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This paper presents a methodology to estimate the multidimensional poverty index using spatial data at the street block level. The data used in this study were obtained from Open Street Maps and ESA's land use cover, which are freely available sources of spatial information. The study employs five machine-learning algorithms, including Catboost, Lightboost, and Random Forest, to estimate the multidimensional poverty index with spatial granularity. The results indicate that these models achieve promising performance in predicting poverty levels in Medellín, Colombia. The results showed that the Random Forest algorithm achieved the highest performance, with an MAE of 0.07504. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the multidimensional poverty estimate was highly correlated with the true values of the distribution. This work contributes to predicting multidimensional poverty by demonstrating the potential of machine learning algorithms to utilize accessible spatial data. By providing evidence of the feasibility of estimating poverty levels at a granular spatial level, this methodology offers a powerful tool for policymakers to make poverty social interventions with low-cost evidence. Furthermore, this study has important implications for poverty eradication efforts in developing countries, where access to reliable data remains challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colombia is one of the most inequal countries in Latin America, which at the same time, is the most inequal region of the world. Even though this situation is discouraging it is not new, the difference lays on the importance that this situation has been taken in the political agenda in the nation, awakening multiple expectative between the citizens who has been the eternal losers: the poor. This paper focuses on the challenges that the new government of Gustavo Petro faces in matter of the inequality and poverty that affects over the half of the population in Colombia, at the same time provides a context of the Colombian case in the conjuncture of global and regional socioeconomic changes that incident on the chances of fulfill structural transformations at the social policy. Although this research acknowledges a large spectrum of inequalities existing in the territory (gender, generational, ethnic, racial) it focusses on the income inequality. This analysis takes place based on the data of specialized sources on the subject and the monitoring fluctuations of inequality in Colombia in the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of evidence highlights that maternal and child nutrition programmes need to extend beyond the mother–child dyad by adopting a family systems approach, particularly in the Global South. Guided by a sociocultural and community psychology understanding of health, the paper explores factors identifying grandmothers as central resources for nutrition programmes. The study was conducted in a Colombian urban periphery applying a qualitative longitudinal design (prenatal and postpartum). It is based on interviews with adolescent mothers and mothers in their 20s (n = 35 at T1; n = 21 at T2), grandmothers (n = 15 at T1; n = 12 at T2) and community/public stakeholders (n = 17). Many of the participants live in low‐income households headed by grandmothers, who adjust feeding practices to the extent of their economic capacity. Findings reveal grandmothers play a central role in decision‐making and in enabling a holistic support system for the dyad. This is defined as grandmothers' scaffolding; it covers nutrition advice, breastfeeding and infant feeding, cultural practices, caregiving and maternal mental health. The study helps build the evidence‐base for the transferability of a family systems approach to Global South regions by using sociocultural and community psychology concepts to fortify the rationale for including grandmothers in maternal and child nutrition programmes. It argues for the need to continue raising the visibility of key actors like grandmothers and for nutrition programmes to align themselves more flexibly with the needs of families experiencing poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the relationship between poverty and armed conflict in Antioquia, Colombia. The poverty analysis it uses is framed according to Sen's capability approach, which constitutes the conceptual basis for the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) subsequently developed by Alkire and Foster. The MPI is measured employing data from the government database SISBEN, which is used by the Colombian authorities to identify beneficiaries of social assistance programmes. The paper considers three poverty dimensions: living standards, health, and education. Armed conflict is measured using count data on violent events recorded for every municipality in the Department of Antioquia between 1996 and 2010. The relationship between poverty and armed conflict is then analysed using exploratory and non-parametric methods such as kernel distributions. Results suggest that the MPI is robust when compared multidimensional cutoffs. The MPI box-plot maps suggest that poor people are located in Antioquia's peripheral areas. Kernel distributions show that areas most affected by conflict tend to show higher levels of multidimensional poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the different dimensions of women's empowerment that can arise during the entrepreneurial process. It considers the changes in these dimensions as women advance in the development of their new ventures, differentiating characteristics according to the context (urban or rural). Another contribution refers to which empowerment factors developed by female entrepreneurs are key to reducing poverty. The proposal develops a multiple correspondence analysis and an ordered probit model, with data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Colombia. The results make it possible to identify what is needed to strengthen the empowerment of women through entrepreneurship, and the resources available for this. Furthermore, the relationship found between economic empowerment factors and family income provides evidence for the importance of empowerment for poverty reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labor informality and poverty are at high levels in Latin America. In developing countries, poverty and the labor market are related not through unemployment but through employment. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between labor informality and poverty in Colombia. To do so, earnings gaps associated with labor informality are estimated; then, the effect of formalization on poverty is calculated, as the influence of changes in labor informality on Colombia's poverty reduction from 2002 to 2013. The findings show that the earnings gap between formal and informal workers is 37–44%, and if informality were eliminated, poverty would decrease by approximately 40%. However, even though informality has great potential to reduce poverty, its actual effect on Colombia's poverty reduction in the years analyzed was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labor informality and poverty are at high levels in Latin America. In developing countries, poverty and the labor market are related not through unemployment but through employment. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between labor informality and poverty in Colombia. To do so, earnings gaps associated with labor informality are estimated; then, the effect of formalization on poverty is calculated, as the influence of changes in labor informality on Colombia's poverty reduction from 2002 to 2013. The findings show that the earnings gap between formal and informal workers is 37–44%, and if informality were eliminated, poverty would decrease by approximately 40%. However, even though informality has great potential to reduce poverty, its actual effect on Colombia's poverty reduction in the years analyzed was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Everyone, across borders, race and gender, is affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic—but not equally. In this paper, we examine a burgeoning new literature discussing the employment effects of COVID-19. We explore the extent to which COVID-19 will exacerbate gendered employment disparities, income generation gaps, and, ultimately, poverty gaps, using a simple microsimulation methodology. We test our approach in Colombia, which has implemented an unparalleled number of mitigation measures and has reopened its economy earlier than regional neighbors. We find that COVID-19 increases the poverty headcount to a daunting degree (between 3.0 and 9.1 pp increases). Mitigation measures vary considerably in their individual impact (up to 0.9 pp poverty reduction). A fiscally neutral Universal Basic Income program would cause larger poverty reductions. Importantly, both men and women report similar poverty impacts from the pandemic and mitigation policies, reflecting the magnitude of the downturn, the design of interventions and our own poverty measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labor informality and poverty are at high levels in Latin America. In developing countries, poverty and the labor market are related not through unemployment but through employment. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between labor informality and poverty in Colombia. To do so, earnings gaps associated with labor informality are estimated; then, the effect of formalization on poverty is calculated, as the influence of changes in labor informality on Colombia's poverty reduction from 2002 to 2013. The findings show that the earnings gap between formal and informal workers is 37–44%, and if informality were eliminated, poverty would decrease by approximately 40%. However, even though informality has great potential to reduce poverty, its actual effect on Colombia's poverty reduction in the years analyzed was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labor informality and poverty are at high levels in Latin America. In developing countries, poverty and the labor market are related not through unemployment but through employment. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between labor informality and poverty in Colombia. To do so, earnings gaps associated with labor informality are estimated; then, the effect of formalization on poverty is calculated, as the influence of changes in labor informality on Colombia's poverty reduction from 2002 to 2013. The findings show that the earnings gap between formal and informal workers is 37–44%, and if informality were eliminated, poverty would decrease by approximately 40%. However, even though informality has great potential to reduce poverty, its actual effect on Colombia's poverty reduction in the years analyzed was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is an accepted idea that poverty is much more than low incomes. Consequently, the multidimensional approach has become an alternative way to understand that question. The aim of this paper is to propose an alternative estimation of multidimensional poverty in Colombia. The methodology uses unconventional dimensions, continuous and pseudo-continuous variables; it will estimate dimensional gaps and apply Bourguignon and Chakravarty's methodology. Although, there has been a noticeable reduction of headcount poverty, the multidimensional poverty gap and its severity have not shown the same trend. In addition, there are huge regional differences, and dimensions with high deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the effectiveness of center-based high quality educational programs for infants and toddlers, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This paper reports effects from a randomized trial of a high-quality center-based early intervention on infants and toddlers in two communities in northern Colombia. Just eight months into the program results indicate large positive effects on language, cognitive development and overall development, with girls benefitting the most. No effects were found on nutritional outcomes, socio-emotional development or the home environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

This paper analyses the judicial poverty subsidy in Colombia. In paper, such institution aims to guarantee the access to justice of those people that cannot afford legal defense. However, it is argued that it is insufficient to satisfy such objective. On the one hand, it has legal design problems, such as i) the precarious definition of what it means to be poor, ii) the denial of the subsidy to legal persons, and iii) the confusion regarding how to prove the situation of “poverty”. On the other hand, there are practical application problems, such as i) the lack of investment to materialize the subsidy and ii) the scarce regulation and institutional surveillance of poverty lawyers, as well as their non-existence on the margins of Colombia. [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]

