Sustainable Development in Paraguay

This project was terminated in 2022.

The Center for Sustainable Development is working with the Government of Paraguay to promote social, economic, and environmental policies and practices in the country. In the social sector, CSD is working with Paraguay's Ministry of Education to design and implement a nation-wide education reform towards 2030. Paraguay is also actively working towards a carbon-neutral economy, transforming its energy sector and leveraging its hydroelectric resources towards a 2050 fully carbon-neutral economy. CSD is also collaborating with the country's national government on its ongoing fiscal reform, which explicitly aims to close the existing SDG financing gaps in Paraguay.

The Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) is collaborating with the government of Paraguay to promote an education reform, an energy reform, and a fiscal reform. These social, environmental, and economic policies and practices synergistically promote the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in Paraguay.

Education Reform

Paraguay Education

The Center for Sustainable Development has partnered with Teacher College's Center for Technology and School Change (CTSC) and with its National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching (NCREST), as well as with the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, to conduct a rigorous education sector analysis based on qualitative and quantitative research, to systematize the contributions of a national education dialogue, and to support the construction of agreements among the stakeholders in each of seven defined thematic domains within the education sector to inform Paraguay's education reform:

  1. Curriculum Development and Skills for the XXI Century
  2. Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
  3. Evaluation and Research
  4. Professional Development for Educators
  5. Legal Framework
  6. Education Financing
  7. Education Management

Energy Reform

Itaípu Binacional

This project aims to help assess Paraguay’s growing energy needs during the coming years and decades, towards 2050; to place Itaipú Binational Hydroelectric Dam's electricity production within a medium and long-term energy framework, including the addition of other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power; explore Paraguay’s leadership role in Latin America’s transition to renewable energy; identify technical and regulatory gaps in Paraguay’s electricity generation and distribution system; and provide information needed for the upcoming negotiations with Brazil in the post-2023 future of Itaipú.

SDG Financing

Paraguay SDG Financing

CSD's collaboration with Paraguay’s Ministry of Finance will analyze Paraguay’s current public expenditure efficiency and spending needs during the 2020s in order to achieve the SDG targets for 2030, with concrete recommendations and ongoing technical support in the design and implementation of enhanced fiscal frameworks and policies towards 2023 and towards 2030.  For each sector, the project will analyze the sector policies and budget outlays needed between now, 2023, and 2030 in order to reach 2030 SDG targets. The fiscal analysis will engage the key sector ministries (i.e., Education and Sciences, Health, Power, Social Protection, Transportation & Infrastructure, Environment, etc.) in budget and program studies as well as the Presidential Delivery Unit and the Taxation and Expense Efficiency Commission to increase efficiency and prepare policies consistent with the 2030 objectives. Based on that work for each key budget sector, an aggregate SDG needs assessment will be prepared and presented to the Ministry of Finance and to the SDG Commission in Paraguay. This will better allow Paraguay to develop fiscal instruments and mechanisms to achieve the 2030 SDGs, including multi-year budgets, fiscal policy enhancements towards 2023, and fiscal policy transformations for the 2023-2030 period.