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With the sponsorship of UNICEF, the Digepres He presented the launch of the “Study of Public Investment aimed at Children and Adolescents in the Dominican Republic”.
Santo Domingo. – The General Directorate of Budget (Digepres), with the support of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef)He held the launch of a study to determine the public investment, through the Budget, that will be allocated to children and adolescents in the Dominican Republic.
The purpose of this study is to analyze investment in childhood during 2021. It also aims to define the composition of funding and the contributions of different institutions to this objective, as well as provide additional analysis to offer relevant information and enable the best decisions to be made for the development of children and adolescents.
Similarly, the study will foster intersectoral collaboration to work on behalf of children and adolescents, strengthening policy proposals that improve their quality of life. This initiative complements the strategic efforts undertaken by Digepres to enhance the reach of public policies through efficient spending and results-oriented budgeting.
In his welcoming remarks, José Rijo Presbot, Budget Director, indicated that investment in childhood and adolescence is the greatest guarantee of a country's return on wealth and allows it to break with inequalities. “From Digepres and the Dominican Government, we welcome you to this first meeting to share working methodologies for investment in children and adolescents that will help address the problems that affect them and plunge them into poverty.”Rijo Presbot said.
He also stated that the design of public policies aimed at improving investment directed at children and adolescents is a strategic commitment from the Budget Office that is being worked on and promoted in a comprehensive manner with governing bodies on the subject.
For her part, Rosa Elcarte, UNICEF's resident representative in the country, pointed out that “The methodologies allow us to identify which institutions have more budget for children and which are less funded, and it is urgent to increase investment in them, as well as addressing differences by gender and age group, promoting investment in the least funded areas, such as early childhood.”Furthermore, she highlighted how investment in childhood and adolescence promotes children's rights and also helps the country to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, for a more equitable and just world for all.
Elcarte commended the work of the Ministry of Finance and the General Directorate of Budget for strengthening results-based budgeting.
At the event, Griselda Gómez, Director of Quality of Spending and Budgetary Evaluation at Digepres, presented legal, methodological aspects and guidelines of the study to the participants.
Finally, Nicolay Castellanos, a UNICEF consultant who will lead a workshop to strengthen institutions based on the methodologies, said that the meeting is an opportunity to share other similar experiences at the regional level in pursuit of the continuous strengthening of policies aimed at children and adolescents.
Training day
Until Wednesday, March 23, a team from Digepres will be conducting a training session for technicians from the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD)Ministry of Education; National Institute for Comprehensive Early Childhood Care (Inaipi)Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance; National Health Service (SNS)Comprehensive Care Center for Disability (CAID)National Disability Council (Conadis)National Council for Children and Adolescents (Conani); Cabinet for Children and Adolescents and the Supérate Program.
The launch event was held in the Juan Bosch Hall, at the General Directorate of Budget, and Besaida Santana, general director of Inaipi, and Alexandra Santelises, director of the Conani Rectorate, were also present.
