverse the loss lead in total suspended particles (TSP) in
of environmental resources monitoring stations in the Caracas Metropolitan
Area, 1996- 2006
Yearly average geometrical concentrations lower
than 10 micrometers (pm10) in monitoring
stations in the Caracas Metropolitan Area, 2007-
Goal 7: Ensure environmental 2010
sustainability
Consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC),
2004-2009
Intensity of use of pesticides, 1990- 2008
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership Target 12: Promote the availability of the Population enjoying mobile/fixed telephone
for development benefits of new technologies, especially services and Internet users
information and communication Population enjoying mobile telephone services
through CANTV
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Target 13: Expand and strength Venezuela’s financial funds with strategic
development cooperation mechanisms countries, year 2010
SOCIAL SITUATION:
The country´s social situation has improved according to the Human Development Index (HDI). The figure reported for this indicator
places Venezuela among the countries with high human development. Protection of family consumption through the minimum wage
policy, the promotion of collective bargaining contracts, price control of staples and Alimentación Mission, all of them, along with the
exchange policy, stimulus to the increase of domestic aggregate supply, as well as mass and accelerated social inclusion strategies,
guarantee the conditions required to attack from a structural perspective the determining factors of poverty and exclusion.
Human Development
Note: For years 1980 to 2006, figures are adjusted according to updated databases
Source: United Nations, UNDP / 2009
To measure unequal access to resources or subsistence means, the measurement instrument used is the Gini coefficient, according to
which, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has significantly reduced the inequality gap existing in the country. For 1994, Gini
coefficient was at 0.491 and for the year 2009, this indicator reached 0.3928, which is the result of policies aimed at reducing inequality
in the distribution of national income.
Social inclusion strategies are developed within the framework of the construction of a participatory and protagonic democracy, under
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the principles of social justice, equality, solidarity, social responsibility and, in general, respect for human rights. This context has taken
the Venezuelan society through a social transformation process, which has expressed in the development of alternative and emerging
forms of social, economic and political organizations, required to consolidate endogenous and sustainable development.
These policies have contributed to improve population’s wellbeing, with the expansion of social services coverage, where social
Missions, as well as social participation of organized communities, play an outstanding role. All this has been possible thanks to the
reorientation of the use of oil revenues toward social investment. In this regard, social investment as GDP percentage is around 19%
for2009, in comparison to 10% in the year 1990.
In Venezuela, sound results obtained in social matters are based on the series of transformation that have occurred since over the last
ten years, driven by structural and institutional structures that have included social policies implemented with an approach on human
rights.
Therefore, public policies in general and social policies, in particular, have been assumed by the Bolivarian Government as an obligation
of the Venezuelan State to guarantee full compliance with rights associated with strong and true social empowering.
Under this approach, eradication of poverty is an ethical commitment and a legal obligation with constitutional rank. Therefore,
protection, social security, health, education, gender equality, and social organization, among others, have been established as rights.
Consequently, human rights in the la Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are demandable and mandatory, universal and free, and have a
comprehensive character in terms of their conception and implementation.
These elements definitely allow us to assure that over the 11 years of Bolivarian Government, public policies have been advanced
based on an approach to human rights. Therefore, the principles of universality, equality, free access, solidarity, equity and social justice
have definitely shaped the strength of Venezuelan public policies.
The adoption of this approach in the design and implementation of new public policies in social matters have demanded the construction
of public institutions that are consistent with and guarantee rights and their effective and full enjoyment, like in the national legal
framework of human rights.
In the international context, Venezuela has defended that social public policies must contain an approach focused on and motivate by
the human being and that said policies must underscore equality and non-discrimination. The State is obliged to guarantee and enforce
the protagonic social participation of the population, the comprehensive conception and progressive character of human rights, stressing
their independence and indivisible nature.
At present, Capitalism continues to suffer multiple and severe crisis that give rise to new risks and pressing challenges for humankind,
which are expressed through social, economic, cultural, political and financial issues and in the absence of innovative ideas that make it
possible to meet the commitment of the eight Millennium Goals and their respective targets. In this context of change and reorganization
in the international arena, the Bolivarian Revolution appears as an own and original alternative.
Venezuela is working in an integral manner with a firm political will reflected on plans, programs and actions that will allow us to fulfill by
far the Millennium Development Goals, which have been universally agreed upon to attain the “greatest possible measure of social
happiness”, as expressed by the Liberator Simón Bolivar, of our people with full social inclusion,
The year-long application of neoliberal policies, which originated in the countries of the Northern Hemisphere and in the multilateral
financial centers, brought about extreme social inequalities and the impressive increase of hunger and poverty in almost all countries in
the world and, especially, in our countries of the South.
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The increase in poverty in our people was the logical and foreseeable result of the unfair distribution of resources, their irrational
exploitation, and the exploitation of the working class, and the concentration of wealth in hands of excluding minorities that were
influenced by the application of economic models that emerged from centers of power and were applied by the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank.
Eradication of poverty without sovereignty over natural resource, without political independence and under new neo-colonialism
schemes, is not viable. The capture of rent that benefit small groups and expand exclusion to majorities immerse in a network of global
rules is intolerable and attempts against the principle of sovereignty. This makes economic, labor and social conditions of our countries
more difficult as a result of the unfair standards of the international monetary system, which distort trade flows and privileges the
protection of capital mobility, the concentration of services and the control over intellectual property. All this perpetuates inequality,
technological power, management of information and communications, even medicines and food production.
Economic rules imposed from the North and its financial centers always entail a profound restriction to social investment of States and to
productive public investment, pillage of national heritage through privatizations, plundering of natural resources through the liberalization
of the economy, the disappearance of workers’ conquers through the so-called labor flexibilization and deregulation.
Neoliberal globalization has led to a social catastrophe for humankind. Social and economic inequality gaps grew deeper, and collective
and community development became a limited secondary activity.
According to international reports, one out of five people in the world survive on less than one dollar per day, meaning that men, women,
children and teenagers, all around the world, are immerse in extreme poverty with all the consequence this implies.
The situation of developing countries worsened in the ‘90s and some countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and others from the
Middle East, Africa and Asia, have been turned into concentration camps or military basis with foreign flags, some forcefully and others
because of their being lackeys.
In its firm and clear commitment to deepen fight to eradicate poverty, the Bolivarian Government has implemented public policies that
have had a significant impact on reducing poverty and improving the standard of living of our population, under the principle of shared
responsibility, leadership and active participation of people.
The development model being developed by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is focused on the human being and is underpinned by
the values of solidarity, social justice and inclusion, equality, respect and exercise of Human Rights and citizen involvement. In
accordance with this development model, the National Government has been advancing a social policy that aims at eradicating poverty
and social exclusion, as well as creating an inclusive and participatory society, capable of guaranteeing all citizens a decent life, that
allows them enjoy their social, economic, cultural, environmental, political and civil rights in a universal and equitable manner.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela understands poverty as a complex issue and, as such, it is dealt with from a multidimensional
perspective. Poverty derives from the unequal distribution of resources and opportunities and, consequently, it should be measured by
addressing inequality existing both in the economic (income-expenses) as well as social (health, housing, education, social security,
etc.) aspects and in citizens’ rights. For the same reason, unlike the definition of entities like the World Bank, the concept of poverty
cannot be expressed by or reduced to mere monetary terms (USD1/day).
IV. COOPERATION, COMPLEMENTARITY, SOLIDARITY AND UNITY AS KEY ELEMENTS FOR THE
FULFILLMENT OF MDGs
The phenomenon of integration is not new; however, it has traditionally been characterized by an emphasis on the mercantile side,
trying to satisfy the interest of small privileged groups and intensifying poverty and exclusion day after day in our society. This was an
integration model that emerged amid an initially bipolar and later unipolar world, which led to scenarios where entities and leaders
doomed Latin America and the Caribbean to failed integration attempts, as a response to geographical, institutional, trade, customs and
physical criteria, but, at the same time, putting aside the human character of integration and the true unity of our peoples
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At that time, the Latin America lived in a situation of isolation, which plunged the region into a backward state and deteriorated the
standard of living of the people. Venezuela, thanks to the development of new domestic public policies and regional cooperation, has
propitiated a change in this situation. In the new era that Latin America is living now, one of the phenomena observed is what some
authors have called the repoliticization of the economy. This phenomenon consists of recognizing the central role of the State and
assigning the market its corresponding role, since free trade per se will not be enough to guarantee moving forward toward higher
wellbeing levels.
Consequently, new initiatives have been developed that promote a regional rapprochement among States. In this regard, the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela, has favored the emergence of new regional cooperation mechanisms that, respecting the principles of
sovereignty and self-determination of peoples, have become tools that States use to close social gaps caused by the decade-long
exploitation and colonial domination and their current neocolonial repercussions.
Vis-à-vis this historical context, it is worth highlighting that, over the 11 years of revolutionary government, Venezuela has developed
programs and mechanisms with regional scope, which address and include into the agenda the social aspect that has been long time
marginalized. As a consequence, as a leading factor of change, Venezuela has bolstered new integration and unity models that are
focused on the human being as a driving force of development, guaranteeing and properly taking advantage of natural resources in a
sensible manner.
In an event organized on the occasion of Venezuela’s accession to FTAA, President Chávez outlined the new regional integration ideal.
“We cannot accept a merely economic project, only aimed at elites and transnational corporations.” In consequence and in accordance
with the pluripolar world that is currently being developed, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America-People’s Trade Treaty
(ALBA-TCP) is created in 2004, as an alternative proposal and geopolitical and economic project, which gives priority to the social
dimension. ALBA has set as a priority social and humanistic projects, fight against and eradication of poverty, overcoming inequalities
and unemployment, access to free, universal and quality health care and education, and the protection of the environment. Therefore,
social missions have been given an international scope to create wellbeing conditions for our brother peoples in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
President Hugo Chávez has stated that “ALBA is underpinned by the values of Socialism, solidarity, brotherly relations among peoples,
a firm conviction that no human being is dispensable, that in a fair society no human being can be left alone.” In our America, Bolívar’s,
and Martí’s America, ALBA is the true Latin American integration model. The Alliance perceives human beings as the aim and reason of
all efforts, rather than a victim of markets, greed and ambition. ALBA is a unity proposal that bases on the eradication of poverty and
social exclusion, which have historically been imposed on Latin American and Caribbean countries. The main purpose of the Alliance is
overcoming asymmetries that placed South American countries in a disadvantageous position1, in agreement with the Bolivarian ideal:
“More than anyone, I desire to see America fashioned into the greatest nation in the world, greatest not so much by virtue of her area
and wealth as by her freedom and glory.”
Within the framework of energy development, Venezuela has established energy cooperation plans for the development of our brother
peoples. An example of this is Petrocaribe, which uses oil in a supportive manner to promote social and economic development of our
allies in a true cooperation policy without any strings attached. The energy heritage of our country favors a strategy that combines the
sovereign use of the resource with regional and global integration2, thereby turning our country , in the medium term, into an energy
power.
Petrocaribe constitutes a powerful mechanism to build the sovereign development of Central America and the Caribbean. It is a
Venezuelan initiative that has consolidated thanks to its 18 members and that has contributed to overcome poverty that impacts a large
part of the region. Members of this mechanism have been benefited in sectors such as housing, environmental sanitation, roads,
tourism, and sports, among others. Priority is given to projects earmarked for historically excluded sectors, as well as those that promote
agro-alimentary independence of countries. Petrocaribe is an expression of the new unity and integration model and international
solidarity.
1 MONTAÑEZ, Manuel (2009) “El ALBA, despertar de nuestros pueblos.” 2009 Comprehensive Statistical Yearbook. Bolivarian Government of Venezuela.
2 National Project. Simón Bolívar First Socialist Plan – Economic and Social Development of the Nation, 2003-2013. September 2007.
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1. Universal/Assistentialist
The universal/assistentialist model has existed in the country since the ‘40s and was oriented toward protecting productive forces that
emerged from the import-substitution-oriented industrialization model that was based on a “securistic” model of social security for
formally employed, wage-earning workers and provided social assistance for social groups that were not incorporated into the economic
and social modernization process, financed by oil rent.
At the same time, a corporativist model, with differentiated services, was progressively developed, directed to sectors associated with
activities of the different branches of power. In this regard, a very generous benefit system was institutionalized, which privileged
determined segments of State’s bureaucracy, with health care services, remunerations, pensions and other labor benefits for specific
sectors (legislative and judicial branches of government, the Central Bank, and hydrocarbon, electric, university, electoral and military
sectors).
In urban centers, coverage in terms of education, environmental sanitation and health was expanded, with this measure becoming the
main institutional sphere of State’s action. However, the quality of the same services deteriorated and they progressively lost their
capacity to address social needs. As a consequence, a profound deficit and social gaps appeared which resulted in wide population
sectors being excluded and marginalized from the modernization process.
This approach gains significance as a part of the Washington Consensus, which postulated economic aperture, liberalization of basic
prices of the economy and withdrawing the State from social policies, so as to have fiscal capacity to pay foreign debt. This model
reproduces a sort of social dualism between a disfavored class, benefited by social assistance, and a privileged one that has access to
social services and buys them on the market (privatization of social security). Social policies are subordinated to economic policies, so
that, the best social policy is a good economic policy.
The country began to follow a model of passive, focalized and compensatory social policy, which promotes free market and
compensates for poor people with selective and compensatory programs that distribute food, school books and material, money and
medicines.
The Bolivarian Government evolves from a democracy with political content, in which political freedoms, such as the right to elect and be
elected, prevail, to a democracy with social content.
A new active social policy conception emerges, which privileges the guarantee of social, economic and cultural rights, independently of
social condition and the relation with the labor market. The country begins to comply with the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, which entered into force in 1976, within the framework of the UN General Assembly.
Education, health and housing become rights that can be demanded in the context of a universal social security based on citizens rather
than employment. The conception that the satisfaction of social needs is a matter of charity or public assistance gives way to an
approach that assumes them as Human Rights.
The strategic social policy goals contemplated in the Guidelines of the Economic and Social Development Plan 2007-2013, the “Simón
Bolívar First Socialist Plan,” call for a structural social policy approach. These guidelines may be summarized as follows:
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Guideline: Highest measure of social happiness, understood as the construction of an all-inclusive social structure. Venezuela’s
social structure is in a transition process toward an all-inclusive social and economic formation, through the implementation of Missions,
mass and accelerated social inclusion processes and the fair distribution of oil rent.
