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Millennium Development Goals in Costa Rica

Banana industry, Costa Rica © Gandhiji

Costa Rica has advanced rapidly towards the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) thanks to long term investment in health and education. Poverty indicators progressed particularly well in the year to March 2007 with extreme poverty (benchmark $48 per month) falling from 5% to 3% and the broader poverty line (benchmark $105 per month) capturing 16% of the population, a drop of 4%. Costa Rica enjoys some of the highest rankings in the region for life expectancy, infant mortality and other health indicators. The country is currently positioned at 48 in the UNDP Human Development Index, comfortably the highest amongst Central American countries.

Nevertheless, only four of the MDGs are assessed as “very likely” to be achieved whilst the Goals for poverty, primary education and gender equality need greater attention to meet the 2015 deadline. Although the country established mandatory primary education as early as the beginning of the 20th century, the net enrolment rate remains around 87% against the target of 100%. Universal secondary education is also lagging. Desertion remains a problem: less than 35% of students that begin primary school go all the way to finish secondary school. Due to the lack of resources, the quality of public education has worsened, thus increasing the inequality in academic achievements between students in public and private schools.

Tecnoclub, Costa Rica © Maartje Op de Coul

The record in gender equality likewise shows long term improvements alongside some deficiencies. The ratio of girls to boys in all levels of education is at least one to one, and women have steadily increased their participation in political institutions. Nevertheless, unemployment is higher for women and gender wage inequality is still high: women’s wages are 20% lower than those of men for the same level of education.

Each of the recent Costa Rican administrations has published its own national development plan and introduced new poverty reduction strategies. The latest plan elaborated for the period 2006-2010 is however the first to align its objectives with the MDGs and and to acknowledge relevant spending as “priority”.

The Environment in Costa Rica

The MDGs relating to the environment carry particular significance in Costa Rica, one of the 20 countries with the richest biodiversity, embracing an estimated half a million species and a significant range of habitats including extensive tropical rainforest. One fourth of Costa Rica’s land is protected by law and the country has developed a very ambitious environmental agenda in the last two decades.

The rate of deforestation is a key benchmark to demonstrate whether policy implementation matches rhetoric. Having lost about 50% of its forest cover since 1945 the country has over the last decade greatly reduced the rate of loss. One of its pioneering policies from the 1990s introduced the concept of making payments to compensate landowners for preserving their forests. Although this programme was limited in scale, Costa Rica has subsequently played a leading role in advocating that this approach should be adopted in the global fight against climate change. The 2007 Bali Climate Change Conference endorsed the proposal that “avoided deforestation” should be recognised in any post-Kyoto agreement.

Irazu Volcano, Costa Rica © Rosa Arias-Yague

There is no shortage of concern within Costa Rica itself about the potential impact of climate change on its sensitive eco-system and on health threats such as malaria and dengue fever. The government has announced an ambitious plan for the country to reduce net emissions to zero by 2021 with 90% of its energy provision scheduled to be renewable. In 2007 alone, 6.5 million trees were planted, said to be the highest per capita rate in the world.
Politics in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has a presidential political system that for years was dominated by the National Liberation Party (Partido de Liberación Nacional- PLN), which actively promoted a social-democratic model of development.

During the 1980s and '90s, the political system experienced major changes. The two main parties (the PLN and the Social-Christian Union Party, Partido Union Socialcristiana - PUSC) converged in a moderate neoliberal political agenda, creating space for new political parties to emerge. On the left, the Party for Citizens’ Action (Partido de Acción Ciudadana, PAC) promotes a deepening of democracy and the reestablishment of Costa Rica’s traditional social democratic model. On the right, the Libertarian Movement (Movimiento Libertario) is in favour of deepening the neoliberal model even more. In the period 2002-2006 the president was Abel Pacheco, from the PUSC.

