United States Ambassador Brian A. Nichols on Monday shared with Executive Power and regional governments the main achievements of the 15-year support lent to Peru's decentralization process, the U.S. Embassy in Lima reported Tuesday.
Likewise, the diplomat handed over a toolkit and lessons learned to Peruvian Executive Power officials.
Representing the Council of Ministers, Environment Minister Elsa Galarza thanked
USAID for its work through the Pro-Decentralization Program, which strengthened regional and local governments' capacities to improve public services in health,
education and environment.
Phases
Decentralization in Peru began in 2002. Since then, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has supported this process throughout three phases.
In the initial stage, emphasis was placed on normative development. In the following years, efforts focused on the development of capacities in regional and local governments.
In the third phase (2012-2017), work focused on strengthening Amazon regional and local governments' capacities to improve public services related to
chronic malnutrition prevention, education materials distribution and solid waste management, with concrete results in each case.
Regions
In Loreto and Amazonas regions, governments prioritized improving the control services for growth and development of children under the age of 5, reducing the waiting time at health centers and contributing to
chronic child malnutrition prevention.
Likewise, in the province of Lamas (San Martin region), education material distribution —which took 81 days in 2013— lasted only 10 days this year, ensuring the good start of the school year.
In Ucayali and Madre de Dios regions, governments prioritized public cleaning service improvement, increasing the frequency of solid waste collection and expanding routes to serve more people.
"From practice to politics, decentralization is put at the service of the people," USAID stressed.