Objectives

• broaden human capital and avoid inter-generational pervasion of poverty in Ecuador, specifically

  • bridge the consumption gap that exists amongst extremely poor and indigent households
  • contribute toward reducing the levels of chronic malnutrition and preventable diseases in children up to 5-years-old
  • ensure that children in the 6-16 age bracket within beneficiary households are enrolled in basic education institutions, with attendance reaching at least 80% of actual school days, thus reducing national desertion levels

Conditionalities

• education: at least 80% school attendance of children 6-16 years
• health: regular health post visits for growth and development checkups and immunizations for children aged 0-5 years

Transfer size

• US$15 per month per household; Senior and disabled heads of household receive US$11.50 per month

Frequency of transfer

• monthly

Target population

• Ecuadorian households which fall within the first and second quintile of income

Targeting mechanism

• proxy-means test

• 1,060,416 households (January, 2006), approximately 40% of total population

• US$194 million; 0.6% GDP; 2.25% of total non-financial public expenditure (2005)

Implementing agency

• Ministry of Social Welfare (MBS) with sectoral ministries