Nicaragua is a Central American country that is known for its political imbalance, revolution, and wars. The country’s bad reputation precedes it. Although when it comes to land area, Nicaragua is the largest Central American nation, but when it comes to its economic status, it is ranked as the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Nicaragua is developing as a county, but still faces some serious economic, political, and social challenges. The purpose of this essay is to briefly discuss six of the major problems that Nicaragua is currently facing that are causing the country’s population and society to deteriorate.
Nicaragua is among the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere. Almost half of the population in Nicaragua falls below the poverty line ("Nicaragua country profile," 2012). The extreme poverty in the country is prevalent in the rural areas, but it is such an overwhelmingly serious problem for the nation because almost half of the nation comprises of rural areas ("Rural poverty in"). Although urban poverty is also exists in Nicaragua but it is not as drastic as rural poverty. The poverty in Nicaragua is not directly linked to the prevalent problem of unemployment in the country, but is a result of the combination of low productivity and underemployment, and is centered in the agricultural sector. A majority of Nicaragua’s population depends on agriculture for income Even in Nicaragua is still the poorest Central American country. According to an estimate from 2005 estimates, 46.2% of Nicaragua's population is below the poverty line. Based on a 2012 estimate, Nicaragua has a GDP - real growth rate, which dropped from 4.5% in 2010 ("Nicaragua economy profile 2013," 2013).
Illiteracy rates in Nicaragua are the second highest in Central America ("Illiteracy rates in," 2012), and have been this way since thirty years. Unemployment, which is partly the cause of poverty and other problems in the country, is a direct consequence of illiteracy. An estimated half of Nicaragua’s population in Nicaragua is illiterate. The rates of illiteracy are much higher in rural areas in the country. Over the years, numerous literacy campaigns were put in place in the country in an attempt to teach the people in the country to read and write. However, it will take another ten years for people who have recently learned to read and write in the country to complete primary and secondary education so that they can contribute to Nicaragua’s declining economy. Even though the illiteracy has been one of the main problems that Nicaragua has faced for quite a long time, the country’s population seems to have become more literate in recent years, and the literacy rate of the total population seems to have risen to 67.5%, which is quite decent ("Nicaragua literacy," 2013).
Malnutrition is a serious problem in Nicaragua that is a direct consequence of extreme poverty in the country (Jacobs, 2009). Less than half of the population is the country is undernourished. As a result of the lack of money, the poorer and poorest part of Nicaragua’s is not able to afford and buy nourishing food. Unfortunately, malnourishment is a more serious problem than poverty because both the intellectual and physical development of children is affected by it. The ability of the population to generate income by working effectively is also affected because malnourishment limits their capabilities to work. Despite the existence of considerable natural resources in Nicaragua, the problem of hunger and malnutrition continues to grow, particularly in the rural areas where poverty is most prevalent. Although infant malnutrition in Nicaraguan dropped by 6% in 2010, however, almost 20% of the overall Nicaraguan population is still malnourished (Jacobs, 2009), especially women and children.
Nicaragua’s tropical regions are suffering from socioeconomic stratification because of which health care and medical supplies are not accessible to the poor citizens of the country. Astonishingly, drug access in Nicaragua is 0%, while only 0.0 hospital beds and 0.37 physicians are available per 1000 people ("Nicaragua health facts"). As a result, numerous rare diseases have been prevalent in these regions for many years. These diseases tend to spread quickly partly because of the overpopulation in poorer areas of the country, and partly because of Nicaragua’s climate. The diseases in these regions tend to worsen to a fatal extent because of the lack of access to medical treatment, and as a result, diseases such as bacterial diarrhea, dengue fever, hepatitis A, malaria, and typhoid fever continue spreading throughout Nicaragua’s population. These rare diseases, especially Dengue fever is not only adversely affecting the country’s population, but is also a burden on the Nicaragua’s economic cost (Sequeira, Espinoza, Amador, Domingo, Quintanilla & de los Santos, 2011).