This model has made it possible to meet needs such as identity, food, health, education, employment and fight against poverty in a
more universal and extended manner.
Social policies create effective social, economic and political inclusion conditions for those population segments that had been
traditionally excluded, by means of the universal and equitable enjoyment of their rights. This view has left behind focalized and
compensatory actions of old policies and has taken the road to a new generation universalism. From the State, social investment for
development and collective wellbeing is privileged.
This increase in investment makes it clear that the State has retaken its social functions. This way, the Venezuelan State complements
its roles as comprehensive social assistance provider, by promoting people’s organization and guiding and regulating markets in
agreement with the National Constitution.
This approach was reinforced by legally recognizing new subjects of right and eliminating discriminatory practices, as well as with the
development of an institutional framework designed to facilitate participation and bolster administrative efficiency to manage social
demands. The construction of increasingly democratic, all-inclusive institutions is an achievement of the Bolivarian Government.
In summary, social and economic policies of the Bolivarian Government, along with the incorporation of organized citizens, has allowed
us, as a society, to fulfill the goals of reducing poverty and hunger, gender equality, illiteracy eradication, free treatment for HIV-AIDS
infected people, tuberculosis-related mortality and morbidity, drinkable water supply and sewage services, as well as other
environmental protection goals. Likewise, significant progress has been made to facilitate access to new information and communication
technologies and to strengthen cooperation mechanisms for the development of poor countries. Steps have been taken to attain the
goals of child mortality rate reduction and universalization of primary education. Reverting the increasing dengue and malaria incidence
trends pose a major challenge in the pursuit of the maternal mortality reduction goal.
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TARGET 1: HALVE, BETWEEN 1990 AND 2015, THE PROPORTION OF PEOPLE IN EXTREME POVERTY
Venezuela achieved the goal of reducing the percentage of people living in extreme poverty, in the year 2006, by decreasing this
percentage to 11.1%, i.e., down more than a half from the 1990’s levels. The commitment assumed was to halve, by 2015, the
percentage of people living in extreme poverty, with respect to percentages recorded in the year 1990 (24%).3
For the second half of 2009, the percentage of people in extreme poverty felt to 7.2%, as a result of the increase in the purchasing
power of poor families and to the decrease in inequality.
Poverty has multiple dimensions and causes. It comprises an economic dimension, essentially associated with income obtained from
work, and another dimension referred to the effective access to social goods of health, education, social protection provided by the
State, and solidarity.
From the economic perspective, poverty is defined as a lack of income and it appears when families in a given society have so little
income that they are not able to cover their socially defined basic needs.4
Achievements made at the end of this decade in terms of poverty reduction indicate that the current situation will be more favorable than
the one that prevailed over the two previous decades. Not only the current poverty and extreme poverty rates are far below the nineties’
level, specifically 1996, when almost half of the Venezuelan population didn’t have enough income to cover their basic needs, but also
the number of poor people in 2009 is far below the levels recorded in the mid nineties.
Poverty in Venezuela in the nineties was related to the negative effects of the economic policies that had been applied in the country
since the late eighties, which had substantial implications both economically and socially. In the year 1989, a macroeconomic
adjustment policy is implemented, within the framework of the Washington Consensus, which implied lifting controls over basic prices of
the economy (exchange rate, interest rates, public rates, good-salary prices). In 1996, the implementation of the Venezuela Agenda,
with a high neoliberal content, which implied deregulating prices of public services, gasoline and exchange rate, resulted in 42.5% of the
population living in extreme poverty.
3 The 1990’s indicator for people in extreme poverty as estimated by the National Statistics Institute differs from that calculated by ECLAC, which puts this indicator at 14%. Other studies
also present different estimates to CEPAL’s. One of these studies is “La evolución de la pobreza en Venezuela”, published by the Central Bank of Venezuela, June 1998, which
estimates population living in extreme poverty at 29.45% and 34.1%, for the first and second semester of the year 1990, respectively. Extreme poverty based on Unsatisfied Basic Needs
stood at 20%, according to the National Population and Housing Council, which released this information in the “Mapa de la Pobreza”, June 1993, Central Office of Statistics and
Information Sciences of the Presidency of the Republic (OCEI).
4 From the point of view of income, people in extreme poverty are those that belong to households that receive income lower than the cost of the reference food basket.
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Starting in 1999, the Bolivarian Government started a process to reduce extreme poverty, which was interrupted in the second half of
2001, with the political events that included lockout (December 2001), the coup attempt (April 2002) and the oil sabotage (December
2002), which negatively impacted advances made in poverty reduction. From 2004 on, extreme poverty started to decrease up until
today, as a result of the improvement in households’ purchasing power thanks to the increase in employment rates and family income.
Improvement in income and wealth distribution, successive increases in minimum wage from 1999, the increase of food allowances for
wage-earning workers, increase in pensions, as well as the progressive decrease in unemployment rate, all are policies that have had a
favorable effect on the improvement of household income and wellbeing of the population.
Poverty reduction, from the economic perspective, is mainly the result of an increase in household income, supplemented by a better
distribution over recent years. The lower Gini coefficient5 confirms the improvement in Venezuelan household income. For the 1st half of
2009, the unequal income distribution recorded a Gini coefficient equal to 0.3928, the lowest in Latin American and over the entire
Bolivarian Government (See Graph 2).
GRAPH 2. VENEZUELA. HOUSEHOLD INCOME INEQUALITY: Gini COEFFICIENT, YEAR 1997 - 2009
For the second half of 2004, once the economy overcame the negative effects of 2001-2002 political events, the decreasing trend that
unemployment has followed up until today, with 7.5% in the 2009 second semester. This was the result of economic growth and of labor
stability policies. (See Graph 3)
5The Gini Coefficient is an indicator that measures inequality in income distribution. It ranges between 0 and 1, where 0 means that income distribution is more progresiva, i.e. it
improves,
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GRAPH 3. VENEZUELA. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, 2ND SEMESTER 1990 – 2ND SEMESTER 2009
Finally, considering poverty from the perspective of the lack of effective access to social goods, the National Government has
implemented the so-called Missions as a mass and accelerated social inclusion strategy aimed at contributing to improve satisfaction
levels of basic needs of lower-income families that have been excluded from the market.
Missions and other social projects are programs intended to preserve universal social rights to food, health, literacy, labor training and
education at all levels, thereby contributing to guarantee effective access to social good. This is reflected on the social investment made
by the present Government, which has increased from 1.3% in 1998, last year of neoliberal governments, to around 19% in 2009, even
reaching 21.9% in 2006. Cumulative social investment throughout the Bolivarian Government (1999-2009) approximately stands at
USD330.6 billion, or 5 times higher than cumulative investment over the last 11 years (1988-1998) of the Fourth Republic, which is
equivalent to 60% of cumulative public revenues, vs. 36% over 1988-1998. This means that the invested amount is higher by 24
percentage points.
TARGET 2: HALVE, BETWEEN 1990 AND 2015, THE PROPORTION OF PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM HUNGER
This target is evaluated by means of indicators of nutritional deficit (global malnutrition) and prevalence of undernourishment. In this
regard, it is worth pointing out that the country almost achieved this goal before the year 2015. Nutritional deficit in children under five
years of age was reduced by 51.9%. For its part, the prevalence of undernourishment index dropped by 45.5% in 1990-2008. The target
for both conditions is to halve them in 1990-2015. These results were obtained thanks to social policies executed by the National
Government.
Nutritional deficit according to weight/age in children under five years of age relates the weight of a child under 5 years of age to the
reference for the same age and weight. This indicator stood at 7.7% in 1990 and progressively dropped until recording 5.3% in 1998.
With the Bolivarian Government, the indicator began to fall until reaching 4.5% in 2001. Thanks to the intensification of alimentary
policies from the year 2003, it recorded 3.7% in 2008.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
Source: National Nutrition Institute. SISVAN. Component for individuals under 15 years of age. (*) Preliminary figures
Undernourishment is measured through the Prevalence of undernourishment Index (PUI), which consists of the percentage of people in
a given country, with a mean energy intake lower than the minimum required to live and develop light activities. This index considers
three variables based on the FAO methodology: energy daily availability per inhabitant provided by foodstuffs and beverages; the
minimum energy needs (expressed in calorie/people/day); and the variation coefficient that integrates two kinds of variation in the
energy consumption of the population, that is, those associated with biological factors and with differences in income.
According to international parameters, levels found in Venezuela for 2008 are low and it can be concluded that the nutritional deficit,
based on anthropometric evaluation, has ceased to be a relevant public health problem in the country. However, according to
biochemical assessments and evaluations of food consumption, which were recently conducted by national organizations, there are still
micronutrient deficit situations, above all iron and calcium in more vulnerable populations.
In relation to the Prevalence of Undernourishment Index (PUI), several points are observed in the evolution of this indicator between
1990 and 2008 (Graph 5). For the 1990-1992 period, the percentage of undernurtured people stood at 11%, which progressively
increases up to 21% in 1998-2000. From this year on, the deterioration of the index is stopped, with a remarkable decrease being
observed since 2003 thanks to policies implemented by the National Government. 2008’s level shows a preliminary figure of 6%, with a
decrease close to 45.5% vs. 1990.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has established five categories for prevalence of undernourishment:
− PUI higher than or equal to 35%: very high level (very high food insecurity);
− PUI between 20%amd 34%: high;
− PUI between 10% and 19%: moderate;
− PUI between 5% and 9%: Low;
− PUI lower than 5%: very low level.
− A very low level of food insecurity would be reached when PUI takes values equal to or lower than 2.5%.
Graph 6 shows the behavior of the adaptation of caloric energy availability in the country for the 1980-2009 period, as well as the
sustained increase in caloric energy availability per person and per day recorded since 2003.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
To attain the hunger reduction goal, the Venezuelan State has deployed wide and sustained efforts aimed at improving food availability,
access, consumption and biological utilization, which are links of the nutritional food chain. By giving priority to nutrition as an inalienable
and fundamental human right, a set of policies are developed, which have impacted a large number of factors influencing nutrition as
can be observed in the reported results.
Government’s actions are presented below, taking into account the link in the agroalimentary chain on which they have an effect:
1. Programs that give priority to nutrition of biologically vulnerable groups and/or those that are in socioeconomic risk, in the
framework of the Alimentación Mission.
o School Food Program (PAE) currently covering more than 4 million pupils.
o PDVAL: Network of outlets that sell price-controlled foodstuffs. The outlets sold 383,000 mt in 2009.
o MERCAL: Network of outlets that sell foodstuffs at subsidized prices. Since 2003, the network has distributed
5.172 billion mt of food.
o Food networks for vulnerable groups. Meal distribution houses; community chickens; community stoves.
Furthermore, enriched foodstuffs have been distributed to nutritionally protect vulnerable groups: Nutrichicha, an enriched dairy
beverage based on rice (for pregnant women, children and adults), Nutriponque (based on domestically produced grains for snacks);
Nutripapilla (food to supplement nutrition of children under 2 years of age, which is based on domestically produced product);
dehydrated tropical fruits, hydrating isotonic beverages.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
3. As to actions oriented to improve access to foodstuffs, the Bolivarian Government has implemented a policy to increase the
population’s purchasing power, notably including: minimum wage increase; firing freeze for all workers earning less than 3
minimum wages; subsidies to food producers; and regulation of food prices.
4. To guarantee the effective consumption and the biological utilization of foodstuffs by the population, strategic actions have
been undertaken in the educational and health areas, such as:
Furthermore, the National Government is advancing a process to disseminate a new nutritional culture paradigm by presenting food
groups in a graphic and amicable manner for the population. The graphic strategy of the “Trompo de los alimentos” and the “Trompo
indígena de los alimentos” [based on a autochthonous Venezuelan toy, named Trompo (spinning top)] combines visual information on
the values of a sensible and sovereign nutrition. These values allow farmers to plan their sowing up to the standardization of import
criteria and the selection of food for consumption, among others. The Trompo is also being included in the new curriculums for primary
and secondary education, so as to promote the practice of sovereign and healthy consumption habits.
Finally, in May 2008 the Decree-Law on Food Security and Sovereignty was enacted. This Law guarantees health and nutrition of the
Venezuelan citizens through legal instruments, with an explicit approach to a suitable health and nutrition, orienting actions at all levels
toward agro-productive chains (production, transformation, commercialization and consumption of food), to comply with pertinent legal
and constitutional rules.
There are institutional mechanisms that guarantee that those rights be respected, such as citizen attention offices, which are distributed
throughout all public institutions related to the alimentation area: The Ombudsman’s Office, responsible for hearing and channeling all
social demands related to Human Rights; and the Institute for Consumer Defense in the Access to Goods and Services (INDEPABIS),
which is entrusted with enforcing the current legal framework related to commercialization and distribution of food, among others.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
29
30
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
TARGET 4: ENSURE THAT, BY 2015, CHILDREN EVERYWHERE, BOYS AND GIRLS ALIKE, WILL BE ABLE TO
COMPLETE A FULL COURSE OF PRIMARY SCHOOLING
Venezuela will achieve universal primary education before 2015; however, the target of illiteracy eradication in young population has
been already met.
Universal primary education is reflected today on the increase of the net schooling rate and in the proportion of children that have
completed the sixth grade.
School registration at this educational level in 2000-01 to 2008-09 school years is higher in comparison to the nineties. This behavior of
the net schooling rate6 in primary education in Venezuela has shown, in general, a positive trend since the beginning of the 21st century.
This figure has remained around 91.9% on average (92.3% in 2008-09; 86.6% in school years from 1993-94 to 1999-00). This shows
that net schooling rate in primary education (1st to 6th grades) is 5.6 percentage points higher than in the nineties.
GRAPH 1. VENEZUELA. NET SCHOOLING RATE IN PRIMARY EDUCATION. SCHOOL YEARS 1990/91- 2008/09
School Year
With respect to successful completion of primary education, a comparison between 1994-95 and 1999-2000 school years shows that the
percentage of pupils that started and completed primary education stood at 70%. In the period form 2003-04 to 2008-09 school years,
an increase of 14 percentage points is observed, with 84% of pupils completing the sixth grade in a six-year period. However, if the
repetition factor is considered, the proportion of children that complete studies between seven and eight years of study is higher than
97% of primary education completion.
