Conditional Cash Transfers In Peru: Tackling The Multi-Dimensionality Of Poverty And Vulnerability

Abstract

In the context of significant international attention on poverty reduction and realizing the Millennium Development Goals, social protection mechanisms are increasingly seen as an important policy tool to tackle poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. Latin American countries, including Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Honduras, have been some of the world pioneers in this field, and recently Peru has started to follow suit. In February 2005 Juntos (“Together”), a cash transfer programme aimed at developing human capital and breaking inter-generational transfers of poverty, was launched by the Toledo government. Initially the announcement sparked opposition from various societal stakeholders, largely in part due to Toledo’s low popularity rankings and suspicions that the programme would be used for clientelistic purposes in the pre-election period prior to the April 2006 national elections. Specific concerns included the government’s plan to implement the programme simultaneously in rural and urban areas, without having determined a clear targeting mechanism, and also a lack of involvement of key social and political actors represented in the country’s post-authoritarian National Accord. Some analysts also argued that existing social programmes should be restructured rather than initiating a new programme, but the government countered that such cash transfer programmes had been successful internationally and that there was evidence to suggest that direct cash subsidies were more effective than food subsidies and entailed lower operational costs. Following a congressional recommendation, Juntos was placed under a directorate named by the national Roundtable for Poverty Reduction in order to guarantee the programme’s neutrality and transparency, and to provide participation of the principle social sectors involved in shaping the direction of social policy. Juntos has since gained considerable legitimacy, due to a lack of politicization, a growing social consensus about the value of this innovative approach to social protection for the poorest emphasizing coresponsibility for social programmes between citizens and the state, and the fact that the programme is reaching some of the most vulnerable and marginalized segments of the population. In addition, there is recognition that Juntos is an attempt to address some of the particular vulnerabilities faced by populations that were most affected by the political violence (both by the Shining Path terrorist organization and state counter-terrorism) during the 1980s-2000.

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