Mexico: Maquila, Environmental Vulnerability and Health

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) The maquiladora export industries (MEI), concentrated along the United States-Mexican border, are an important example of an export-led development model. Employment in the MEl grew over 10-fold from 1980-2000. These industries are important actors in the social and economic transformation of the border region, spurring large-scale migration, rapid population growth and urban expansion. Despite the importance of the maquiladoran industries, economic development policy in Mexico, as elsewhere, has not explicitly incorporated environmental protection or health promotion strategies. The continuing failure of the border communities to build sufficient housing, to expand urban infrastructure and water and sewage systems, or to develop infrastructure for processing the industrial and toxic wastes generated by the MEI, has created urban slums whose residents are exposed to a range of environmental hazards. The accumulated deficit in urban and environmental infrastructure exacerbates local health inequalities and may well offset the health gains of economic growth. Over the past two decades, Mexican infant mortality declined substantially from 39.9/1000 live births in 1980 to 13.8/1000 in 2002. However, mortality declines in the northern border region have not kept pace despite their more favorable economic profile. Although in 1980 infant mortality in the border states was well below the national average, infant mortality in the border cities of Baja California, Chihuahua and Sonora now markedly exceed the national average (22.0-23.8 versus 13.8/1000 in 1995 -1997). The proposed pilot study will use spatial analysis and ethnographic approaches to examine potential links between exported-based industrialization, urbanization and infant health in Nogales and Hermosillo, Sonora, and assess whether emerging disparities in infant mortality are associated with deficits in urban and environmental infrastructure. By compiling information from city maps, the census, city archives and key informant interviews and focus groups, an index of socio-environmental vulnerability (SEV), calibrated to residents' perceptions will be developed. The spatial association between SEV and infant mortality at the census tract level will then be evaluated. The SEV index and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps overlaying SEV and mortality can serve as policy tools, facilitating the identification of mitigation strategies to address adverse environmental and health conditions in local communities. This study will pilot approaches to be implemented in a subsequent study of 8-10 cities in the northwest border region. This project will develop a multi-disciplinary team at El Colegio de Sonora, in collaboration with the Institute of Technology of Sonora.