6 For the calculation of net rates, ages of children registered in primary education range between 6 and 11 years.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
GRAPH 2. VENEZUELA. PROPORTION OF PUPILS THAT START FIRST GRADE AND COMPLETE THE LAST
GRADE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN SIX YEARS. SCHOLL YEARS 1990/91- 2008/09
School Years
Source: People’s Ministry for Education. Statistics Division
The National Government’s commitment to improving living conditions of Venezuelans has translated into the progressive increase in
education. With the aim of meeting the social needs of the people, particularly education, Venezuela earmarked for education 4.0% and
6.1% of GDP in 1990 and 2009, respectively.
In year 2007, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela introduced a proposal for the Venezuelan curriculum, according to
which education should be comprehensive. The main guidelines of the First Socialist Plan for 2007-2013 strengthen innovative
strategies and policies in terms of to school permanence and pursuit.
The main actions intended to attain universal primary education, as well as a higher proportion of pupils starting primary education and
completing the sixth grade include the Bandera Project (Simoncito schools, Bolivarian Preschool Institutions, Bolivarian Schools,
Bolivarian High-Schools, Technical Institutes inspired in Robinson’s and Zamora’s ideals, Bilingual Intercultural Education) and
Education Missions oriented toward reaching mass and accelerated social inclusion in education.
The pursuit and/or completion of primary education is based on the Simoncito Flagship Project, which is oriented to strengthen
comprehensive and pedagogical attention of children from conception until the sixth year of age. This formation, education and social
and cultural development process of all children, which contemplates the involvement of family and community, are the key elements for
the development of the new social being. Education, recreation, protection, health, alimentation and health care for children all are
components of global care. Simoncitos and Bolivarian Preschools had 296,244 children registered throughout 4,638 schools at the
national level.
The National Government promotes the strategy of the Bolivarian Schools as production spaces that guarantee liberating education and
work for the socio-productive activities, as an integral part of teaching and learning processes, based on the philosophy of learning
through doing and teaching by producing. These schools are a model of comprehensive educational care that promotes social justice
and consolidates the right of everyone to education and to a comprehensive degree of care that fosters permanence, pursuit and
completion of primary school. This model was implemented in the 1999-2000 school year at 559 schools and for the 2008-2009 school
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
year, the number of educational institutions had grown to 5,052 with 796,936 pupils registered throughout the national territory, thereby
strengthening primary education and permanence and inclusion of children into the primary education subsystem.
The advance toward a universal primary education reported an increase in pursuit and decrease in subject repetition and desertion
rates. Pursuit at the national level in 1990-91 until 1999-00 averaged 86.0%, whereas it stood at 92.2% from 2000-01 to 2007-08 school
years. This represents a high pursuit index, because only 7.8% of pupils did not reach the following grade in the basic education
subsystem, as compared to other school years. To measure progress in primary education, the percentage of subject repetition is used.
In Venezuela, this indicator generally decreased from 11.0% to 3.5% from 1990-91 to 2007-08.
School desertion has significantly decreased. It was at 7% for the 1980-81 period and at 1.7% in 2007-08, or a decrease of 5.4
percentage points. The challenge is to minimize repetition and desertion rates.
It’s worth highlighting the efforts made by the Government to increase inclusion of children between 6 and 11 years of age into the
educational system; independently of the subsystem they belong to, inclusion has grown by 4.6 percentage points from 1998-99 to
2007-08 school years.
Likewise, the State is developing a number of actions oriented toward the strengthening of learning capacity. These actions include: the
use of new information and communication technologies as well as the supply of healthy food.
Information and communication technologies are educational tools that contribute to the improvement of learning and teaching capacity.
These tools are employed by the Bolivarian Information and Telematics Centers (CBIT) in public schools. Starting in 2009, the Canaima
Educational Program7 was implemented; this program is intended for children in the initial grades of primary education and has planned
to provide one computer per children in public education, from first to third grade.
As to food supply, the School Meal Program (PAE) was implemented, according to which, food for about 4,000,000 children throughout
the national territory was guaranteed.
The passing of the Organic Education Law (LOE),8 under Decree No. 5929, dated August 15, 2009, which is an instrument aimed at
adapting the Venezuelan educational system to the Simón Bolívar National Project (2007-2013), represents another highly significant
step in Venezuela education. This new Organic Education Law will develop the project of country established in the Venezuelan
Constitution in the medium term. The project will create the new society based on the Bolivarian ideal, which since the early 21st century
has been developed with the support of educational programs and projects.
BOX 1
MAIN INNOVATIONS OF LOE. 2009
• Incorporation into LOE of initial education as a single level in the educational subsystem. Initial
education would be divided into two cycles: from 0 to 3 years of age (maternal) and from 3 to 6 years
of age (preschool level).
• Incorporation of gender equality, at the same time providing children a quality education under equal
conditions and opportunities.
• Access to culture and communication through the new information and communication technologies
(ICT).
• Promotion of basic cultural-historic concepts, the Bolivarian ideal, including physical activity, arts,
sports, recreation, culture, environment, agro-ecology, communication and health.
• Involvement of family and community in the educational process since the initial stage.
• The right of the State to intervene in the organization of the educational system in the country and
orient education according to its political doctrine (inclusion of the teacher-State).
• The State will guarantee the proper functioning of educational missions in their different modalities.
Source: People’s Ministry for Education. Statistics Division
7 It created for schools at the national level, with the aim of working with computers in first grade courses every two days, two hours a week. The goal for 2015 is to cover up to sixth
grade using this teaching method.
8 See LOE innovations for 2009 (Box 1)
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
Literacy rates of men and women between 15 and 24 years of age have remarkably increased, to such an extent that illiteracy has
practically been eradicated from this population group.
Literacy rate in Venezuela, according to INE’s figures from the second semesters of the Household Survey, reflects a positive trend for
groups between 15 and 24 years of age, between 1999 and 2009 (98.7% in 2009). Literacy distribution between both genders does not
reveal any significant difference, except for a minor difference of one percentage point. In general, this consistent improvement in
literacy rates is due to the implementation of educational policies by the current Government, which are aimed at benefiting the sectors
that have been most excluded from the educational system.
GRAPH 3. VENEZUELA. LITERACY RATE OF POPULATION BETWEEN 14-24 YEARS, PER GENDER. 1994-2009
Years
Men Women
(*) Preliminary figures for 2009 from the Household Survey.
Source: INE. Household Survey by sampling, 2nd semesters.
Educational programs alternative to formal education, which are intended for population that did not complete primary education, notably
include the Robinson Mission, which started its operations on July 1, 2003, with the counseling of Cuban9 technicians and voluntaries.
The purpose of the Mission was solving the country’s social problem, i.e. illiteracy. It is worth mentioning that between 1980 and 2009 a
little more than 1,880,000 people have learnt to read and write in Venezuela. Of these, 1,678,671 have been taught to read and write
from 2003 to 2009, thanks to the Robinson Mission (MPPE: 2009). Other missions were created (Robinson II and III; Sucre and Ribas
Missions) to proceed with education programs initiated by the Robinson I Mission and to improve their quality of life and include those
that have remained excluded from the educational system.
In addition, to continue the education of people that were taught to read and write in the Robinson I Mission, the second stage was
implemented (Robinson II)10 on September 15 2003. This plan that was intended to allow adults to complete sixth grade or to help adults
who had abandoned the educational system to restart their education, started as the second stage, known as Robinson II Mission, and a
third reading phase known as Robinson III.
9 Cuba-Venezuela Integral Cooperation Agreement (2000). This agreement establishes commitments in education and other specific support activities that Cuba would be willing to offer
to Venezuela concerning literacy, basic and intermediate and secondary education, and the use of non-conventional teaching methods. Source: ILDES. Ls Misiones Sociales de
Venezuela. 2006.
10 Decree No. 2602, published in the Official Gazette No. 37775
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
35
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
TARGET 4: ELIMINATE GENDER DISPARITY IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION, PREFERABLY BY 2005,
AND IN ALL LEVELS OF EDUCATION NO LATER THAN 2015
The promotion of gender equality and the increased involvement of women in economic and social matters is an already achieved goal
in Venezuela. The State, thanks to its policies, has strengthened education an equitable participation of women. However, there are
many spaces still to conquer, so as to link women with all societal spheres and allow them to express their capacities and be rewarded
accordingly.
To measure the achievement of this goal, which is aimed at eliminating inequalities between genders in primary and secondary
education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education not later than 2015, it is important to highlight the behavior seen in
indicators directly related to the higher participation of women both in the educational and labor sector and in political activities.
This remarkable effort has been deployed by the Bolivarian Government particularly in the educational sector, where we can point out
that there are not any elements that may imply disadvantages for female population in their struggle to attain full equality of rights and
opportunities, with a progressive elimination of disparity between genders. This fact can be observed in a statistical ratio of female
schooling that is one percentage point higher than that of men at all educational levels.
The increased participation of Venezuelan women in the productive process is conditioned by their early incorporation into educational
activities, as reflected in the graph below, where the participation of women in primary education between 1990 and 2009 has been
higher than that of men.
GRAPH 1. VENEZUELA. PROPORTION OF BOYS AND GIRLS IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION,
SCHOOL YEARS 1990-2009
Years
Source: People’s Ministry for Education. Statistics Division
Gender disparities are associated with difficulties in access to education. In this sense, efforts have been focused on providing equal
opportunities for boys and girl in the school system, from initial up to secondary education. To this end, the State propitiates the
implementation of a new curriculum in the Bolivarian Educational System, which is legally underpinned by the new Constitution of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Consequently, mechanisms are being developed to promote gender equality with a view to integrating
them to current curriculums and educational contents.
Concerning Higher Education, the parity index behavior shows that the proportion of women participation has reversed since 2001 in
37
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
favor of women. In 1994, the proportion of women in higher education amounted to 0.99%, whereas this number went up to 1.44% in
2008.
Years
Note: For all years, calculations were based on the 2nd semester. 2009’s is a preliminary figure.
Source: National Statistics Institute. Household Survey.
Progress made in terms of gender equality in labor force in Venezuela is evident, because an increasing number of women of 15 years
of age or more are employed and paid in the non-agricultural sector. This evolution has been observed since 1990, when women
accounted for 34.81% of total employed population in the non-agricultural sector, until reaching41.96% in 2009. The result of this
indicator shows the increasingly higher participation of women in the economy and their important contribution to the productive process,
other than economic activities that are considered traditional.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
Years
Note: For all years, calculations were based on the 2nd semester. 2009’s is a preliminary figure.
Source: National Statistics Institute. Household Survey.
It is worth highlighting efforts oriented toward the organization and promotion of association among women, the granting of credits at low
interest rates, intended for the production, training and labor qualification of women. Institutions to defend women’s rights include the
National Women’s Institute (INAMUJER), 1999; the Women’s Development Bank (BANMUJER), 2001; and the Madres del Barrio
“Josefa Joaquina Sánchez” Mission, 2006.
The last data presented reflect and advance in women participation in areas that are critical to overcome poverty, such as labor and
education. These broad participation spaces are intended not only to comply with international agreements such as MDG and those
concerning Human Rights, but also to promote equality between genders as the country´s main development axis.
National budgets are being developed with a gender-based approach according to Presidential Order No. 273, dated May 21, 2005,
which calls for increasing percentages of funds that are earmarked for women-related areas in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, in addition
to changes that present gender-related actions according to specific projects and improvements in the latter’s technological platform.
With regard to women’s political participation, the 1999 Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela signified a significant step
from representative democracy to direct, protagonic and participatory democracy. This signaled a shift from formal equality to the
undeniable objective of attaining material equality or justice. To this end, the full exercise of political rights, without gender-related
discrimination, among others, was potentiated and became the pivotal axis for the construction of true democracy. In this sense, the
National Public Power entities are obliged to propitiate the aperture of all spaces so that citizen participation, without discrimination of
gender, may be materialized so as to remove all obstacles that prevent us to achieving our purposes.
The Escuela de Formación Socialista-Feminista para Igualdad de Género “Ana María Campos” EFOSIG, created on March 6, 2009, as
an entity attached to the People’s Ministry for Women and Gender Equality, participated in the construction of Socialism following the
guidelines of the Simón Bolívar National Plan for 2007-2013, and bases its strategic lines, particularly considering the birth of a new
Socialist ethics with an approach to gender, on the sociopolitical basis of this Ministry, which is aimed at managing formative projects
together with its entities (INAMUJER, BANMUJER and MADRES DEL BARRIO Mission), and with the communities and their people’s
organizations.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
A substantially important step, vis-à-vis the magnitude of women’s participation in the country, was the creation of the People’s Ministry
for Women and Gender Equality, as a decentralized and democratic entity. The ministry operates in the 24 states of the country, thereby
allowing women to present proposals and collectively discuss their needs.
The women’s movement in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, driven by governmental support, presented the National Electoral
Council with an initiative that resulted in greater participation of women in electoral processes. The outcome was that now the
participation of women as deputies in the National Assembly experienced a slight increase to 18% of principal deputies, which goes up
to 25% if substitute deputies are counted, and their participation as judges grew to 31%. Similarly 4 out of the 5 branches of power are
headed by women (Legislative, Electoral, Judicial and Moral).
2004 Nominal 2004 Nominal 2004 List 2004 List 2008 Nominal 2008 Nominal 2008 List 2008 List
Principal Substitute Principal Substitute Principal Substitute Principal Substitute
Year and Title
The National Electoral Council (CNE) approved parity (50-50) and alternative participation of men and women in political activities for
November 23, 2008 regional elections. The graph below shows the participation of women in 2000, 2004 and 2009 regional elections.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
GRAPH 5. VENEZUELA. NUMBER OF MAJORS PER POLITICAL TREND IN 2000, 2004 AND 2008 REGIONAL
ELECTIONS
Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men
Government Opposition Government Opposition Government Opposition
2000 2004 2008
Source: National Electoral Council.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
42
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
43
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
TARGET 5: REDUCE BY TWO-THIRDS, BETWEEN 1990 AND 2015, THE UNDER-FIVE MORTALITY RATE.
Venezuela is on track to achieve the child mortality target among children under five to 11 per thousand live births by 2015. In
order to reach this target, we need to continue and deepen the health policies implemented by the national government.
