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The objetive of this paper is to determine the enabling conditions for exercising participatory budgets in Bogotá. An analysis of the citizen participation regulatory framework in Colombia is introduced in order to understand the existent conditions for the execution of democratic budgets. After, a diagnostic of the main national and international citizen participation programs is completed using Arnstein’s “participatory ladder”, highlighting the failures in promoting citizen participation and in the development of participatory budgets. Finally, the last chapter presents a proposal to synthetize conditions that will enable the development of citizen budgets as well as the lessons learnt from international and national cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purposes of this paper are to explore the state of implementation of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Programmes and their contribution to the construction of integrated social protection systems in Latin America on one hand, and to discuss the most important achievements and challenges in fighting against poverty in Colombia. With this target, the article begins with a brief review of the overall situation of the CCT Programmes in Latin America. This is followed by a comparative analysis of actions undertaken in some countries in the region in order to face the main threats related to the public policies to eradicate poverty. It enables to draw an analysis about the management of such challenges in Colombia. Finally, the last part of the paper suggests some hypotheses and proposals in order to address the problems identified above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Every government in Latin America, and many beyond, is convinced that the only house worth having is a home of one's own. Most have improved housing credit facilities and introduced subsidy policies to help the poor obtain their dream. Unfortunately, few subsidy programmes have been effective and the housing shortage has almost always risen. In 2012, the Colombian government responded to this problem by introducing a radical housing policy. It announced that it will provide free homes for 100,000 families every year. Such an approach appears to be unprecedented across the world. This paper examines why the Colombian government adopted this policy and evaluates its chances of success. The article is concerned particularly with the question of whether providing free housing is the most effective way of helping the desperately poor. It is concerned with evidence that previous programmes to subsidise the cost of formal housing have not helped the poor. In particular, they have provided poor quality accommodation, failed to provide adequate services or a decent living environment, and have sometimes contrived to create the problem neighbourhoods of the future. Offering families a home for nothing does not solve the fundamental problem facing the poor – their very low incomes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Family policy initiatives in Colombia and Ecuador have targeted primarily families living in poverty. This paper discusses some of the major policy initiatives oriented to improve the living conditions of economically disadvantaged families in both countries. We argue that, even though governments recognize the importance of family policies, existing policies and programs for families living in poverty do not directly focus on family issues. They represent more implicit than explicit family policies. We analyze some of the issues that may hinder the development, implementation, and evaluation of family policies in Colombia and Ecuador. Such issues stem from political and economic instability, legislation, changing family demographics, as well as coordination among agencies that develop, implement, and evaluate policies. We discuss challenges related to family policies in both countries and recommendations to improve existing policy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we build an index to measure the extent to which displaced households can effectively realize their economic and social rights. Based on the results of the index, we conclude that during the reparations and resettlement process, a displaced household, on average, is able to exercise 60% of the rights associated with economic and social stability. This result is four points below the average level at which poor nearby households are able to exercise their rights. Using panel data on a group of households, our technical work illustrates that between 2007 and 2008, the ability of displaced households to exercise their rights deteriorated to the point where, in effect, 45% of the households saw a regression in their ability to exercise at least one right during this period. We also identified other factors threatening the sustainability of the socio-economic stabilization policy, and some recommendations are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]