Reaching Health and Education Targets in Argentina: A Provincial Level Analysis

This chapter analyzes the relevance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Argentina–a middle income country in crisis–as well as prospects for the attainment of the goals. Argentina exhibits many indicators of an advanced developing economy including a high degree of urbanization, low birth rate, high life expectancy and until 2001, one of the highest per capita income levels in the developing world. The selection of Argentina—a relatively affluent developing country—was made in order to better understand how the MDGs, which sometimes are seen as appealing only to the poorest nations, are viewed by middle-income countries. Another reason for the selection of Argentina was to understand the role for long-term goals, like the MDGs, when a country is undergoing a profound crisis. In Argentina, the provinces have primary responsibility for delivering basic services in health and education. Since the decentralization of public services in the mid-1990s, the majority of expenditures on health and education are made at the provincial level and service delivery in these sectors is the responsibility of provincial governments. For these reasons, an analysis of the relevance of the MDGs in Argentina, and prospects for their attainment, must involve both the national and sub-national levels of government.