The infant mortality rate in Venezuela has shown a general downward trend since the late fifties. In 2008, mortality rate among
children under five stood at 16.4 per 1,000 live births, which is equivalent to a decrease of 47.6% compared to 1990. It is
important to note that the state has implemented policies aimed at reducing child mortality, including the valuable contribution of
Barrio Adentro Mission since 2003, through cooperation with the Republic of Cuba.
31.3
30.0 29.2
26.8
26.2
26.2
26.7
Rate per 1.000 live births
17.0 16.8
15.0 16.4
10.0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Source: People’s Ministry for Health.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
With respect to mortality in children under one, the rate decreased by 11.9 percentage points between 1990 and 2008,
accounting for a decrease of 46.1%. The behavior of this indicator shows that the causes have been tackled with effective
policies, including the guarantee of access to clean water, education for mother and father, universal immunizations, and access
to health services with quality and human warmth. For the reduction of neonatal mortality, an important component of child
mortality, the country is making efforts to invest in more specialized technology and the reorientation of health services network.
According to the arguments above, and thanks to the articulation of state and society through participatory mechanisms, such
as those established under the Communal Councils, it can be said that Venezuela is on track to achieve this Millennium
Development Goal.
TABLE 1. VENEZUELA. INFANT, NEONATAL, AND POST-NATAL CHILD MORTALITY RATES (Under one)
1990-2008
Child mortality rates (per
Year 1.000 live births)
General Neonatal Post-neonatal
1990 25.8 14.0 11.7
1991 20.9 12.4 8.5
1992 22.0 13.5 8.5
1993 23.7 14.7 9.0
1994 24.6 14.0 10.6
1995 23.5 13.4 10.1
1996 23.9 13.8 10.1
1997 21.4 13.0 8.5
1998 21.4 12.4 9.0
1999 19.0 11.8 7.1
2000 17.7 11.5 6.2
2001 17.7 11.0 6.6
2002 18.2 11.9 6.2
2003 18.5 11.2 7.3
2004 17.5 10.1 5.8
2005 15.5 10.8 4.7
2006 14.2 10.0 4.2
2007 14.1 9.9 4.2
2008 13.9 9.7 4.2
Source: People’s Ministry for Health.
In order to attain this goal, the State has implemented policies aimed at significantly reducing child mortality in children under 1
and under 5. In order to tackle the causes of mortality in this age group, various strategies have been developed, such as:
• Implementation of the Manual of Norms and Standards for the Care of Infants and Preschoolers.
• Implementation of the Neonatal Screening Standard.
• Implementation of Law on Promotion and Protection of Breastfeeding.
• Adaptation of the Organic Law on Labor and Social Security, for the promotion of breastfeeding.
• Provision of equipment to specialized hospitals that serve this population group, through the incorporation of Barrio
Adentro Mission and Niño Jesús Mission.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
• Implementation of prevention strategies, together with Barrio Adentro Mission and Niño Jesús Mission, through the
promotion of breastfeeding, health education and optimal obstetric and neonatal care in Popular Clinics and
Comprehensive Diagnosis Centers (CDI), as support to the services already provided by other establishments of the
National Public Health System.
• Improvement, expansion and construction of the hospital service network with gynecological and obstetrical services,
investing also in the country’s largest maternity hospital.
• Consolidation and implementation of the vaccination scheme for this population group.
• Decrease of diseases in the 0 to 5 age group, due to improvement in the access to clean water and disposal of
waste water.
Similarly, the Expanded Immunization Program (PAI) impacts directly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5, in
terms of reducing infant and maternal mortality, by completing the official vaccination schedule, with vaccines designed to
protect both children under 5 and women of childbearing age and pregnant women against vaccine-preventable diseases.
PAI’s contribution to this cause began in 1994 with a National Campaign to Eliminate Measles, achieving coverage in target
population (1 year) of 97%. After this campaign, (elimination) follow-up campaigns against Measles followed every four years, to
decrease the risk of appearance of the disease with epidemic proportions. This year also saw the improvement of the system of
notification and confirmation of cases of measles, through epidemiological surveillance, which enabled ample knowledge on the
magnitude of this health problem.
Until 2001 the disease was controlled through vaccination campaigns, but between 2001 and 2002, a large measles epidemic
broke out, which required an intensified approach to target population and mass vaccination of the general population, achieving
a significant reduction in the number of cases. In the year 2006, another outbreak occurred, which was controlled entirely by
early 2007 (epidemiological week 7). Since then, there have been no confirmed cases of the disease, and vaccination coverage
has remained (with the exception of 2007) above 80% among 1-year-old children.
The Campaign for the Elimination of Rubella and Congenital Rubella Syndrome was launched precisely in 2007, in which about
10 and a half million people were vaccinated over a period of two months, reaching a record coverage of 108% in the 18 to 39
age group with vaccination against measles and rubella in the entire national territory (such coverage was verified in the field
through rapid coverage monitoring).
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
TARGET 6: REDUCE BY THREE QUARTERS, BETWEEN 1990 AND 2015, THE MATERNAL MORTALITY
RATIO
The maternal mortality rate has fluctuated during the 1990-2008 period. Between 1994 and 2002, there were major hikes,
resulting in yearly rates of 69.91 and 68.0 per 100,000 live births, respectively. In 2008, the rate stood at 63.5 per 100,000 live
births, which is still a high value. Thus, caring for pregnant women in all aspects has become a high priority for the national
government. The leading causes of deaths are associated with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy, childbirth
complications and unsafe abortions. The largest proportion of deaths is in the group of women between 20 and 39 years of age
(80%).
The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, with a view to ensuring maternal health, has been developing
strategies in order to overcome the complications of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. In this sense, access to health
services and counseling to women and their partners are considered as priority, with an emphasis on preserving their right to be
free from discrimination and to a healthy, responsible, and safe sexual and reproductive life, while ensuring a pregnancy and
delivery with proper attention and to avoid any form of gender-based violence. In this sense, articles, regulations and laws that
protect sexual health, reproduction, and childbirth care rights of mothers and children have been included recently in legal
instruments such as the Constitution of the Republic, the Organic Labor Law, the Law on the Promotion and Protection of
Breastfeeding, the LOPNA, the Organic Law on Women's Right to a Life Free of Violence, the Law for Protection of Family,
Maternity and Paternity, among others.
With regard to health policies, we must highlight the implementation of programs and standards (Project Mother, the 2004
Venezuelan Official Standard for Comprehensive Care for Sexual and Reproductive Health; the 2003 Venezuelan Official
Standard for Comprehensive Care for the Adolescents, among others), aimed at providing care for mothers, children,
adolescents and improving the health care network in the country (Barrio Adentro I, Barrio Adentro II, Barrio Adentro III).
Similarly, there is an extensive network of health services, providing training, guidance and information about contraception for
the exercise of free reproductive rights with knowledge. In this context, Niño Jesús Mission was launched on December 23,
2009, with the aim of improving care for pregnant women, newborns and children under five. This includes the participation of
Communal Councils. It is also responsible for ensuring that all pregnant women have a decent delivery, under appropriate
conditions. The Mission also includes the construction of "Maternal Shelter Homes," which allow us to deliver timely care and
monitor mothers who have difficulties to access health services in the days before the birth. Also, regulatory systems for the
administration of ambulances and rooms in hospitals for pregnant women.
In the same vein, the main action aiming at achieving the target of reducing infant and maternal mortality has been the
development of the National Sexual and Reproductive Health Program, which is instrumental in the institutionalization of actions
in the field of sexual and reproductive health policies, mainstreaming the gender issue and reproductive and sexual rights in the
management of health services.
The decline in maternal mortality is a major challenge to Venezuelan society as a whole, and for that purpose we are
implementing, in the framework of the Niño Jesús Mission, institutional changes in the comprehensive attention to mothers,
which are designed to ensure effectively access to family planning, emergency obstetric care, transportation at the time of
delivery, prenatal care and high-quality obstetric services (qualified and sufficient human resources, adequate supplies and
equipment).
49
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
69.3
70.0 68.0
65.6
64.9 63.5
65.0
Rate per every 100,000 RLB
62.8
60.4 60.5
58.9 59.6 59.3 59.9
60.0
60.1
59.9
57.8
55.0 56.8
53.1 53.3
50.0
51.0
45.0
40.0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
To achieve progress in this area, we have signed various assistance agreements with international and multilateral
organizations, including PAHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, and countries like Argentina and Cuba, for the provision of technical support
for intervention strategies, the acquisition of supplies and equipment at low cost by the Barrio Adentro III Program.
50
51
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
TARGET 7A: HAVE HALTED BY 2015 AND BEGUN TO REVERSE THE SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS.
The target of halting and reversing the incidence of HIV / AIDS poses major challenges for all of Venezuelan society. The most
affected age group is 30 to 39 for men and 25 to 34 for women. The most common mode of transmission is sexual transmission
and the number of female patients has increased in recent years. The mortality in women has increased 35%, whereas in males
it grew by 20%. This is a reflection of the growing “feminization” of the epidemic, although men are still most affected in the
country. In 2003, 1,267 deaths occurred, ranking 16th within the top 25 causes of death, accounting for 1.10% of total. In 2007,
there were 1670 deaths from HIV / AIDS, ranking 12th in the top 25 causes of death and accounting for 1.32% of all causes.
This requires the consolidation of sexual education programs to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy.
Similarly, it is crucial to support efforts to prevent the spread of the virus from mother to child.
In relation to the spread of the disease, the Venezuelan strategy to combat the disease seeks to reduce the impact on different
groups, so by the year 2015 none of them shows rates above 5%, trying to turn the disease from a concentrated to a low-level
epidemiological situation, according to the current UN/AIDS classification. The groups at highest risk level are men who have
sex with men, sex workers and imprisoned persons.
The response to the HIV epidemic in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is coordinated by the agency in charge of health
policies. For this reason, various activities are planned, implemented, and evaluated by various agencies of the National
Government, as well as the actions undertaken by social movements and organized communities. This is evident in the constant
and permanent increase in the budget for the National AIDS/STI Program, which has expanded the coverage of comprehensive
care for people with HIV.
In 2003, we launched the National Strategic Plan HIV / AIDS (PENVIH): An Approach for Quality of Life and Health, defining it
as an instrument of health policy and social development, which serves as the backbone of organized and sustained responses
to facilitate the mobilization of financial and human resources around actions against HIV/AIDS. This instrument was built with
the participation of a large group of people, including representatives of government bodies, both in the health sector and other
sectors, scientific societies, private companies, international agencies such as the Pan American Health Organization and the
United Nations Population Fund, UNAIDS and a representation of social movements and the organized community
organizations working with HIV.
The Plan is addressed to all the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, based on the differential profiles of social
needs, expressed according to gender, social group, ethnicity and territory, with particular emphasis to those with a profile that
places them in the most vulnerable groups of society. In this sense, we have financed activities related to community
mobilization, prevention campaigns for the youth in school age, prevention of HIV transmission for PLH, prevention for sex
workers, prevention for homosexual population, the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of STIs, prevention of mother to child
transmission, universal precautions and post-exposure prophylaxis.
The prevention of vertical transmission of HIV in Venezuela is jointly developed by the National Reproductive Health Program
(PNSR) and the National AIDS / STI (PNSIDA / ITS). The PNSIDA / ITS is responsible for comprehensive care for all pregnant
women with confirmed HIV infection or any HIV-infected women who become pregnant. This care is provided according to the
rules of the Consensus on Technical Regulation of the Comprehensive Care for Patients with HIV/AIDS in Venezuela,"
established in 2007 by the program, with the participation of medical experts from around the country and the international
recognition of PAHO.
Apart from project financing, the National AIDS/STI Program, through its Education and Awareness Component, carries out
education, communication and information activities on prevention of HIV infection. Such activities include the information
campaigns on various issues of prevention, such as deferring the start of sexual relations, promotion of condom use, safe sex,
reducing the number of sexual partners, combating violence against women and the prevention of mother-child transmission of
HIV, among others.
53
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
In turn, the National Blood Bank Program is responsible for ensuring the quality of analysis of blood units that enter all blood
banks in the country, both public and private, with the aim of detecting the presence of transmissible infections, especially HIV,
thereby reducing the transmission of the virus to patients receiving any blood product.
Regarding the issue of HIV, the National Institute for Prevention, Health and Safety (INPSASEL) develops activities to
promote health and safety at work, and care in case of damages to health caused at work and the violation rights of workers
covered by the Organic Law on Prevention, Working Conditions and Environment (LOPCYMAT).
TABLE 1. VENEZUELA. NUMBER OF PREGNANT WOMEN WITH HIV SERVED, 2001- 2009
The PNSR is responsible for the comprehensive care of all pregnant women and its core activities include HIV infection
screening. With regard to HIV infection screening, this is free of charge and compulsory for all pregnant women and is
performed at the start of prenatal care, in order to detect timely positive pregnant women, so as to start their treatment and
provide address adequate care during their pregnancy.
In the last three years, spending on HIV in Venezuela has surpassed 495 million bolivars, equivalent to more than 230 million
US dollars. This has expanded the coverage of comprehensive care for people with HIV and ensuring free and universal access
to antiretroviral drugs.
ARVs are provided to all infected pregnant women regardless of the outcome of immunological and virus tests. Also elective
caesarean sections are scheduled when the pregnancy comes to term, and breast milk substitutes are provided for feeding
children, as breastfeeding is not advisable. The provision is extended during the first year of life of the child. With all these
activities, we are effectively preventing vertical transmission of HIV in Venezuela.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
TABLE 2. VENEZUELA. PATIENTS WHO RECEIVE ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY YEARS 2002 - 2009
Number of
Total number
Year of patients Number of patients MPPS patients -
IVSS
2002 7,170 7,170 0
2003 9,147 9,147 0
2004 14,263 12,132 2,131
2005 15,756 13,146 2,610
2006 19,082 16,282 2,800
2007 22,265 19,232 3,033
2008 27,266 23,948 3,318
2009 32,302 28,631 3,671
NOTE: Year 2004 includes patients from the Social Security System.
Source: National AIDS/STI Program - MPPS
In connection with the service, there are 61 facilities nationwide that offer specialized consultations for both adult patients and
children; they are carried out by infectious disease doctors, immunologists, internists and pediatricians. In each of the states of
the country there is at least one specialized consultation facility.
