Publication: Colombia : Reforming the Social Safety Net
Date
2003-02
ISSN
Published
2003-02
Author(s)
Abstract
Historically, Colombia's
"safety nets" were economic growth and a now
unsustainable expansion of social services, notably in
health, education, and pensions. Social assistance (SA) was
not included in the dramatic social sector reforms of the
1990s, implying that the social safety net did not benefit
from increased spending, decentralization and the strategic
prioritization afforded to other social sector areas. SA
remains under-financed compared to national demands and
international norms (Box 1). Furthermore, the SA programs
that could have provided a safety net during the crisis were
hampered by structural constraints, including poor poverty
targeting in certain programs, institutional inflexibility,
and unfocused mandates. The Government of Colombia asked the
World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to help
craft Colombia's social safety net was reviewed and a
number of steps taken, including: (i) rapid crafting of a
short-term emergency safety net investment program called
the Social Support Network (Red de Apoyo Social, RAS); (ii)
a poverty assessment and a social safety net assessment; and
(iii) implementation of two social sector adjustment
operations focused on medium term reforms of the social
safety net, health and education systems. The Colombia
Social Safety Net Assessment included: (i) a risk and
vulnerability assessment based on the analysis of new and
existing household survey data as well as a rapid
qualitative study and (ii) an institutional analysis of
Colombia's new and existing federal social assistance
programs. With the Colombia Poverty Assessment, this
analytical work provided an empirical basis and a
participatory process for outlining priorities for reforming
the social protection system.
Citation
“Rawlings, Laura B.. 2003. Colombia : Reforming the Social Safety Net. en breve; No. 18. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/f61a447e-5c91-5fc1-bee2-2e2f3cc1c852 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”