Andina

Peru President: Decentralization leads to better social indicators

12:32 | Lima, Jul. 4.

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra on Wednesday said decentralization has contributed to reducing negative social indicators like poverty and child malnutrition, although the country needs a consensus on territorial development issues to enhance citizen services.

The Head of State affirmed his administration is planning joint actions at the three levels of government, as well as coordination efforts between the executive and legislative branches to improve citizen services.

"We can see Peru has made significant progress in poverty reduction, chronic malnutrition alleviation, health coverage, and education, which is in line with the decentralization process in the country," the statesman pointed out.

Many people attribute the reduction in these indicators to the boom in commodity prices. However, he recalled the country had experienced similar economic situations in its republican history, although they did not translate into an improvement of opportunities for the population.

"Sharing decisions, responsibilities, and budget with national, regional, and local governments has caused indicators to go down, but much remains to be done. There are wide disparities in the country and regions," he noted. 

To continue improving, he said, all authorities need to get involved in the identification of priorities as the chances to serve citizens are greater than the needs.

The Peruvian leader assured his administration is promoting meetings with regional and local governments: GORE-Executive meetings.

The remarks were made as he opened the international workshop "Decentralizing in favor of Citizens," organized by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.


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Published: 7/4/2018