These health care services are offered following the technical rules of the national program. To that end, these rules are
updated regularly through a process of consultation and national consensus. The services include non-occupational exposure,
such as sexual abuse and risk of infection in HIV-discordant couples.
All services produce a mandatory notice of all cases that require treatment by a patient’s card established by the national
program. This card includes patient data, laboratory results that allow classification and course of treatment chosen by the
physicians. The cards are evaluated at a national level and when the treatment is approved, it will be sent to each regional
coordination to make it available to the patient. In some cases when the prescribed treatment is not approved, then a
consultation with the attending physician is scheduled to restructure the patient’s scheme.
To standardize the treatment, the national program has produced a guide which is updated regularly. During the year 2008, the
third edition of the "Guidelines for Management of Antiretroviral Treatment for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Venezuela," was
issued, which was developed through extensive consultation with experts, with the participation of 38 medical specialists from
across the country and the Venezuelan Society of Infectious Diseases, Pediatrics, Immunology and Obstetrics and Gynecology,
with advice of the PAHO for international validation.
Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) are distributed in every state in the country free of charge, with equity and without discrimination for
any patient who meets the WHO criteria for treatment. There is an evident steady increase over the years in the number of
patients who have free access to treatment.
Among the national strategies to prevent the scope of the epidemic, are: HIV education for children and adolescents in school,
prevention in women, HIV education for university students, prevention in indigenous communities; prevention in military
personnel and in the general population, blood safety and HIV prevention at work.
TARGET 8: HAVE HALTED BY 2015 AND BEGUN TO REVERSE THE INCIDENCE OF MALARIA,
TUBERCULOSIS AND DENGUE
MALARIA
If we note the downward trend, we see there is a strong possibility of reaching this target in the case of malaria. According to
projections for the coming years, the incidence of malaria will show a tendency to stabilize over the next four years, with some
fluctuations that would occur between 2010 and 2015. However, with regard to the incidence of malaria and dengue, in general,
it should be noted that there is good epidemiological surveillance in the country, with an excellent network of laboratories and
expertise in medical assistance to patients, which has made mortality for both diseases remain below 0.12% in the country.
55
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
The overall strategy of combating malaria in Venezuela is based on early diagnosis and timely treatment, as well as the
knowledge of the dynamics of the population in areas with high risk of malaria.
The incidence of Malaria from 1990 has shown a cyclical behavior, which is typical of this disease, showing for that same year
the highest values of Malaria Morbidity Rate (239.36). Due to the intensification of the program’s control measures starting in the
year 2005, there was a significant decrease (170.5), and the year 2009 ended with a rate of 128.8.
25.9
25.3
25.0 25.2 24.8
24.0
23.5
23.1
23.0
23.3
23.0
22.0
21.0
20.0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: People’s Ministry for Health
56
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
In 2009, 35,828 malarious episodes occurred throughout country, which represents a slight increase of 11.8% over the previous
year ( =32,037). The Annual Parasite Incidence (API) per thousand inhabitants, calculated on the basis of state population with
malaria transmission was 2.8.
DENGUE
The country has faced tremendous challenges in trying to achieve this target, including the strengthening of epidemiological
surveillance, the active participation of the community in prevention and selective control of transmission sites and increased
involvement of local governments in the integral sanitation the environment.
Both classic and hemorrhagic dengue in Venezuela have shown endemo-epidemic behavior throughout the country. Between
1998 and 2000, we achieved a steady decline of cases from 37,586 cases in 1998 to 22,559 in 2000. However, the country
reported an ascending rate from 1992 to 2009.
In 2007, there was an increase in the number of reported cases compared to the previous year, when there were 80,646, but
only in the second half of the total epidemiological weeks of the year, since there was practically no recorded increase from the
previous year in the first 30 epidemiological weeks. By 2009, a total of 65,869 cases were recorded, a decrease of 22.4% from
2007.
In general, Venezuela has a good epidemiological surveillance, which is being strengthened by an excellent network of public
laboratories and expertise in health care, as well as campaigns to combat diseases, information and preventive measures to
reduce the generation of vectors and breeding grounds. As a result, lethality of the disease in the country is below 1%. Some
climatic events in recent years, such as increase in air temperatures and changes in rainfall, are favorable conditions for
colonization and reproduction of the insects that spread the disease.
350
336.63
300 293.46
232.06
250
Rate per 100.000 inhabitants
200
149.63 158.86
147.77 148.03 161.71 155.5
150 163.53
100 118.01
112.42
105.66
87.39
50 56.21
70.38
32.84 43.32 41.6
0
13.23
57
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
TUBERCULOSIS
Venezuela is a country with tradition in the implementation of activities to control tuberculosis under the framework of a well
structured National Tuberculosis Program since 1962, when the first Manual of Standards for Nursing Assistants and other
volunteers was published, which included all activities of a control program. To date, the country has a program and national
standards with policies and actions needed to control this disease.
The National Integrated Program for the Control of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases aims at promoting health and preventing
risk factors for tuberculosis in accordance with the principles, policies, priorities and strategies defined by the Venezuelan State to
achieve a high-quality comprehensive care for the population. The DOTS coverage in the country is 100%. The treatment is
completely free of charge and treatment regimes are adapted to international standards; access is universal.
The mortality trend of this health problem in the country is decreasing. With regard to Goal 6 of the MDGs, Venezuela reduced the
recorded mortality rate of 4.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1990 to 2.30 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2008, which accounts for a 44-
percent reduction. The reported prevalence of tuberculosis was reduced by 17.5% (28 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1990 to 23 per
100,000 inhabitants in 2009) and the incidence rate shows a slight but steady downward trend in the last five years.
Efforts in the detection of smear-positive cases over 15 years have not been sufficient to achieve a greater impact on morbidity,
reaching 69% in detection rates, the success of treatment in the cohort of patients receiving directly observed treatment in 2008
was 83% as a national average, close to the target percentage of 85%.
3.00 2.89
2.84 2.57
2.78 2.51
2.50
2.49
2.3
2.00
1.50
1.00
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
58
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
28.0
27.5
27.3
27.3 26.8 Tasa
27.0
26.7
26.1 26.8
26.8
26.0 25.9
Rate per every 100.000 inhab.
25.9
25.9
25.3
25.0 25.2 24.8
24.0
23.5 23.1
23.0
23.3 23.0
22.0
21.0
20.0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
59
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
The decline in land area covered by forest has stopped, from 59.0% of the national territory by 1990 to 54.1% by 2005 and
2007. These positive results have been the upshot of the efforts made in recent years with the creation of the Árbol Mission,
through which a total of 9,312.98 ha. have been planted, of which: 6,344.01 are for protective use; 2,755.93 for agroforestry and
213.04 for commercial use. The largest area planted by a single state corresponded to Lara, with 1,878.00 ha, where 55.91% of
the area planted was for protective use.
Venezuela has a forest area of 47.71 million hectares11, with a wide variety ranging from cloud evergreen forest, seasonal cloud
and dry forests, forests with special conditions such as mangroves to gallery forests. 11.7 million hectares of these forests are
located south of the Orinoco River, specifically in the bioregion of Guayana. This forest area represents 52.06% of the national
territory, including forest reserves (12.84 million ha), forested lots (0.09 million ha) and areas suitable for forestry (3.38 million
ha.)
Forests are the basis of biodiversity, and our country is among the 17 countries with greatest biodiversity in the world. It is also
one of the 12 countries with highest number of amphibians, freshwater fish, butterflies and birds. In a land area smaller than
0.6% of global continental area, the country has 14% of birds and 7% of the mammals of the planet’s total12.
The bioregions most affected today by the loss of forests are the Coastal Range and the Andes Range13. These regions are
subject to heavy population pressures.
11
People’s Ministry for the Environment. General Forest Department. Forestry Statistical Yearbook. Year 2002/2003/2004. National System of Forestry Information. Series 8.
Page.
1.
12 http://provita.htm. Biodiversity Program.
13 http://tierraviva.org/ Situation of Forests in Venezuela.
62
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
54.1
2007
54.1
2005
Years
55.7
2000
59.0
1990
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
Proportion of forests
(Percentage)
Source: People’s Ministry for the Environment. Forestry Statistics Yearbook, 2007. Series 11. Year 2008.
Source: MARN. National Office of Biological Diversity. National Strategy on Biological Diversity and its Plan
of Action. Caracas, Venezuela, 2001.
63
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
The new Map of Forest Coverage of Venezuela is currently under development, and will determine the actual losses of forest
coverage in the country.
The strategic guidelines defined by the Venezuelan State through the Simon Bolivar National Plan 2007-2013, the National
Project for Economic Development and Social Welfare 2007-2013, which encompasses political, social and territorial issues in
order to build a new model of socialist development, has prompted profound and radical changes in politics and management of
natural resources, including forests, among others. We consider the Constitution (of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Year
1999) and the Law on Forests and Forest Management, adopted by the Venezuelan State in 2008. In this sense, these policy
guidelines, with legal support, have led to the implementation of new activities aiming at the sustainable management of forests
and thus reverse the loss of forest cover.
In this sense, the following activities, among others, are being developed:
• Strengthening the National Productive Reforestation Program through the Árbol Mission.
• Creation of the National Socialist Forest Company and a new socialist approach to forestry.
• Management and Regulations Plan for the Use of Rio Tocuyo, Caparo and Ticoporo Forest Reserve.
• National Forestry Statistics and Information System in Venezuela.
• Monitoring and Control Program for Management Plans and Forest Management.
• Review and update of the forest legal regulations. (Law on Forests and Forest Management, Technical Standards on
minimum cutting diameters and Selection and Registration of seed trees, Official Smalian Formula)
• Implementation of the National Forest Inventory since 2009
• National Program of Forest Plantations
Árbol Mission aims to promote the sustainable management and use of forests through the establishment of plantations, as well
as contribute to the recovery and maintenance of forests throughout the country with the participation of communities, through
the establishment of protective systems for conservation and agroforestry with ecological purposes, as a strategy for integrated
management and sustainable use of watersheds.
The Árbol Mission has implemented Seed Collection Days every year, in which various public and private institutions participate
actively and voluntarily. This campaign promoted and strengthened the forest seed bank, and at the same time, it raised
awareness and fostered education, promoting thus a new environmental ethic of respect for nature, strengthening principles and
values for the protection of the environment. The 7 Seed Collection Days throughout the country involved 14,533 people on
average per day and collected 125,249 kg of seeds and fruits.
64
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
35%
63%
Planted area with protective Planted area with Planted area with commercial
purposes agroforestry purposes and ornamental purposes
14,735.3 ha with 10,598,824 plants 7,635.86 ha 8,395,796 plants 392.84 ha with 318,846 plants
65
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTANTS
The national government is developing a National Air Quality System, with the aim of integrating the networks of air quality
monitoring of the public and private sector in order to standardize monitoring methods, laboratory analysis, statistical analysis
and reporting of results. The growth and modernization of the network for major cities and industrial sectors of the country is
assessed through a geographic information system.
The network consists of 43 stations, six of them operated by the Institute for the Conservation of Lake Maracaibo (ICLAM),
located in Maracaibo, 11 belonging to the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) and Siderurgica del Orinoco (Sidor),
both in Ciudad Guayana, 12 belonging to Institute of Technology for Petroleum (INTEVEP) distributed in the metropolitan area
of Caracas, in the states of Zulia, Anzoátegui and Sucre, and 14 stations of the People's Ministry for the Environment, in the
Metropolitan Area of Caracas, Valencia, (state of Carabobo), Barcelona, Puerto La Cruz (state of Anzoátegui) and San Cristóbal
(state of Táchira). Where various pollutants are measured such as total suspended particulate (TSP), PM10, PM 2.5, O3, NO3,
NO2, CO3, COV, HCHO, SO2.
2 1
1
6| 3
6
4
2
3
11
INTEVEP-PDVSA
MPPAMB
CVG
ICLAM
Source: People’s Ministry for the Environment. General Department for Environmental Quality- Air Quality Department.
In the interest of the environmental quality of the Venezuelan territory, the State, following the policies and recommendations
issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), implemented in 2005 the program for total elimination of tetraethyl lead in
gasoline. Therefore, this pollutant shows the lowest recorded levels in all monitoring stations nationwide. As of 2006, no further
assessment of this pollutant was made as the lead levels were found at 0.2 µg / m³.
The city of Caracas and most major cities are located in valleys or near coastal areas of the country, favoring the dispersion
effect due to constant winds (prevailing trade winds), which help to preserve a clean or moderately clean air almost throughout
the year, according to the parameters established by the Decree No. 638.
Environmental pollution, particularly air pollution, is an important part of the problem faced by large cities. Pollutants such as
total suspended particulate (TSP), Particulate Matter Lead (Pb in TSP), PM10, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Sulfur Dioxide (SO2),
among others, are some of the pollutants affecting cities.
66
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
In this regard, the Caracas Metropolitan Area, consisting of the Capital District and the municipalities of Baruta, Chacao, El
Hatillo and Sucre of the state of Miranda, which concentrates 11% of the country's population, cannot escape this environmental
problem. Over 90% of polluting emissions to the atmosphere in the Caracas Metropolitan Area are generated by automobiles.14
Suspended particles are emitted from diesel engines, specifically from trucks and buses, as well as from industrial processes,
burning, earth movements, among others.
With regard to reducing total carbon emissions, the Venezuelan State has implemented the following main actions and rules:
1. Reduce and control emissions to the atmosphere caused by the operation of polluting sources, so as to ensure air
quality and the wellbeing of people and other living organisms, based on the parameters set by the rules which govern
them and in compliance international conventions signed and ratified by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
(Organic Environmental Law - Official Gazette Extraordinary No. 5833 dated December 22, 2006 - Chapter III, Articles
58, 59 and 60).
2. Development Regulations for vehicle technical inspection centers, involving the screening of emissions and noise
generation.
3. Re-launching of the Natural Gas Vehicle Program as an alternative energy source for vehicles. Taking into
consideration that natural gas is a clean fuel, and the resulting combustion by-products produce less environmental
pollution compared to other vehicle fuels.
4. Regulation of activities capable of causing damage to natural resources and their respective penalties. As is the case
of the emission of gases that can alter the air and the degradation of the ozone layer (Art. 44 and Article 47 of the
Criminal Law of the Environment).
