At a conference marking the 20th anniversary of the Esquipulas II Accord that established peace in Central America in the mid-1980s, an expert panel noted that the slow pace of social development was one of many issues that still lingered and posed a serious threat to stability in the region. The event, held at UN Headquarters on 13 June 2007 on "A firm and lasting Peace in Central America: the pending agenda 20 years later", was sponsored by the Office for Disarmament Affairs and organized by the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress and the Albert Schweitzer Institute of Quinnipiac University. The panel of government representatives and academic experts discussed a range of problems that have increasingly hindered social development in the region, including migration and the lack of advancement and political participation of vulnerable groups, such as indigenous people, women and youth.

Miguel Huezo Mixco, author of "Migration, culture and citizenship in El Salvador", stressed that migration was one of the key issues that brought about political instability in Central America in the last two decades. "Migration is a fundamental component of the solution and is not a single phenomenon", he said, "but extremely complex, as an ever broader spectrum of people are becoming involved". While migration is not a new phenomenon for the region, new developments, especially the rise in financial remittances of immigrants to their home countries, have had varying effects on Central America. Remittances account for over 25 per cent of the national gross national product in Honduras and 80 per cent of export income in El Salvador.

A young girl in Tzabal stands in front of piles of firewood UN photo/John Olsson

Alongside these positive financial influences of migrant remittances, negative effects have become apparent in the region's social structures. "Money from migrants has made it possible for their families to be less poor", Mr. Mixco said. "As a counterpart to financial gains, social costs are family disintegration and children left behind." In addition, there is a lack of understanding of how to positively integrate these changes in the existing political systems. Citing El Salvador as an example, Mr. Mixco asserted: "Political and corporate leaders continue to make diagnoses for a country that really no longer exists. The labour market is a vicious cycle that begins and ends with migration, as migrants reduce the number of people seeking employment, which in turn puts pressure on salaries. Remittances are a sort of reserved salary that raises expectations of those that stay behind. Consequently, many people prefer not to work for money that is less than what they're getting from relatives in the United States."

The question of culture and citizenship also posed serious threats, Mr. Mixco noted in his discussion of the migration debate. "Our culture is increasingly complex; what has been called national identity has become somehow diffuse. Central American immigrants bring about a rebirth of their culture as a commitment to their home country, so what we have is a recreation of, rather than a loss of, identity." With increased migration from Central America, potential leadership is lost. "States govern fewer persons, in the case of El Salvador, 20 out of 100 Salvadorians are outside of the country and don't have the right to vote", Mr. Mixco concluded, noting that "in order to build a new agenda for the future of Central America, it is not possible to ignore the relevance and importance of migration."

Norma Quixtan Argueta, Secretary for Peace of Guatemala, examined the role of indigenous people in Central America since the signing of the Esquipulas II Accord two decades ago. Her analysis clearly presented a devastating picture. The progress of indigenous people was slow and often an uphill struggle, she said, "even though the State has recognized that it is exclusive and racist". Most strikingly, "participation of indigenous people in strengthening democracy is very slight as there is no access to credit or training". She also noted the disparate struggles indigenous women faced in their attempts for political participation.

Traditional indigenous attire of a Mayan woman from the Quiche region of Guatemala UN photo/John Olsson

A consultant for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Silvia Lara, further discussed the difficulty women continued to face for equality in the Central American region. She asserted that there were few State programmes targeting women. "Four of the Central American countries-El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua-have the lowest annual social expenditure per person in Latin America", she said. Compared to other Latin American countries, Central America often lags far behind in terms of Government expenditures on its citizens.. "In El Salvador, annual social expenditure per person is $149, in Honduras $126, in Guatemala $109 and in Nicaragua a stunning $68, compared to $774 in nearby Costa Rica and $683 in Panama. Not to speak of Argentina and Uruguay, where social expenditure is more than $1,000 per person per year."

Ms. Lara attributed gender inequality in Central America to the existence of a gender trap. "In Central America, women are on average more educated, have higher literacy rates and there is higher enrolment of women in education programmes. However, more education has not meant equal opportunity." She noted that inequality in the work force, where women hold low-paying jobs in the informal sector and earn half of what men earn, enabled businesses to reap benefits by discrimination. "Countries benefit from having more educated women in the work force, so they can pay less and still become more competitive in world business", she said. The existing exclusion of women from political participation has further widened the gap. "Central American countries are the most unequal countries of the most unequal region of the world-Latin America. Women's rights will not be fulfilled by being equally unequal; no gender equality without social equality," Ms. Lara said.

Julio Cesar Coyoy Alvarez, Executive Director of the Asociacion Grupo Ceiba in Guatemala, concluded the panel discussion on a grim note. With regard to youth development in Central America, he said "structures have not changed a big deal in hindsight; for young people, it is the same thing today." The Esquipulas II Accord provided "an important youth agenda", he said, quoting paragraph 4 of the Accord: "Effort to sign Esquipulas II [comes in] dedication to the young people of Central America, whose legitimate aspiration to peace and social justice, freedom and reconciliation have been thwarted." However, while formal elements of the peace agreements were in fact addressed, many issues still lingered, he concluded.

With hopes unmet, youth in Central America have often taken the law into their own hands, Alvarez explained, noting that "65 per cent of the population of Guatemala is younger than 25", demonstrating the tremendous impact of youth populations in Central America. "There is a lack of opportunities", he said, "the population is poorer than ever and there is increased organized crime and failed economic systems." Mr. Alvarez attributed the dismal situation to a "historical lack of attention to problems that are difficult to solve in the short term and a discomfort of dealing with youth. Call it what you wish, it's a problem."

As the panel discussion showed, The Esquipulas II Accord, provided Central America with the important opportunity for peace in the war-stricken region. However, developments in the social sector have often lagged, and there remained a need for real change, in order to accomplish social development toward a lasting peace.