The Origins, Implementation, and Spread of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Latin America (poster), April 17-18, 2009

LLILAS is planning a two-day conference on the origins, implementation, and spread of conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America that will focus on the early experiences of two large countries, Mexico and Brazil, as well as on the more recent experiences of three smaller countries, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Chile. The conference participants will include political leaders involved in development and implementation of CCT programs, key present and former program staff members, individuals involved in the evaluation of such programs, representatives of multilateral banks and foundations or NGOs, and academics concerned with social policy, politics, and development. First, participants will be asked to illuminate the motivations that led the main actors to create these programs, as well as the logistical and political obstacles they faced in implementing them and how they actually worked on the ground. Second, we would like to assess what is known about their eventual consequences for the communities in which they were implemented, as well as the role that program evaluation played in their continuity, modification, and success. Former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo has agreed to give the keynote address opening the session on Mexico, and Senator Cristovam Buarque will provide the keynote for the session on Brazil. Following the three half-day sessions focusing on the specific country experiences, a final comparative session will address issues of diffusion, ideological issues of social policy, targeting versus universalism, and the ways in which the political, economic, and cultural context affects the CCT model of social policy.