5. Air quality and air pollution control with the establishment of air quality limits for the following air pollutants: (a) Total
suspended particulates, (b) Carbon monoxide, (c) Lead in particulate matter. Decree 638, of May 19, 1995. Official
Gazette No. 4899. Article 3.
6. Prohibition of installation of new industries in the Caracas Metropolitan Area and surroundings (Los Teques,
Guarenas, Las Tejerías, La Guaira and La Colonia Tovar), except those necessary for the supply of regular services
to the population. Decrees No. 135 of April 6, 1974 (Official Gazette No. 30.418 of June 7, 1974).
7. Periodic assessment of air quality in cities, control of emissions from mobile sources, evaluation and modification of
the decree on air quality. Program of Air Pollution Control in Venezuela.
Graph 3 shows that between the years 1996 to 2005, the levels of Total Suspended Particulate Lead Annual were between 0.90
µg/m3 and 1.30 µg/m3 being the highest value: 1.50 µg/m3, for the years 2000 and 2001 at the monitoring station of El
Silencio, just on the Venezuelan legal limits, unlike the other main stations, which were well below the limit.
Importantly, the station of El Silencio is located in the west of the city, recording the cumulative effect of dispersed particles,
carried by winds in the valley of Caracas.
14Galbadón, Arnoldo José. Los Retos de las Nuevas Variables: Sustentabilidad Ecológica, at:
http://200.2.14.175/clubderomaVenezuela/LIBROCDE/AJGABA~1.DOC
67
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
1.6
1.4
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 a/ 2004 2005 2006 2007 b/ 2008 b/
Years
El Silencio Los Ruices El Cementerio Bello Campo
Note: a/ year 2003 is an estimate
b/ Lead levels in TSP reached a constant value of 0.2 µ/m3 from 2006. Thus, no further assessment was made. This decrease is due to the
elimination of leaded gasoline.
Source: People’s Ministry for the Environment. General Department for Environmental Quality. Air Quality Department.
Graph 4 shows that for the years 1996 to 2006, the total suspended particulate levels per year were between 43 µg/m3 and 77
µg/m3. The highest value was 87 mg/m3, for the year 2001 at the El Silencio monitoring station, exceeding the legal limit of
Venezuelan law, which did not occur in the other main stations, which were well below the maximum levels.
It is important to note that from 2007, new four monitoring stations were added in the Caracas Metropolitan Area for the
measurement of particles smaller than 10 micrometers. For the year 2010, PTS monitoring is resumed in two stations in
Caracas.
68
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
100
90
Allowed limit 75 µg/m³
80
70
60
Concentration
50
40
30
20
10
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Source: People’s Ministry for the Environment. General Department for Environmental Quality- Air Quality Department.
Graph 5 shows that monitoring of particles smaller than 10 microns (PM10) begins in the Caracas Metropolitan Area in 2007. To
date, we have kept a historical record of 3 years. The result of the measurement for this period is that annual levels of particles
smaller than 10 micrometers (PM10) are between 29 µg/m3 and 56 µg/m3, this being the highest value, recorded in 2010 at the
Bello Campo station.
Noteworthy is that these 2010 peak levels were caused by the increase of forest fires due to the drought experienced as a result
of the climatic effects of El Niño.
Currently, the PM10 assessment is being integrated in Venezuelan standards, to harmonize it with other countries.
69
Achieving the Millennium Goals
2009
60
56
52 53
50
40 36 37 37 36
34 34 34
Concentracion
33 33
31 31
30 29
20
10
0
0
2007 2008 2009 2010
Source: People’s Ministry for the Environment. General Department for Environmental Quality- Air Quality Department.
In 2008, a project was launched to assess air pollution using lichens as bioindicators. This project was launched in the Region
by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Central University of Venezuela. In 2009, the monitoring with lichen species
was completed in the stations of the Air Quality Network in the City of Caracas. Currently, the experts are conducting the
respective statistical analysis. From the results obtained in this first phase of the project, we will assess the possibility of
replicating this study in other cities, since it is an economical and accurate method for detailed monitoring of pollutants with
semi-automatic and automatic equipment.
The assessment of air quality through atmospheric biomonitoring is made in four stations of the Air Quality Network, namely,
Los Ruices, Bello Campo, El Cementerio and Core 5, located in Caracas, belonging to the People's Ministry for the
Environment, to carry out the Project ARCAL C7-RLA-2013-00 "Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in
Latin America." This work will conclude with the determination and statistical analysis of samples through methods applied with
statistical techniques in the design and analysis of air monitoring (Basic and Advanced Statistics for data processing).
Since 1987, the Venezuelan State has assumed the challenge of supporting the global program of preservation and recovery of
the Ozone Layer. To that end, it has been implementing measures to reduce the consumption of Ozone-Depleting Substances
(ODS) and also, supporting the industrial and professional sectors in the area of refrigeration and foams, as well as training of
public servants of the institutions responsible for ensuring compliance with provisions of Decree 4335, which includes the "Rules
to regulate and control the consumption, production, import, export and use of substances that deplete the ozone layer” and the
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) phase-out management plan established by the Montreal Protocol for 2010.
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This Convention was signed in March 1985 and entered into force on September 22, 1989. Its aim: To protect the environment
and human health against adverse effects resulting or that may result from human activities that affect or modify the ozone
layer. It also seeks to take action and international cooperation measures to protect the ozone layer based on scientific and
technical considerations. This Convention was designed in a way that allows subsequent inclusion of protocols with specific
control measures.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is signatory to the Vienna Convention for the protection of the ozone layer since 1987 and
ratified it by the Official Gazette No. 34010 dated July 19, 1988
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer: In September 1987, the Montreal Protocol was signed,
which seeks to protect the ozone layer by taking control measures aimed at stabilizing by the year 2000 the consumption and
production of CFCs to 1986 levels and, gradually, that of halons.
In the case of Venezuela, our country is a signatory to the Montreal Protocol, which was ratified in January 1989 and has ratified
its four amendments. The last amendment in Beijing was ratified in 2006. Venezuela is among the developing countries that
have made the greatest progress in the implementation of the measures and compliance with the deadlines set by the
international instrument for the reduction and elimination of these substances. These results have been achieved through the
coordination of the Venezuelan Fund for Technological and Industrial Restructuring (FONDOIN), an institution created by the
national government to promote the implementation of the Protocol in the country. Our Foreign Ministry is one of the members
of its board of directors.
Currently, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has an inventory of 301.4 tons of CFC-12, substances with a 99-percent purity
in stock and available for import, or for essential uses internally until December 31, 2009. The rest is represented by traces of R-
11 and R-22. It also develops an automated licensing system required by the Montreal Protocol, which allows developing a
comprehensive control of ODS trade. Full implementation is estimated by mid 2011.
We have also made a 50-percent progress in the national analysis of supply chains of the 8 companies incorporated and
licensed by the People’s Ministry for the Environment, of the 21 companies initially registered with the People’s Ministry for the
Environment as importers and/or exporters of these substances, allowing thus the establishment of the Plan of Action for the
regulation of trade in ODS in the end companies and suppliers of these products.
Graph 6 shows that the downward trend in consumption of CFC 11 and 12 in Venezuela, thanks to the implementation of the
Plan País, which finances industrial restructuring and development of industrial projects without the use of CFC, and the
prohibition of importation of these substances into the National Territory and the cessation of production of CFCs since 2006,
four years before the deadline established in the Montreal Protocol.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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2000
1,703.2
1,589.7
1500
1,267.8
1000
MT
500
-500
Years
Source: People’s Ministry for the Environment. General Department for Environmental Quality- Air Quality Department.
The Montreal Protocol recognized in 2009 the efforts of the Venezuelan State in meeting the targets of phase-out schedule
defined by the signatories to the agreement, after the ban of the sale of the CFC12 in stock in the facilities of the only producer in
the country, Productos Halogenados de Venezuela C.A., (PRODUVEN), and the compliance with the cessation of domestic and
international trade of these substances produced during the production end of CFC11 and 12 lines. By year 2010, we expect to
complete successfully the National Plan for Elimination of Chlorofluorocarbons, with a decrease in domestic consumption of
CFC12, the only form that is currently used in the country and to export the current stock of the substance, whether aimed at
essential uses or for disposal.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is part of the Stockholm Convention since 2005, which aims to protect human health and
the environment from an initial list of twelve POPs (nine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins and furans). For the
reduction and final elimination of these pollutants, a set of strategies and actions have been proposed, which are summarized in
the National Implementation Plan (NIP) of the Stockholm Convention, drawn up by the People's Ministry for the Environment for
this purpose. With the implementation of this plan, we expect to comply with policies of the Simon Bolivar National Plan and the
instructions issued by the National Executive Branch in the environmental area.
The General Department for Environmental Quality began in 2005 the preliminary national inventory of POPs with the
participation of different government agencies, the private sector and the academia. From the results, national actions were
established and prioritized, which led to the preparation of fourteen (14) plans and actions for the reduction, elimination,
management of and awareness about these pollutants. These activities aim at meeting the target set for 2035, i.e. to turn our
country into a "Territory Free of POPs." The action plans are as follows:
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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1. Measures for strengthening and building national capacities within the institutional and control framework for the
environmentally sound management of POPs
2. Legal measures to reduce or eliminate emissions from intentional and unintentional production, use and emissions
from stockpiles and wastes of POPs
3. Production, import and export, use, stockpiles and wastes of POP pesticides
4. Production, import and export, use, identification, labeling, removal, storage and disposal of oils, equipment and
wastes containing or contaminated with PCBs.
5. Production, import and export, use, stockpiles and wastes of DDT.
6. Measures to reduce unintentional emissions of POPs.
7. Identification of stockpiles, articles in use and wastes of POPs.
8. Identification and cleaning of contaminated sites in an environmentally safe manner.
9. Exchange of information and involvement of authorities and stakeholders.
10. Public awareness, information and education.
11. Evaluation of the effectiveness in implementing the Convention.
12. Reporting
13. Research, development and monitoring.
14. Technical and financial assistance.
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) include a number of chemicals that belong to the group of organochlorines, because in
their chemical structure they contain carbon and chlorine atoms, which give them greater stability and persistence in the
environment.
• Organic, a property that makes them soluble in fat, and allowing bioaccumulation and biomagnification along the food
chain.
• Resistant to degradation, either through chemical, physical agents and biological – microorganisms. This feature is
related to the very strong bonds of their chemical structure.
• They accumulate in the food chain, for instance, they are emitted into the atmosphere are carried by wind, deposited
on pastures and soils, deposited in the tissues of animals which, when ingested by humans, are incorporated and
accumulated in their bodies.
The organisms at the end of food chains are those with the highest concentrations of POPs in their tissues. When these
compounds are degraded, they transform into other organochlorines which are more dangerous and persistent than the original
substances.
Graph 7 shows the intensity of the use of pesticides. It is based on apparent consumption. It shows that by the year 2008 the
total consumption was 721 tons of herbicides, 3,770 tons of insecticides and 4,651 tons of fungicides.
We are working on revising and updating the National Plan of Implementation of the Stockholm Convention, fulfilling
commitments with the ratification of the amendment of Annexes A, B and C of the Convention, which incorporated nine (9) new
chemical products that were evaluated and considered as POPs by the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention.
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4000 3,342
3000
1,635 1,612
2000 1,331
1000 569
3
0
Tons
-1000 -420
-985
-2000 -1408 -1128
-1561
-3000 -2324
-4000
-3824
-5000
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Years
Herbicides Insecticides Fungicides
Source: People’s Ministry for the Environment. National Implementation Plan (NIP) of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs). 4th Conference on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development. Universidad Metropolitana. Caracas, November 2008.
TARGET 10: REDUCE BIODIVERSITY LOSS, ACHIEVING, BY 2010, A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE
RATE OF LOSS
Industrial trawl fishing was banned, as it threatened the survival of many species of interest for human consumption, which has
allowed the recovery of large schools of fish for the benefit of natural populations and fishermen.
As seen in Graph 8, there were fluctuations in the national fish production during 1996-2008. In the year 1996, it totaled 428,270
tons, in 2008, 314,183 tons were extracted, with the peak production years being 2002-2004 (500,000 ton. approx.)
500.000
400.000
300.000
Tons
200.000
100.000
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Years
Mollusc Crustaceans Fish Other Total
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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The fishing activity is focused on the extraction, mainly of species such as tuna, mullet, snapper, grouper and croaker. Domestic
production of this sector has shown fluctuations over this period and the trend is downwards since 2005, ranking for a 2008
production of 204,979 tons.
Venezuela boasts 66.2% of territory covered by protected natural areas, of which 16% are National Parks, Wildlife Refuges and
other categories of strict protection. We can affirm, therefore, that this target has been reached. The indicator shows the importance
our country assigns to the conservation of biodiversity, maintenance of natural resources, the legacy of environmental culture,
scientific research (including baseline monitoring), healthy and conscious recreation, and other values through the protection of
areas from incompatible uses.
• 66.2% of the national territory is composed of Areas Under Special Administration Regime (ABRAE), which
accounts for 67,883,078.85 million ha.
• The country has currently 400 Areas Under Special Administration Regime.
• 43 National Parks (13,066,640 ha),
• 36 Natural Monuments (4,276,178 ha).
• 15 Forestry Reserves (12,843,500 ha).
• 64 Protective Zones (16,260,546 ha)
• 7 Wildlife Refuges (251,261.56 ha).
• 7 Wildlife Reserves (293,486.85 ha).
• 1 Wildlife Sanctuary (35.15 ha).
2003-2008
66.24%
1993-2002
1983-1992 65.16%
1973-1982 64.31%
1963-1972 64.31%
34.98%
1953-1962 7.77%
1943-1952 0.49%
1937-1942 0.11%
Source: MARN, National Strategy on Biological Diversity and its Plan of Action. Caracas-Venezuela, June 2001.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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GRAPH 10. VENEZUELA. PROPORTION OF AREAS UNDER SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION REGIME (ABRAE),
COMPARED WITH TOTAL TERRITORY, 1937- 2008
70,000,000 7
60,000,000 6
50,000,000 5
Cumulative ABRAE areas
(million hectares)
40,000,000 4
30,000,000 3
20,000,000 2
10,000,000 1
0 0
1937
1949
1952
1958
1961
1963
1969
1972
1974
1976
1979
1981
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
2000
2002
2007
Years
The proportion of the national territory under protection increased from 0.11% in the period 1937-1942 to 0.50% in the period
1943-1952, an increase of over 100%, a trend that continued in the period 1953-1962, 1963-1972 and 1973-1982. Between
1973-1982 and 1983-1992, the increase of protected areas was 77%, from 37.0% to 65.5%, respectively. Since 1983, the
increase in the proportion of protected areas showed a slower pace, rising from 65.5% in 1983-1992 to 67.5% in 2003-2008,
representing an increase of 3% in the last 25 years.
