Authors: Fred L. Clark, M.Sc., Jairo Morales Nieto, Ph.D., Robert E. Klein, Ph.D.
Defining issue: Building and strengthening the decision making capacity of local stakeholders and the promotion of opportunities for local development, are two important goals needed to develop 24 Departments of seven countries in Central America
GIS solution: The program for the promotion of sustainable human development at the local level in Central America, PROGRESS/CA, is promoting a GIS to contribute to the sustainable human development at the local level.
Methodology: Activities include identification of en users, their information needs, data and map sources, identification of final products. Priorities are accomplished through seminars to build consensus. Final products of the seminar are lists of needs, final products, variables, indicators and collaborators. A database structure is now being produced. Data is in the process of being collected. Following steps are the development of the GIS, installation and end user training.
Software: The GIS tools used at the Regional Mapping Center are Arc-View GIS version 3, and Atlas GIS version 3.0. Tools used at Progress and the National Program is Arc-View GIS version 3.0. Databases are in Xbase format. Applications for gathering and keeping data developed in FoxPro.
The purpose of this paper is to show that a GIS is a powerful and effective tool for measuring and modeling the evolution of Human Development, and that it can be successfully implemented at the local level with the participation of the community.
Paper body.
An important component of the program for sustainable human development is the expansion of peoples options by providing more opportunities in education, health care, employment and opportunities for income, and political participation. The strategy of the Program is based upon four main principles: local political participation, decentralization, reform of the market society, and democratic planning. Intersecting these main principles are four Program axis: Cultural Continuity, Formation of Human Resources, Gender Equality, and Environmental Sustainability. Under the principle of decentralization, one of the objectives of the Program is the decentralization of data for easy access information for local leaders and stakeholders at the community level to facilitate the decision making process. Such system will be developed and installed at the community level, where it can be accessed by all end users.
The Program is operating in the seven countries of the Central American isthmus. Covers 24 of the 93 departments (25.61%), in an area of 92,647 square kilometers (of 521,321 of the whole isthmus, or 17.8%), and a population of 4.154 million inhabitants to cover 12.5% of the total population of 33.170 million.
The map above shows the Departments, Provinces and Districts participating in the Sustainable Human Development Program at the Local Level in Central America.
The Program started in January 1997. By July all Country teams were fully assembled with a National coordinator, and consultants in human development and Statistics-GIS. A regional team was has been in place since May 1997. The first step was to gather a basic set of demographic statistics for the 24 target departments, including sources of statistical, social, economic data, digital maps of the countries, and geo-reference data.
During the first phase, private and public organizations and institutions were also identified and contacted by the National Consultants. A questionary was employed in each country to determine perceived needs. Consensus was build among individuals and institutions for the establishment of a GIS at the local level.
Local workshops attended by potential users and providers of information have been held. From the workshops came the commitment of the attendees to implement the system. Cooperation involved additional inputs, such as statistical data, hardware, a site to install the system, and human resources to develop and maintain data files. Some countries of the region already have maps digitized in 1:50,000 scale. Where digital maps are not available, they will be digitized at the Regional Mapping Center (RMC) of Universidad del Valle de Guatemala.
The RMC also provided training in Arc-View GIS version 3.0 for program consultants, and personel from the different national counterparts. Other services to be provided by the RMC include technical support to the consultants, digitizing, and production and printing of thematic maps.
The Progress regional GIS Consultant developed a methodological guide for implementation of the GIS system. The guide also provides an exemplary set of files with desirable data and indicators for characterizing social and economic development.
A computerized application to manage all alphanumeric data has been designed, following the structure proposed in the methodological guide. This application will manage a database consisting of files of the following areas: demography, health, democratic governance, education, economic, social, environment, and agriculture. The files also contain indices in areas such as development, social development exclusion, development of women, poverty, among others. To ease the exchange of information between the Regional Office and the National Offices, all files of the database will be in Xbase format.
This map shows the Human Development Index of 1996 for El Salvador. The report was published by the Salvadoran UNDP mission early in 1997.
Each National Program through different activities has learned what objectives and needs should be fulfilled with the local GIS. At the Regional Office in Guatemala City, regional products have been designed with the purpose to fill the need for reliable information to help in the decision making process of local authorities, governors, and development actors, and to provide orientation on where the scarce resources should be directed. Such products include "basic" thematic maps, poverty maps, and human development index maps of the regions of interest to the Program.
The map below shows a poverty map of Nicaragua at the Department (State) level, developed by the Sustainable Human Development Program at the Local Level of Nicaragua.
The map above shows the Human Development Index of 1996 for the Department of Chiquimula, northeast part of Guatemala. It shares a common border with El Salvador and Honduras. This map was developed by the Sustainable Human Development Program at the Local Level of Guatemala. The methodology for developing the index appears on the UNDP Human Development Report of 1997.
The system is in place in the town of Ocotal, Nueva Segovia Departement in Nicaragua, and is schedule to be installed soon in the municipalities of San Isidro del General, San Jose Province in Costa Rica; Chalatenango in El Salvador; and Chiquimula in Guatemala. It should be installed before the end of the year in Santa Rosa de Copán, Copán, in Honduras; Portobelo, Colón, in Panama; and San Ignacio, Cayo District in Belize.
The map above shows the departments (provinces or districts) where the local GIS are currently or will be installed by the end of 1998.
Conclusion:
A GIS can be successfully implemented at the local level with the active participation of local stakeholders, government authorities, Universities, City Officials, non-governmental organizations, and other members of the civil society. Activities to reach consensus of all participants assure widespread collaboration in this effort.
About the Program:
PROGRESS/CA is a regional Program of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) promoting sustainable human development at the local level in the seven countries of Central America.
About the Regional Mapping Center:
The Regional Mapping Center of Universidad del Valle de Guatemala is a GIS center with ten years of experience in GIS applications in public health and social and economic development. They provide a wide range of services including digitizing of maps, design and implementation of GIS, production of thematic maps, training, consultation, design, evaluation and statistical analysis.
The authors wishes to thank the National GIS Consultants of the 7 Sustainable Human Development at the Local Level Programs in Central America, the personnel from PROGRESS/CA Regional Office, the personnel from the Regional Mapping Center of the Medical Entomology Research and Training Unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala for their cooperation. A special acknowledgment to Esri's International Regional Manager for Latin America for all the support provided to the PROGRESS/CA and the 7 National Programs.
Authors:
Fred L. Clark, M.Sc.
Regional GIS Consultant PROGRESS/CA
P.O. Box 526125 Miami, FL 33152-6125
Telephone: 011-502-364-1949
Fax: 011-502-364-0354
Email:
Jairo Morales Nieto, Ph.D.
Regional Director
PROGRESS/CA
3a calle 6-56 zona 10, Oficina 305
Guatemala City, Guatemala 01010
Telephone: 011-502-361-9401
Fax: 011-502-332-2297
Email: progressca@guate.net
Robert E. Klein, Ph.D.
Director
Medical Entomology Research and Training Unit
USEMB/HHS/MERTU
UNIT 3321, APO AA 34024
Miami, FL
Telephone: 011-502-364-0336 x 313
Fax: 011-502-364-0354
Email: rekz@ciddpd3.em.cdc.gov