Rafael Ángel Calderón, ex-president of Costa Rica © Semanario Universidad

The Presidential and Congressional elections of February 2006 changed Costa Rica´s political landscape. In a highly disputed result, former president Oscar Arias of the PLN was elected with only 20,000 more votes than Oton Solis from the PAC. The PUSC suffered a dramatic meltdown, obtaining only 3.4% of the popular vote. The elections demonstrated popular disenchantment with politicians in general and the PUSC in particular as a result of corruption scandals of the last few years, which affected three former presidents. In 2004 Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia (from the PUSC) was accused of receiving bribes from a Finnish multinational corporation and his trial is due in 2008. And former president Jose María Figueres (PLN) was forced to resign from his post in the World Economic Forum for receiving high consultancy fees from another multinational.
CAFTA and Costa Rica

CAFTA protests in Costa Rica © José Pablo Molina

The outcome of the 2006 elections reflected the divisions in Costa Rica around the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), a controversial treaty promoted by the US to 6 Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. Under pressure of a ratification deadline of March 2008 and with all other countries signed up, the new president resorted to a referendum on the issue, a step which none of the other parties had taken.

The bitter debate leading up to the referendum in October 2007 has divided the country. The president, a large segment of the political class, and most domestic and foreign firms favour the agreement, pointing to opportunities presented by the vast US market. The opposition PAC party, trade unions, environmentalists and many academics fear that CAFTA will be the final nail in the coffin of the country’s social welfare priorities as state-owned enterprises become available to foreign investors. Tighter discipline over intellectual property rights also creates the spectre of global corporations acquiring control over Costa Rica’s unique biodiversity through patent enforcement.

In the event the pro-CAFTA lobby won the referendum but the narrow 51.5% margin inevitably provoked accusations of unfair government tactics. Furthermore the task of passing legislation necessary for ratification by the March deadline will encounter fierce opposition in parliament. The governing PLN party depends on minority support.
The Economy in Costa Rica

Co-op coffee grower, Costa Rica

Between 1950 and 1980, Costa Rica consolidated an active welfare state that contributed a relatively equal distribution of income and high levels of human development. Social public spending as a percentage of gross domestic product increased from 8.7% in 1958 to 23.6% in 1980, helping Costa Rica to become one of the world’s best performing developing countries in infant mortality, life expectancy and adult literacy.

Then came the debt crisis of the early 1980s which severely affected Costa Rica. Social spending and real wages decreased substantially during the first half of the decade, and successive governments tried to reduce the role of the state and weaken the influence of public sector workers.

During the 1990s, Costa Rica’s economy has experienced significant changes. Tourism together with the attraction of Intel and other foreign high technology firms has allowed the country to become less dependent on coffee and other primary exports. However, businesses operating in the free trade zones have established limited linkages with the rest of the economy, thus contributing little to economic growth and employment creation. Moreover, the neoliberal reforms have contributed to increasing income inequality and have challenged the long term survival of the traditional, state-centred model of human development in Costa Rica.
Human Rights and Migration in Costa Rica

Civil and political rights have been fully protected in Costa Rica since the 1950s and Costa Ricans enjoy a free press. Nevertheless, the country still faces serious problems in some areas such as lax protection of union rights, particularly in the free trade zones, sexual exploitation of children, and discrimination against Nicaraguan migrants.

The treatment of Nicaraguan migrants has become a primary concern for Costa Rica. Nicaraguans represent an estimated 8% of the total population in a country that is relatively small and has limited resources. While many Nicaraguan migrants benefit from Costa Rican social services, they have suffered from discrimination and racism. The Legislative Assembly, for example, recently passed a controversial immigration law that has been severely criticized by its lack of respect for migrants’ rights.
Conflict in Costa Rica

The abolition of the army after the Civil War of 1948 has made Costa Rica unique in Latin America. Demilitarization contributed to the consolidation of democratic institutions and also freed resources to invest in health and education.

Costa Rica has a tortuous relationship with Nicaragua thanks to a long term conflict over navigation rights on the San Juan River, which forms part of the border between the two countries. In the last few years the conflict has escalated due to Nicaraguan opposition to Costa Rican police navigating the river. In September 2005, the Costa Rican government brought the case to the International Court of Justice> in The Hague and the Nicaraguan government responded with threats to increase tariffs. Submissions to the Court are due during 2008.



The OneWorld Costa Rica Guide was first published in December 2005 with a text written by Volunteer Editors Rosa Arias-Yague and Diego Sánchez-Ancochea.


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