Brazil’s Bolsa Família Program Receives US$200 Million

The World Bank approved a US$200 million loan for the second phase of support to Brazil’s Bolsa Família. The program is among the most effective social protection programs in the world, having helped reduce income inequality and approximately 20 million people out of poverty between 2003 and 2009.

The first phase was supported by a US$572 million loan in 2004, to help develop, strengthen and expand the program, which seeks to reduce both immediate and future poverty. On the other hand, the new financing will help to:

o Strengthen program management, accountability and control functions in three main areas: registry of beneficiaries, management of benefits, and monitoring of conditionalities;
o Consolidate the program’s monitoring and evaluation system; and
o Integrate other social protection programs with Bolsa Família, to promote innovations and strategies for beneficiaries’ exit from poverty through investments in education incentives and links with the labor market and productivity programs.

Access this links for more information about this financing and the program.