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Article: Poverty in Mexico

Reducing poverty[edit]
Poverty aid organizations and social development groups have remained active in Mexico. Despite foreign and national aid programs in the country, the overall level of poverty in the country prevails.

Government approach[edit]

 * In 1997, the Mexican government launched PROGRESA (Spanish: Programa de Educación, Salud y Alimentación), an integrated approach to poverty alleviation through the development of human capital.
 * In 2002, the Social Development Secretary (SEDESOL) replaced PROGRESA with Oportunidades (English: Opportunities); extending coverage to the urban poor and aiding high school students.

Transparency Collective[edit]
The Transparency Collective, or El Colectivo por la Transparencia in Spanish, is a non-governmental collective organization that advocates transparency in Mexico. It was first formed by six civil society organizations in 2002 to demand for greater transparency from state agencies, and the right to access information. Currently, it consists of eleven civil society groups with the common goal of strengthening democracy and raising accountability and the transparency of the state. The Transparency Collective offers an avenue for locals to seek help in obtaining the right to information by offering manuals and online tutorials teaching the locals how to file a request for information. It also discusses topics like human rights, the legislature and government budgets so that locals will be more informed and aware of their rights. For example, Fundar, an NGO which specializes in government budget analysis, runs workshops to educate the public on disseminating information released by government agencies.

The Transparency Collective has also been working with IFAI (Federal Institute of Access to Information). The civil society was productively engaged in the reform of the constitution. For example, CIDE, an academic focusing on public policy, worked at state level helping states comply with the reform. Fundar also focused on evaluating government responses to information requests, the appeals process and on training groups to analyze information released by the government.

Despite the organizational size of the Transparency Collective, collectivization has nonetheless been an important factor in its effectiveness. The collective call for greater transparency was one of the reasons for the comprehensive reform of Article 6 of the Mexican constitution in 2007, which heralded a new level of progression for Mexico's right-to-know movement. The reforms guaranteed the public's rights to non-confidential information at all levels of the government. State transparency laws also had to be standardized around certain basic principles within a year, and states had to implement electronic information systems.

However, in spite of this, there is still a considerable way to go to achieve full transparency. The 2008 constitutional amendments, and interference of the judiciary branch with the demanded disclosure of tax information, threatened the FOI laws that were previously established. Nevertheless, this movement has been met with fierce protests from civil society groups, and the Collective continues to appeal to the government to allow for more civil participation.

VAMOS!
VAMOS! (Vermont Associates for Mexican Opportunity and Support), is a non-profit organization founded in the state of Vermont, has provided those in poverty with free food, education, health services, and much more for those in Mexico. Beginning in 1987, the organization formed while visiting in Cuernavaca, Mexico when they saw the incredible poverty these people were living through. Their work within Mexico has been credited through serving 180,000 meals a year and the establishment of 10 centers provide meals, education, medical services, computer classes, music classes and programs for children, women and the elderly. Every cent that is donated to this organization is given directly to the poor. VAMOS! also has done work in the fields of daycare centers, traditional medicine and dental clinics, classes in nutrition for pregnant women, bakeries, co-ops, exercise and acupuncture programs for the elderly, solar project designs, eyeglass distribution, literacy classes and other services in poor colonies.