Financial inclusion through the bono de desarrollo humano in Ecuador

Abstract:

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs have become in many countries the largest social program and the framework upon which a social protection network is being built. These programs have more than 24 million beneficiaries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region and have been subject to many types of evaluations showing them to be an effective means of increasing demand for health and education services. In Ecuador, the CCT program is the Bono de Desarrollo Humano. The Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH) program was created in 2003 by merging two previously existing programs, the Bono Solidario and the Beca Escolar (Ponce & Bedi, 2008). The creation of the program involved the creation of a targeting system for social programs (the SELBEN), the use of conditionalities and an impact evaluation of the program. The BDH is one of the largest programs in the region in relative terms; the number of beneficiaries is approximately 1.6 million. 4 Beneficiaries of the program include families in the poorest two quintiles of the population, and the elderly and disabled. At the time of its inception the program provided US $15 monthly to families, and the cash transfer is subject to the following health and education conditionalities:(i) Health: Four preventive health controls for children younger than one year, two preventive annual controls for children between one and six years of age;(ii) Education: Class attendance (at least 85%) for children between 6 and 16 years of age. There are no conditionalities for the elderly and disabled. 5 In 2009, the cash transfer was increased to US $35 for all beneficiaries.

Año de publicación:

2010

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Fuente:

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