Conditional Cash Transfer programmes (CCTs), such as Progresa in Mexico or Bolsa Família in Brazil, have been compared to a ?magic golden bullet in development?. A plethora of rigorous evaluations of such programmes points to a significant increase in food consumption among cash-recipient...

For developing economies the current crisis means reduced demand for their exports, a decline in capital inflows and lower income from tourism. This One Pager discusses the transmission of the crisis from changes in aggregate variables to its impact on progress towards human development. The...

Although cash transfer programmes have been implemented and evaluated for more almost a decade, very little is known about how they affect households that are located in communities where the programme is implemented but that are not officially registered for the programme (either because they...

The Food Subsidy Programme (Programa Subsidio de Alimentos, PSA) is the main basic social protection programme of the government of Mozambique in terms of coverage. It was established in 1990 to help the destitute elderly (women above 55 and men above 60), people living with a disability, the...

Some major ?game changers? beyond the recent economic crisis and food/fuel crisis will have an impact on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to 2015 and beyond, such as climate change, technological change and urbanization. Scenarios?multiple coherent and plausible futures?serve as a vehicle...

Although Brazil has had consolidated labour-market institutions since the 1940s, policies to help unemployed workers find a job only began in the 1970s. This was made possible by the creation of the National Employment System (Sistema Nacional de Emprego, SINE). Before that there was only one...

Most conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes in Latin America select a woman as the primary recipient of the transfer. In most cases she is the mother of children in the household or the woman responsible for those children. The rationale behind this is that the money spent by women tends to...

The objective of this paper is to present the main characteristics of the public employment system in Brazil, focusing on its history, scope and current coverage. It seeks to contribute to the debate on social and employment policies, especially as regards creating job opportunities that help...