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People often ask how the IDB’s loans and technical cooperation programs help to solve concrete problems in Latin America and the Caribbean. This new special report offers a segment of the Bank’s work in areas as varied as infrastructure, health, environment, education and tax reform.

SPECIAL REPORT


REGION 1
Chile’s toll-road revolution
How one country is using long-term concessions to modernize infrastructure while freeing up funds for social programs.
Staffing the front lines of health care
In Brazil, an innovative program trains thousands of nurses’ aides in a bid to end a critical shortage of clinical workers.

In Argentina, an emergency drug-distribution program revitalizes the role of neighborhood clinics.
Breathing life into struggling schools
How Paraguay targets assistance to low-income schools that are eager to improve.
Opening markets one sponge at a time
How a tiny Uruguayan company with a domestic focus plunged into the turbulent waters of export-oriented growth.









REGION 2
Laws and nature
In Honduras’ Bay Islands, citizens and local governments find new ways to encourage development while protecting fragile ecosystems.
A youthful army of volunteer teachers
How an innovative rural education program in Mexico reaches nearly 300,000 children each year.
Swords into plowshares
In Guatemala, ex-guerrillas learn bookkeeping, marketing and business management while pursuing social justice.
Building social justice through the tax code
IDB diagnosis of Central American tax systaems inspires reforms aimed at boosting social spending.
We’re ready!
Several Central American municipalities show that effective disaster preparation and planning are not just for rich countries.







REGION 3
Reinventing the social safety net
How Jamaica has overhauled its welfare system in order to offer better services to more people—and at a lower overall cost.
Water for the future
How the Ecuadorian capital secured water for low-income neighborhoods while preserving a priceless ecosystem.
Good health starts with breastfeeding
In Guyana, a program to improve infant nutrition boosts broader efforts to improve health.
Delivering health care at the right place and time
How a targeted insurance program for the poor reduces infant and maternal mortality in Peru.
New airport to meet growing demand
Private investors in Guyana operate facility near capital and prepare to attract international traffic.
Tailor-made to compete
A Peruvian textile plant’s commitment to technology and modernization spells success on the world market.