UN-DESA • UNDP Nicaragua

Final Intensive Training Workshop
Managua, Nicaragua
22–25 January 2013

DPAD, in close collaboration with the UNDP Office in Nicaragua and the Government of Nicaragua, provided the final intensive training workshop of the capacity development project "Strengthening Macroeconomic and Social Policy Coherence through Integrated Macro-Micro Modelling". The workshop was conducted in Managua, Nicaragua, on 22-25 January 2013. Government experts associated with various government institutions (line ministries, the Central Bank, the statistics bureau and the President's secretariat) participated in hands-on sessions to simulate scenarios, step by step, that these experts will analyze in detail in order to address policy questions of national relevance and to write policy notes.

Scenarios covered a wide range of topics: the generation of fiscal space in order to finance human development and infrastructure investments; the impact of external shocks (hikes in food and oil prices, for example) on the economy and the MDGs; and the achievement of objectives for education through scaling up public spending through alternative financing mechanisms.

The government experts that have been trained in the framework of the project also received the final versions of the project's policy modelling tools— the MAMS (Maquette for MDG Simulations) and a microsimulations approach to analyze poverty and inequality, specifically.

This training workshop began with welcoming remarks by Mr. Alberto Guevara, President of the Central Bank of Nicaragua, and Mr. Pablo Vanderville, the Resident Representative of UNDP in Nicaragua. Both high-level officials highlighted the importance of the project in supporting policymaking processes in Nicaragua, and praised UN-DESA for supporting the Government in developing technical capacities for its experts.

The workshop was concluded with a presentation by Mr. Paul O'Quist, Private Advisor to the President of Nicaragua, on Nicaragua's National Development Plan. This presentation was highly relevant for participants of the workshop in identifying policy issues of national interest that they may want to address using the project's modelling tools.

After this workshop, members of the technical team will focus on elaborating policy notes in close consultation with UN-DESA/DPAD. These notes are expected to be presented to high-level policy decision makers in June 2013.

This workshop is the latest in a series of training activities of the project in Nicaragua. In January 2011, DPAD conducted the inception workshop in Managua. This was followed by the first hands-on workshop in July 2011, technical coordination meetings in December 2011, and a final hands-on workshop in October 2012.

• 23–26 October 2012—Training workshop (Managua, Nicaragua)
• 20–22 December 2011—Working meetings (Managua, Nicaragua)
• 20–22 July 2011—First intensive training workshop (Managua, Nicaragua)
• 25–26 January 2011—Inception workshop (Managua, Nicaragua)

The goals of the project are to strengthen the analytical capabilities of government staff in order for them to more autonomously: a) evaluate the impact of global external shocks on national development, specifically in terms of meeting the MDGs; b) formulate strategies to mitigate and compensate the adverse effects of said shocks; and c) be better able to anticipate and prepare for crises and avoid setbacks on the path to human development.

Comments by the President of the Central Bank of Honduras: United Nations Development Programme News (Spanish)

For more details on the event see: United Nations Development Programme News (Spanish)

Read more about the project Strengthening Macroeconomic and Social Policy Coherence through Integrated Macro-Micro Modeling>>