The literature on evidence-based action in humanitarian crises commonly focuses on how inter-and non-governmental organisations can produce better knowledge and how this can be translated into improved programming. Yet, there is little recorded experience of, or concern about, how the beneficiaries of humanitarian relief can produce and use knowledge of their predicament. This paper is based on a case study of how the Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas, an internally displaced women's organisation in northern Colombia, employs proactively research-generated data to advance its own agenda in its interactions with donor bodies and the government. The paper finds that beneficiaries of humanitarian aid can, and do, use participatory research to advance their own ends in the legal and political spaces created around humanitarian crisis. However, their agency is limited by poverty, violence, and local balances of power. The paper concludes that beneficiaries' priorities in the production of data about humanitarian crises warrant further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the consolidation of democratic governments in the 1980s and 1990s, wholesale evictions of entire neighbourhoods ceased to be a solution to urban problems in Latin America. This paper discusses an example of a new generation of municipal programmes aimed at physically upgrading informal settlements while integrating them both physically and socially into the fabric of the city. In Medellín, a city with a recent history of violence and social inequality, the audacious use of well-established ski-slope aerial cable-car technology in dense and hilly low-income informal settlements was followed by major neighbourhood upgrading comprising new social housing, schools and other social infrastructure, as well as support to micro-enterprises. Although lack of mobility contributes to social inequality and poverty, the paper argues that the introduction of quick-fix highly visible transport technology on its own is unlikely to help reduce poverty. Although urban upgrading programmes and the symbolic value of cable-car systems have instilled among the local population a feeling of inclusion and integration into the ‘modern’ city, they can also be understood as mechanisms for the ‘normalisation’ of informal sectors of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to present an approach to discourse studies in Colombia. It provides a critical reflection on the ways discourse analysis is carried out and on the procedures structuring the interpretation of socio-cultural problems in order to establish their particularities and implications for Colombia. In addition, the paper illustrates the analytical procedures by applying them to some of the most typical problems in the local reality with the aim of formulating a first approach to the production of knowledge and culture in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 13 million people worldwide survive on artisanal small-scale mining (ASM). ASM has a very weak track record in terms of various developmental problems such as poverty, health, black markets, struggles for the rights to natural resources and degradation of the environment with impacts on communities. The operation of an artisanal mine is most often seen as an activity for survival. This paper focuses on the experience of Oro Verde, a process of green certification in artisanal mining in the Chocó region of Colombia, during the period 2000-2008. This experience has contributed to addressing a number of local economic, social and environmental issues, and its achievements have earned several global sustainability-related awards. This paper examines processes of community-building for the sake of organisational coordination, protection and management of natural resources. It identifies lessons such as transformation of practices and of connections between organisations in the process of developing a certification programme in an ASM context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Set within the context of re-conceptualizing poverty to emphasize its multidimensionality, this paper argues for the need to extend existing debates on livelihood security to incorporate notions of physical and personal security, manifest in the form of violence and conflict. In turn, it suggests that research on security should continue its shift in focus towards human security, especially at the micro-level. These arguments are based on primary research conducted in Colombia and Guatemala, using inductive participatory urban appraisal (PUA) methodologies. These data highlight how both violence and physical safety are major concerns for the poor, often dominating their lives to a greater extent than income poverty. However, the paper also illustrates how violence, security and poverty interrelate in the eyes of the poor, often in causal ways. This ties in with recent theorizing on violence that emphasizes the need to identify multiple causality in explaining how and why violence emerges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For more than 30 years, the main strategy to control illicit coca crops has been forced eradication. Despite the importance of social investment and persistent poverty in areas where illicit crops are grown, there is no empirical evidence of the effect of social expenditures on preventing and reducing the expansion of illicit crops.Methods: This paper analyses how social investment in conjunction with eradication affects new coca crops. The model is tested using a dataset consisting of annual data for 440 contiguous municipalities that had coca in any year between 2001 and 2010. The analysis includes the two main techniques used to control illicit crops, manual eradication and aerial spraying.Results: Aerial spraying is effective in deterring farmers from increasing the size of their new coca fields, but this effect is small. Social investment, in addition to generating social welfare, has a significant negative relationship with new coca crops, 0.09-hectare reduction in new coca crops per additional 50-cent spent in social investment (human capital and infrastructure) per inhabitant.Conclusion: Social investment emerges as a complementary and effective strategy to control illicit crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-standing conflict in Colombia has inflicted substantial costs on the population and the economic development of the country. Since conflict occurs mainly in the country's rural areas, the economic impacts of violence are higher for these territories. The purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of armed conflict on Colombia's rural population and the current conditions of rural areas as well as discuss whether the peace agreements with FARC may contribute to improve these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Lynch's work on public image (1960) and basic public rights (1984) inaugurated urban research from the perceptions of the people; and show that the way we read the city provides important clues to citizens transits and relations between groups using a space. Objectives. In this paper, we proposed to establish security perceptions of young people in poverty in Monteria, Colombia, a city historically affected by violence. Materials and methods. The study distinguishes between members of traditional families and young people displaced by the armed conflict. The ethnographic approach includes field observations and focus groups. Results. Huge differences between the groups in their relationship with the city and the other is found. Those who have traditionally lived in Monteria, identify landmarks and have emotional ties to the city. The second group does not refer to spaces that evoke a sense of belonging, only those where they are with their peers. Basic public rights involve a tension between reclaim public space for themselves and recognize the existence of others. Group 1 to Group 2 does not recognize their right to be in space and use it. They see themselves as owners are not willing to share control, build barriers and stigmatize symbolic unknown. Conclusions. The study concludes that poverty is not the determining factor in building public image; exercise basic public rights it brings a sense of belonging and sense of security. Excessive control of Group 1 on the space makes, rather than a democratic space, find one ruled by fear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an approach to the study of the working poor in Colombia. The purpose is to analyze poverty linked to types of labor insertion, Using data from the Continuous Household Survey and the Large Integrated Household Survey, it analyses main poverty indicators for the workers, and poverty decomposition by geographical area between 2002 and 2012. In addition, it offers a socio-demographic and occupational characterization of the working poor, concluding that the composition of the labor market and the type of labor insertion are determinants of low income. [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]

This paper analyses some determinants of urban violence in seven major Colombian cities. The empirical research is intended to explore variations in violence across these Colombian cities and the influence of these variations on Colombia's economic development. In this study, several econometric data panel models and various estimate types are applied to control heterogeneity across the cities and to address endogeneity problems among the explanatory variables. The results show that education, poverty, inequality and the labour market are strong predictors of homicide rates in the seven Colombian cities. The results also demonstrate that city-level homicide rates depend on the city's level of development and the tendency of urban violence to persist over time. The findings thus demonstrate that factors such as inequality, poverty, education and the labour market influence urban violence, thereby generating negative effects on Colombia's economic and social development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: In this paper, we analyse economic development and growth through traditional measures (gross domestic product and human development index) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in Colombian departments over the period 1993–2007. We use a DEA model to measure and rank economic development and growth from different approaches such as poverty, equality and security. The results show considerable variation in efficiency scores across departments. A second-stage panel data analysis with fixed effects reveals that higher levels of economic activity, quality life, employment and security are associated with a higher efficiency score based on the standards of living, poverty, equality and security. All findings of this analysis should demonstrate that economic development and growth could be achieved most effectively through a decrease in poverty, an increase in equality, a reduction in violence, and improved security. This indicates the need to generate effective policies that guarantee the achievement of these elements in the interest of all members of society. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents some policy guidance on main targeting indicators for social programs and criteria for their evaluation. Several methods exist to target poverty population to social programs. In Colombia there are several indicators among them the following: Poverty Line (LP), Unsatisfied Basic Needs (NBI) and the I-SISBEN (Poverty Index), they were judged on the basis of some criteria. Considerations of political feasibility was made. A poverty indicators must be efficient when it minimizes the type I error, that is probability of excluding individuals who should be included. Leakage relates to type II error, that is the probability of including people who should be excluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few cities in Latin America provide much evidence of good governance. However, during the last fifteen years, Bogotá has been transformed and now qualifies in certain respects as an example of ‘best practice’. The paper considers how Bogotá changed and whether it can continue its improvement, an especially interesting question insofar as a left-wing administration has been in charge since 2004. Of course, the city is by no means perfect and national issues continue to create difficulties both for the poor and for the local administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]