This report presents the main results of an assessment of climate risk and risk management capacity in the health sector in Nicaragua, conducted under the Climate Risk Management Technical Assistance Support Project (CRM TASP) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The combination of different scientific and participatory research streams, including literature
reviews, community consultations, statistical analyses, and policy and capacity assessments, provided a basis for identifying climaterelated health risks and prioritizing measures to manage them.

As the poorest country in Central America, Nicaragua faces massive development challenges. Nicaragua’s health sector suffers from low expenditures, leading to low staff levels, infrastructure shortages, and generally low capacities for dealing with climaterelated health impacts. Access to clean water and sanitation is limited, and undernourishment is high. The current National Human Development Plan (GRUN, 2008; 2009) emphasizes poverty reduction and citizen empowerment, and it outlines a range of short term development objectives, several of which are related to health as well as to water and sanitation. In addition, several of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that Nicaragua has signed on to relate to health.