The rates of common and serious crimes in Nicaragua are rather high. The rates of break-ins, muggings, and thefts in the country have significantly increased in recent years. Street crime is common in many of the large towns in Nicaragua, especially in its capital city Managua ("A new class"). Incidents of pick pocketing and theft frequently occur around bus terminals and on public transport. Ever since the 1990s, there has been a rapid increase in the rate of kidnappings in the country that mostly occur when passengers use unauthorized taxis in Nicaragua, where the kidnappers demand cash for release. Gang activity in Nicaragua also exists and crimes committed by young gangs are rapidly growing. In the poorer neighborhoods of the country, such as the area surrounding the Ticabus terminal, occurrences of assault, robbery, stabbings, and other forms of violent crime are quite high. However, in recent years, there has been a drastic drop in the country’s crime. For instance, as of 2010, the murder rate in the country is merely 13 per 100,000 people, which is relatively extremely safe in comparison to the country’s neighbor, Honduras. Perhaps this is why Nicaragua has finally been dubbed a ‘safe haven’ ("A surprising safe," 2012).
Another problem that Nicaragua faces today is the trafficking of children and women from and through the country for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation (Rogers, 2012). Children and women from Nicaragua are typically trafficked to neighboring countries. Children, both boys and girls who are trafficked within Nicaragua itself, are forced into prostitution. Foreign child sex tourists specifically visit Nicaragua for this purpose. Instances where young girls have been forced to marry older foreign men have also taken place in Nicaragua; especially in San Juan del Sur. Children trafficked within Nicaragua are also forced to work as domestic servants, or in the agriculture, construction or fishing industry. To a small extent, children from the neighboring countries are also trafficked into Nicaragua for commercial sexual exploitation. The rates of different forms of human trafficking in Nicaragua seem to be growing. For a long time Nicaragua has been in the Human Trafficking Tier 2 Watch List of the U.S. Department of State ("Trafficking in persons," 2010). In 2011, the National Police of Nicaragua rescued 170 victims of human trafficking (Hernández, 2012).
It is apparent that Nicaragua, the largest Central American nation, is surrounded by numerous problems. All of these serious problems in Nicaragua to quite an extent seem to be linked to each other. Therefore, taking the right steps to solve one problem can help in solving the rest of the major problems in the country. For instance, solving the problem of illiteracy is the solution to solving poverty and other problems in the country. Thus, taking the right steps result in the solution one problem after the other that are prevalent in Nicaragua.
References
A new class of crime. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://web.unfpa.org/focus/nicaragua/newclass.htm
Rural poverty in nicaragua. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/nicaragua
Sequeira, M., Espinoza, H., Amador, J. J., Domingo, G., Quintanilla, M., & de los Santos, T. (2011, Feb).Dengue in nicaragua. Retrieved from http://www.path.org/publications/files/TS_nicaragua_dengue_rpt.pdf
Nicaragua economy profile 2013. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.indexmundi.com/nicaragua/economy_profile.html
Nicaragua literacy. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.indexmundi.com/nicaragua/literacy.html
Nicaragua health facts and figures. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nationmaster.com/country/nu-nicaragua/hea-health
Trafficking in persons report 2010 report country narratives: Countries n through z. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/142761.htm
Jacobs, K. (2009, Sep 12). Tackling malnutrition and hunger in nicaragua: a battle on many fronts. Retrieved from http://www.tortillaconsal.com/hunger_nicaragua.html
Jacobs, K. (2009, Sep 12). Tackling malnutrition and hunger in nicaragua: a battle on many fronts. Retrieved from http://www.tortillaconsal.com/hunger_nicaragua.html
A surprising safe haven. (2012, Jan 28). Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/21543492
Illiteracy rates in nicaragua?. (2012, May 5). Retrieved from www.nscag.org/news/article/48/Illiteracy-rates-in-Nicaragua
Rogers, T. (2012, Jun 20). Nicaragua gets improved grades in us human-trafficking report. Retrieved from http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com/news/2012/06/nicaragua-gets-improved-grades-in-human-trafficking-report/4345
Hernández, A. (2012, Jun 29). Latin america fights human trafficking. Retrieved from http://infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/xhtml/en_GB/features/saii/features/main/2012/06/29/feature-01
Nicaragua country profile. (2012, Aug 20). Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1225218.stm