Out of the total percentage of protected areas by 2008 (67.48% compared to the national total), the terrestrial areas represented
65.49%, while the proportion of total marine protected areas was 1.98% (where marine coastal areas represented 1.57% and
island areas 0.41%).
According to the categories of protected areas of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for 2008, 61.46% of
the land was protected under three categories, namely: Protected Areas with Managed Resources (Category VI): 44.22%,
National parks (Category II): 13.00% and 4.24% Natural Monuments. 0.75% of national territory was protected under the other
categories (I, IV and V). In Venezuela, there are 25 types of protected areas, which are called "Areas Under Special
Administration Regime (ABRAE), and of these, 11 have no equivalent to IUCN categories and protect 5.26% of the country.
It should be noted that in order to monitor and comply with the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the National
Office for Biological Diversity (ONDB) was created in Venezuela in 2000, under the People’s Ministry for the Environment.
Currently, the ONDB is developing the National Strategic Plan for the Conservation of Biological Diversity, which is based on a
humanistic approach that promotes a different relationship between humans and nature, to advance a model that aims towards
sustainable development. With regard to the proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected, the Venezuelan State has
implemented over the past five years the following actions and rules:
1. The Biosphere Reserve of the Orinoco Delta (1.250.000 ha) was included in the UNESCO World Network of
Biosphere Reserves.
2. Industrial trawl fishing was banned in the entire Venezuelan territorial sea which, although it has not been declared
a protected area, adds some 562,000 square kilometers of open Caribbean Sea with no industrial trawl fishing.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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3. Strengthening of the regulations for the conservation of ecosystems, natural resources and biodiversity which are
objects of priority protective measures by the Venezuelan state. (Environmental Law (Official Gazette
Extraordinary No. 5833 dated December 22, 2006). Section V, Natural Resources and Biological Diversity, Article
48).
4. Improvement of the preservation of protected natural areas with territorial spaces that are geographically defined,
legally declared and subject to special legislation, management and administration, with the main purpose of
achieving the objectives of conservation, improvement, research and sustained production of natural resources.
(Organic Law for Territorial Planning and Land Management, Chapter III of the Areas Under Special Administration
Regime, Article 61).
5. Consolidation of legal instruments for the conservation of forests (Law of Forest and Forest Management) Decree
No. 6070, Official Gazette No. 38946 dated July 5, 2008), Chapter IV).
6. Law on Biological Diversity (Official Gazette No. 5.468 Extraordinary dated May 24, 2000). Improved in the Law
on Biological Diversity Management (2007).
7. Conservation and preservation of natural environments, as established in the Simón Bolívar Economic and Social
Plan of the Nation 2007-2013 (Decree 1586 with Force of Organic Law of Planning). Focus V, National Geopolitics.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela we are collectively building a new National Strategy for Biodiversity Conservation, in line
with the "Simón Bolívar" National Project, the first Socialist Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Nation 2007-2013,
aimed at promoting the conservation and sustainable use of Biological Diversity as a way to reach the supreme social
happiness of the present and future generations. This strategy was built with the simultaneous participation of broad sectors of
society (academia, civil servants, activists, and grassroots social organizations), in numerous workshops during 18 months,
which allowed the participation of over 1,600 people nationwide, promoting debates and creating a participatory assessment of
the threats to Biological Diversity. Based on the diagnosis of problems and the current situation, seven strategic guidelines were
devised, as technical elements to address the current situation of Biodiversity loss and seven cross-cutting axes as social and
political elements necessary to ensure conservation with a social commitment.
One of the main strategic guidelines raises the issue of conservation of endangered species. This guideline was devised to
provide an immediate response to the current status of some species that have entered a declining phase in their population
dynamics, which could lead them to extinction. Therefore, specific actions have been established aimed at the recovery of
natural populations, apart from controlling the causes that threaten them. The aim is to ensure the preservation of endangered
species, using management techniques that include re-introduction, re-transfer of species, and monitoring programs as well as
the incorporation of ex situ conservation centers. By 2010, we incorporated 75.3000 turtle hatchlings belonging to the species
Podocnemis expansa (Arrau turtle or Orinoco tortoise) a species that was critically endangered. Additionally, four species of
continental turtles (P. vogli, P unnifilis, P. erythrocephala, Chelus fimbriata and Chelonoidis carbonaria), have been incorporated
during this decade to conservation programs through the annual release of one-year-old turtles. The release policy has been
complemented by programs based on community participation, ensuring its conservation in the environment. Similarly, this
decade we released more than 950 coast alligators and 5,800 Orinoco crocodiles, two endangered species.
In the wildlife refuge in Isla de Aves (Federal territory), we protected 135,000 green turtle hatchlings. We increased the
protection of Carey and Cardon turtles along the Venezuelan coast.
Our policy for the protection of marine and coastal wetlands associated with the comprehensive monitoring program for this
species and other wetland birds allowed us to confirm the presence of about one hundred thousand flamingos and two new
nesting areas (PN Laguna de la Restinga and Píritu Lagoon), which makes us the nation with the largest population of pink
flamingos in the Caribbean and the world.
TARGET 11: HALVE, BY 2015, THE PROPORTION OF PEOPLE WITHOUT SUSTAINABLE ACCESS TO SAFE
DRINKING WATER
The Bolivarian Government explicitly recognizes the human right to water as an autonomous and differentiated right, derived
from the right to an adequate standard of living (Article 11 of ICESCR), which is defined as "the right of everyone to adequate,
sanitary acceptable, accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use." Thus we incorporate the principles of
equity, sustainability, participation and solidarity, indispensable elements for resource conservation, and to preserve human
dignity.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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The country achieved the target of safe drinking water coverage in 2001, reducing the deficit of the population without access to
clean water networks, to 15.2%.
The target of wastewater coverage was reached in 2005, reducing the deficit of the population with no sewage collection
through networks, to 21.1%.
Over 90% of the Venezuelan population has access to drinkable water. One area that has traditionally proved difficult and
expensive is to bring safe water and sanitation to the poorest and those living in remote areas, especially rural population and
slums. The Bolivarian government has made great efforts in this direction, which results in the current level of achievement of
the Millennium Development Goals in this area. As a result, Venezuela now has a strong infrastructure for collection, purification
and distribution of drinking water, with a total production capacity enough to supply water to a population of 30 million
inhabitants. We have also made important progress in reducing existing levels of deficit in the basic sanitation needs.
By the year 1990, the percentage of the population excluded from the services of drinkable water household connections stood
at 32%. The commitment we assumed was to ensure that by 2015, 84% of the population were included in the aforementioned
service. Similarly, 48% of the population was excluded from the collection of sewage through networks. The commitment was to
reach 76% in the same year.
The Government undertook an ambitious investment program of plumbing infrastructure throughout the country, which secured
92
in the short-term access to drinkable water supply and sanitation for a large number of citizens who were traditionally excluded
from said services.
Thus, the results of these major investments account for the increased coverage of drinkable water, through household
networks, from 1999 to 2001, the year in which we achieved the rate of 84.8% of the country's total population, before the
deadline established in the Millennium Goal – 2015 -, of halving the proportion of the Venezuelan population without access to
safe drinking water, estimated in 1990.
GRAPH 11. VENEZUELA. PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION WITH ACCESS TO DRINKABLE WATER.
1990-2009
100
94 95
95 87 89 90 91
90
84 85 86
85 82
80
78
80 76
73 73
75
70 70
70 68
66
65
60
55
50
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: People’s Ministry for the Environment. Hidroven
Since late 2005, a very important strategy on the issue of water was incorporated, consisting in the financing of community
projects implemented by the communities themselves, called "technical water committees,” whose task is to verify water supply
failure, drinking water or sewage leaks, seepage, among others. These technical water committees have allowed the
incorporation of citizens in urban slums and remote rural communities which are far from the urban water supply systems.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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Furthermore, we have managed to keep a steady trend in the inclusion of citizens who have been excluded from this service,
improving existing services, ensuring thus that by the end of 2009, 95% of the population is incorporated into the systems of
water supply through household connections.
Similarly, we have achieved the inclusion of citizens who had been excluded from the wastewater collection service, and in
2005, the target was attained, reaching in 2009 a level of 84.4% of the population incorporated into these networks.
We currently maintain a policy of investment and improvement of systems, as well as the identification of the most scattered
population centers of large cities, where the most excluded groups live, in order to achieve universal service for all Venezuelans.
Venezuela achieved the target of improved sanitation, reaching coverage levels of 84.4%, through the National Plan to Expand
Coverage of Clean Water Supply and Sanitation, as well as ensuring that drinking water meets the requirements established in
the regulations and the wastewater is returned to natural sources within the parameters set by the agency with jurisdiction over
environmental matters.
This plan also emphasizes the expansion of coverage and the participation of organized citizens in the development and
provision of drinkable water and sanitation, improving use habits, wastewater treatment, while providing technical sustainability
of services and ensure water quality.
Also noteworthy is that the Law for the Provision of Drinkable Water and Sanitation (LOPSAPS) Articles 75, 76 and 77, makes
reference to the community as a key organization for the control and management of water services and sanitation through the
Water Technical Committees, which provide citizens with the information necessary to understand the functioning of services
while allowing their active participation as supervisors of their quality, their price and development of their coverage. To date,
7,452 technical water committees have been set up across the country.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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90
84 84
85
81 82
79
80
73
75 72
70
70 68
66
64 64
65 63
62
60 57
55 55
53
55 52 52
50
45
40 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
80
81
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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I. Universal access
II. Training of human talent
III. Sovereignty, security and defense
UNIVERSAL ACCESS
The increase in the coverage of telecommunications services has also allowed for people in rural settlements and urban fringes
to have access to fixed and mobile telephony and Internet services. In relation to fixed telephone services, by the end of 2009, a
figure of 6,866,626 subscribers to the service at the national level was recorded, which accounts for an increase in the number
of subscribers of over 200%, compared with 2000, thus setting an indicator of coverage for the service15, that is a teledensity
rate, of 24 subscribers to fixed telephony per each 100 inhabitants. In the case of mobile telephone services, by the end of
2009, the number of subscribers to the service in the country increased to 29,625,388, while only 5,447,172 subscribers were
recorded in 2000. The indicator of coverage for the service exceeds the amount of 100 mobile lines per each 100 inhabitants in
2009.
In what pertains to access to the Internet, the number of subscribers went from 273,537 in 2000 up to 2,033,858 in 2009, while
the number of Internet users by the end of 2009 was 8,846,535, which yields a service coverage indicator of approximately 31
users of Internet services per each 100 inhabitants.
The recovery of the Venezuelan telephone company CANTV (Compañía Anónima Nacional Teléfonos de Venezuela) since
15
A service’s coverage or teledensity refers to the number of telephone lines per person, as well as the access per capita to television sets, faxes, computers,
Internet and other mass communication media that can be used as powerful vehicles of information and knowledge transfer.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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2007 by the Venezuelan State has allowed to build up infrastructure associated to telecommunication services throughout the
national territory, thus allowing Venezuela to go from being below the Latin American average of coverage for fixed
telephony16 to occupying the second place in the region following an increase in coverage from 55% (2007) to 85% (2009) in
the number of households subscribed to fixed telephony per each 100 homes.
In the case of mobile telephony, by the end of 2009, 13,431,980 subscribers have been included, which accounts for
approximately 45% of the total number of subscribers to the service. In what pertains to Internet services through CANTV, by
the end of 2009, a total number of 1,264,267 subscribers was reached, which accounts for coverage of 62% the total population
subscribed to the Internet service.
In order to increase the supply of low-cost equipment and personal computers, the Venezuelan State-run telephone company
launched the so-called “Plan Internet Equipado” (Equipped Internet Plan), a subsidized initiative consisting in providing
Venezuelan families with computers with Internet service that can be paid back through the telephone service invoice, with no
down payment or interest. The Plan has benefited 488,376 homes.
In order to improve the infrastructure available for the provision of transport for telecommunications services, the Fiber Optic
Transport Network was enlarged by 10,254 km in an aim to facilitate access to ICTs in all the geographic areas and for all the
sectors of the population.
Since 2007, 1,001 Telecommunications Technical Committees (MTT) have been set up, with the involvement of 27,680 persons
from the communities, which has allowed to generate 2,683 solutions in the area of telecommunications, as well as
improvements in the standards of living of those communities.
In order to create conditions to increase the access to the personal computers and applications needed to utilize ICTs, new
service access centers have been created, among them:
‒ Infocentros (Information and Telecommunications Centers): Spaces equipped with Communication and
Information Technologies within the reach of everybody in the communities. By the end of 2009, 2,852,920 users
had visited such centers.
‒ Infomóviles (Mobile Information and Telecommunications Centers): Mobile units designed to cover the need of
access to ICTs in different areas of the country. By the end of 2009, 1,825,000 users had visited such mobile
centers.
‒ Centros Bolivarianos de Informática y Telemática – CBIT (Bolivarian Information and Telematics Center): By
the end of 2009, 1,005 educational institutions had been interconnected at the national level.
‒ Superaulas (Super-Classrooms): They are mobile units (trucks) equipped with computers and high-speed Internet
access and they are part of the ITC Centers of the Bolivarian Foundation of Computer Science and Telematics.
‒ Centros de Producción de Soluciones Educativas Tecnológicas – CPSET (Centers for the Production of
Technological Solutions in Education): They are spaces provided with high-tech equipment to be used as
instruments for the creation of technological solutions in the area of education, such as: education-related software,
educational videos, radio flashes, computer-assisted learning activities and web-based strategies. These CPSET are
16
Source: Statistical reports of the International Telecommunications Union (UIT) and statistical reports of CONATEL.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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part of the ITC Centers of the Bolivarian Foundation of Computer Science and Telematics.
