Health and education are key for progress.
Reducing the premature birth and maternal mortality rates, empowering women and girls, expanding high-quality work opportunities, and reducing educational inequality are some of the main health and education objectives for the region.
Challenges and Opportunities
Public health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) rely on obsolete infrastructure and technology. At least US$100 billion are required to update existing hospitals, clinics, and equipment. Another challenge is inequity, with major differences in access and quality of health services between and within countries across the region.
The region’s educational performance is poor. In the most recent Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), LAC countries were placed in the bottom third of the ranking. Furthermore, education infrastructure also needs improvement with 35% of students attending poorly equipped schools, mostly in rural areas.
Even though education and health services are generally provided by the public sector, governments need help to address the large-scale investment requirements. The private sector can provide the necessary financing and innovation to tackle the major problems faced by the region.
Our Commitment
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a further means of addressing large-scale health and education infrastructure projects. The private sector has an extensive track record in the development, implementation, maintenance, and operation of assets related to health and education and could improve the efficiency and quality of services. The IDB Group can work together with governments to help develop the PPP structures and regulatory frameworks for private investment.
We also work with private companies to improve the efficiency of their operations, strengthen their corporate governance practices, and improve their positioning for commercial financing. The IDB Group's knowledge of the region and its experience in public and private sectors, combined with our technical capacity to create innovative financial and non-financial products, make us the partner of choice to find solutions to promote the sector’s development.
We not only ensure the financial viability of each project but also the long-term social and economic impact. We consider environmental and social aspects, gender equality, climate change, and corporate governance.
Latest projects
Regional
Guatemala
Peru
Brazil
Brazil
Uruguay
Panama
Dominican Republic
Bahamas
Regional
Publicaciones
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December 2020Analyzing Development Effects of Electrification: A Review of Income, Labor and Educational Outcomes
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Cristina leads the Social Infrastructure Team at IDB Invest, which she joined in 2018. She is responsible for developing strategies and business plans, and for client management and structuring of transactions in the health and education sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Before joining the IDB Group, she worked at Deloitte for ten years in Colombia, Brazil and Spain as Director of Infrastructure Finance and Public-Private Partnerships and Director of Infrastructure Advisors. She previously worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Infrastructure, Government and Public Services Department in Madrid, Spain.
Cristina earned a master’s degree in corporate finance and investment banking from Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles (IEB) in Madrid (Spain) and a professional degree in business administration and Management from Universidad Complutense de Madrid (CUNEF) (Spain).
Contact: csimon@idbinvest.org