‒ MÓVIL CBIT (Mobile CBIT): They are vehicles that operate as mobile CBIT. Their use is free of charge and they are
equipped with multimedia and information technology resources.
‒ Centros de Gestión Parroquial (Centers of Parish Technological Management): They are spaces located at
public schools whose main purpose is to provide a technological platform to support the educational and
technological role of the Ribas Mission, as well as assisting school students, teachers, facilitators and neighboring
communities.
‒ Centros de Comunicación Comunal – CDC (Centers of Communal Communication): They have been created
in coordination with the communities organized in Communal Councils in order to provide telephony and Internet
services and related applications at very low prices to low-income sectors.
By the end of 2009, there were 4,136 ICT service access centers distributed throughout the national territory.
In 2006, the National Plan of Technological Literacy (PNAT) was launched, which aims at training participants in the use and
management of ICTs under a free software environment; developing ICT capacities and skills to make a more effective use of
ICTs in the preparation, formulation, follow-up and execution of projects benefitting community development; publicizing the
ethical, moral, political, cultural, social and legal principles that support the social appropriation of knowledge and democratizing
the access to ICTs by the Venezuelan population. By the end of year 2009, 620,574 persons had been trained in the use of
computers and computer-related tools to communicate, inform, learn, create, amuse and strengthen organizing in communities
throughout the national territory.
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Achieving the Millennium Goals
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schools and for Infocentros, holding community get-togethers, conducting electronic mail surveys, etc.
Likewise, a number of new experiences has been recorded, which have been systematized17 and, as the result of this process,
have given way to 567 ICT contents from the Infocentros by the end of 2009.
In order to incorporate ICTs into the process of the education of children since their earlier ages, the “Canaima Educativo”
Program was launched in 2009, which consists in providing public schools throughout the country with portable computers
equipped with free software developed in Venezuela and containing the education curriculum for first grade. By the end of 2009,
3,229 public schools in the country were incorporated into this program following the award of 110,000 computers, thus
benefiting a school population of 208,233 children.
During the period 2002-2009, the Software Developers Program was executed, thus training and certifying Venezuelan human
talent as developers of applications in the modules of ICT basics, programming basics and the specialization and development
of corporate applications, for a total of 6,007 persons.
Within the processes of international integration and cooperation, particularly in the area of satellite technologies (Program
VENESAT 1), 90 Venezuelan professionals are being trained in the People’s Republic of China at different education levels,
thus ensuring the education and development of human talent in areas of national strategic nature. This group of persons
benefited from scholarships granted between 2006 and 2009 by the Telecommunications Research and Development Fund
(FIDETEL).
The Social Appropriation of Knowledge is a public policy strategy aimed at the assimilation and adaptation of scientific and/or
technological knowledge in the country through the transfer of technology and the training of Venezuelan human talent to a level
of operators, technicians, professionals and scientists, in compliance with the clauses set forth in their respective commercial
contracts, signed with both Venezuelan and foreign nationals, in a view to promote the development of endogenous
technological capacities and the strengthening of the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation.
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SYSTEMATIZATION OF EXPERIENCES: Facilitators of socio-technological spaces define systematization as “the process whereby we make the experiences
of popular organizing towards the social transformation developed from the technological platform of Infocentros visible for ourselves and for others, that is to say,
systematization is both a mirror and a window. It is a mirror where we can see ourselves and learn from what we have done along the paths that are built in the
pursuit of the Socialism of the 21st Century”.
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In 2004, the Venezuelan State launched the national aerospace program, which led onto setting into orbit the first Venezuelan
satellite, “Simón Bolívar”, in 2008, which has translated into the following benefits:
‒ Greater coverage of telecommunication services, especially in distant communities, with a total of 1,730 satellite
antennae installed at the national level to provide telecommunication services to excluded areas.
‒ Increase in the coverage of radio and television signals, particularly in borderline regions.
‒ Access to telephony in geographic areas of geographic areas difficult to reach.
‒ Enlargement of networks and connectivity points.
‒ Improvement of data transmission speed via the Internet.
In order to promote electronic government, State-related administrative procedures have been optimized through the
incorporation of ICTs into the Public Powers, in combination with the introduction of organizational changes and new skills. In
this regard, by the end of 2009, the following progresses had been made:
− Registration on the Internet and creation of web pages for 336 digital domains corresponding to mayors’ offices,
including the training of 195 public servants in the use and management of ICTs.
− Preparation of three technical standards in Free Information Technologies (FIT) for an adequate use, acquisition and
development of technological products and services for the State.
In the area of health, 500 centers of the “Barrio Adentro Salud” Mission have been equipped with technological resources
(hardware, free software and Internet access), as well as 50 centers of the “Barrio Adentro Deportivo” Mission.
In December 2004, Decree Nº 3.390 was enforced, which set forth that the National Public Administration would, as a matter of
priority, use Free Software developed with open standards in its systems, projects and information and communication services.
As a result, the following progresses were made:
Equipment and technical advice was provided to radio and television Alternative and Community Media, which, supported by a
total of 66 transmitters installed, convey their signal to 3.320.408 beneficiaries.
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Likewise, the Plan of Economic and Social Development of the Nation 2007-2013, that is the “Primer Plan Socialista Simón
Bolívar” (First Socialist Plan Simón Bolívar), defines the objectives, strategies and ruling principles of Venezuela’s Foreign
Policy and international relations through the New International Geo-Politics Guideline, which aims at international equilibrium,
thus fostering the construction of a multi-polar world through the diversification of international relations. With these strategies, a
reinforcement of common political, economic, social and cultural interests is sought after within the international arena, as well
as the construction of new economic cooperation framework driving comprehensive development and the establishment of fair
trade at the world level. In this regard, the strategies comprised within this new framework of international relations may be
summarized as follows:
The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has advocated the transfer of technology in conditions that are to be
agreed between the parties and not imposed by any international venue organization, and reflecting the parties’ will. Therefore,
the objective is to adopt policies and programs allowing los developing countries to put technology at the service of
development, among other things, through technical cooperation and the creation of scientific and technological capabilities
permitting to narrow the digital technology gap and paving the path to development.
An example of strengthened and broadened cooperation mechanisms in all the spheres is the different agreements signed with
countries as remote as Iran, China or Belarus, or as close as Argentina and Brazil, as the result of the interest in building up a
financial, technological and cultural architecture ensuring independence from the unipolar model that is intended to be imposed
upon us. Here follow some of those cooperation agreements, including Bi-National Funds, plans, programs and projects
whereby we aim at opening ourselves to other cultures:
• CHINESE – VENEZUELAN JOINT FUND: Financing projects in Venezuela, in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture,
energy, mining and petrochemicals and others that foster the economic and social development of the nation.
• BELARUS – VENEZUELA STRATEGIC FUND FOR JOINT DEVELOPMENT: Granting financing for the execution of
programs and project for national and international economic social development, as well as the exchange of
commerce and services between the parties, including third countries in economic, social, financial, environmental,
industrial and tourism-related areas, among others.
• IRAN – VENEZUELA BI-NATIONAL SINGLE FUND: Financing economic, commercial and social programs and/or
projects intended to promote the development of the economies of both States, as well as conducting studies of
technical and economic preinvestment.
• ECUADOR – VENEZUELA FUND FOR DEVELOPMENT (FEVDES): Promoting and financing projects in the areas of
transport, environment, education, food, energy, health, agriculture and infrastructure, among others, in compliance
with the national legislation of each country.
• VENEZUELAN-ARGENTINEAN FUND OF COOPERATION FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: Supporting the
process of integration between both countries through the establishment of an instrument facilitating the financing and
development of projects of production integration, in compliance with the legal framework of and the criteria set forth
between both countries.
On the other hand, financial institutions like the Banco del Alba are being created in order to foster sustainable economic and
social development; reduce poverty and asymmetries; strengthen integration; driving a dynamic, harmonious and equitable fair
trade exchange among the members of the Alba Initiative in the areas of energy, health, education, culture, food and
telecommunications in the spirit of consolidating Grand-National Projects in those fields.
The creation of the Banco del Sur, whose purpose is to fund the economic and social development of its member countries,
strengthen regional integration, reducing asymmetries and promoting an equitable distribution of investment; as well as the
creation of the Banco Binacional Venezuela – Rusia, intended to promote the development of financial markets between both
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countries in order to contribute to the consolidation of the social development programs required to ensure greater common
economic prosperity.
Likewise, in a view to stimulate economic growth in our countries, the Sistema Unitario de Compensación Regional – SUCRE
(Single Regional Compensation System) is created and whereby the first transaction was made very recently by the
governments of Ecuador and Venezuela, that is, the purchase by Venezuela of 5,430 metric tons of plain rice from the Banco
Nacional de Fomento Ecuatoriano, which received a total of 1,894,015 sucres for the sale.
Finally, cooperation with developing countries is not only understood in economic-financial terms. It is also sought that such
countries are able to, within the framework of cooperation, reach a degree of technological, educational and health-related take-
off that breaches the enormous social, economic and cultural differences existing inside those countries. Therefore, concrete
support actions are being undertaken to assist countries like Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada,
Guyana, Haiti, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, the Minor Antilles, among others, in a view to consolidate medical
infrastructure, social services, transport and communications, telecommunications, housing, agriculture, leisure, culture and
sports, and education.
It is important to recall the support provided to Haiti following the tragedy that plunged this Caribbean country into mourning: an
earthquake that devastated the island on January 12, 2010, which resulted in the death of over 200 thousand persons and over
1 million homeless, according to official figures. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, through an extraordinary meeting of
Foreign Ministers of ALBA, wrote off the country’s foreign debt contracted via the mechanism of energetic integration
“PETROCARIBE”, which amounted to 395 million dollars of the United States.
The consolidation of brotherhood, cooperation and integration relations among our peoples is exacerbated by the so-called
missions, like the Robinson Internacional Mission, which brings literacy to people outside of formal schooling that have been
historically excluded; the Milagro Internacional Mission, which performs eye operations for Latin Americans who cannot afford
such procedures; the Sucre Mission and the Alma Mater Mission, which provide higher education to Latin American students;
the Simón Bolívar Humanitarian Task Force, which offers humanitarian assistance to any people on the continent and beyond
who are suffering the consequences of natural disasters. These are modest but categorical mechanisms aiming at uninterested,
strategic cooperation for the comprehensive and equitable development of countries in the region and in the world. Map 1
shows the cooperation funds maintained by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with strategic countries around the world:
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COMPONENTS (INDICATORS) Population aged 15 years old or over unemployed for the period (t) Economically active
population (EAP) for the period (t)
SOURCES FOR EACH INDICATOR Sampling Household Survey – INE
(COMPONENTS)
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1. Non-codified gender
2. Age < 0 years old or > 14.11
3. Weight equal to 0
4. Height equal to 0
5. Weight-to-age ≤ -5 SD or ≥ +5 SD.
6. Height-to-age ≤ -5 SD or ≥ +5 SD.
7. Boys: Height < 55 cm.
8. Boys: Height > 145 cm.
9. Boys: Weight-to-height ≤ -5 SD or ≥ +5 SD.
10. Height: Height < 55 cm.
11. Height: Height > 137 cm.
12. Height: Weight-to-height ≤ -5 SD or ≥ +5 SD.
COMPONENTS (INDICATORS) - Gender
- Age groups (months)
- Number of children evaluated according to weight-to-age index
- % of serious weight-to-age deficit (< -3 standard deviations)
- % de moderate and serious weight-to-age deficit (< -2 standard deviations)
- % of excessive weight-to-age (> +2 standard deviations)
- Average weight
- Weight standard deviation.
SOURCES FOR EACH INDICATOR National Institute of Nutrition, SISVAN
(COMPONENTS)
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If F = M means =1
= Value for female students registered in primary and/or secondary education for the year
= Value for male students registered in primary and/or secondary education for the year
COMPONENTS (INDICATORS) Parity by education level, by gender.
Parity by the type of institution (private / public)
Parity by geographic area (region, urban / rural area)
SOURCES FOR EACH INDICATOR Narrative and Financial Report of the Ministry of the People’s Power for Education (MPPE)
(COMPONENTS)
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If F = M means =1
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DESCRIPTIVE DATA CARD OF INDICATORS
NAME OF THE INDICATOR Reported Tuberculosis Incidence Rate
OBJECTIVE (INTERPRETATION) It offers information regarding the disease’s load, the number of cases requiring treatment
and the resources needed. It is difficult to estimate the actual incidence or prevalence of
the disease if an analysis of case localization activities is not conducted (% of detection of
cases, estimated incidence)
CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION It is the number of cases of tuberculosis reported to the PNCTB each year per 100,000
inhabitants
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION Result indicators of the National Program for the Control of Tuberculosis (PNCTB).
PERIODICITY Annual
PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY 1936 – 2009
GEOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL Nationwide, at state level, by age, by gender, and by clinical forms (P, N, EP).
COVERAGE (STRATA, GENDER)
CALCULATION ALGORITHM Number of new cases of tuberculosis reported for the year divided by the population for
the specific area for the year, multiplied by 100,000.
COMPONENTS (INDICATORS) Number of new cases reported in each region of the country.
Population evaluated at July 1 for the year.
SOURCES FOR EACH INDICATOR Quarterly reports on the records of new cases of tuberculosis.
(COMPONENTS)
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DESCRIPTIVE DATA CARD OF INDICATORS
NAME OF THE INDICATOR Average annual geometric concentrations of lead in Total Suspended Particles (TSP)
in monitoring stations in the Metropolitan Area of Caracas
OBJECTIVE (INTERPRETATION) To measure the average of lead contents in the atmosphere in a specific year
CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION The indicator reflects the average geometric level of emissions of total suspended particles
released into the atmosphere by different sources
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
PERIODICITY Annual
PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY 1996 – 2008
GEOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL Nationwide
COVERAGE (STRATA, GENDER)
CALCULATION ALGORITHM TSP concentration measured by the monitoring station for the Metropolitan Area of
Caracas
COMPONENTS (INDICATORS) Tons of particulate lead in air
SOURCES FOR EACH INDICATOR Ministry of the People’s Power for the Environment. General Direction of Environmental
(COMPONENTS) Quality. Direction of Air Quality.
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