Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs have spread worldwide as a new form of social assistance for the poor. Previous evaluations of CCT programs focus mainly on rural settings, and little is known about their effects in urban areas. This paper studies the short-term (1- and 2-year) effects of the Mexican "Oportunidades" CCT program…

One of the poorest and most densely populated countries in the world, Bangladesh has faced many challenges during its almost 40-year history as an independent nation. Yet the country has recently made substantial progress in improving young children's survival and protection. It now provides health care, nutrition, immunization, and education…

This article analyses the new educational mandate for Latin America, exploring its repercussions on the design and development of certain educational policies. In particular, it concentrates both on the anti-poverty educational agenda (at a global level) and on targeted educational policies (at a regional, national and local level), analyzing, on…

This report describes how children bear the brunt of poverty and explains why they are central to poverty reduction in developing nations. The report also illustrates UNICEF's support for the process of improving access to, and quality of, health care, education, water and sanitation, and child protection. It describes how the participation of the…

Discusses child poverty and child welfare practice in Canada. Focuses on the goals and activities of Campaign 2000, a pan-Canadian movement intended to secure implementation of the 1989 House of Commons resolution to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000. (MDM)

This paper describes the Programme for Home-Based Community Day Care, a training program undertaken by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute. The program offers training and support to mothers so that they can each care in their homes for up to 15 children from the local community. Now in its sixth year, the project reaches nearly 1 million…

Identifies the major themes that have emerged in this special issue on child welfare in Canada, and presents a critique of the policies and practices now dominating the Canadian child welfare enterprise. Outlines the changes required to move child welfare from its residual stance into an enterprise that develops a capacity for innovative practice.…

This paper discusses the characteristics of three community-based early childhood care and development support programs: the Community Mothers Program of Dublin, Ireland; the Maternal and Infant Health Outreach Workers Program of Tennessee; and the Mothers Inform Mothers Program of the Netherlands. The paper considers the general characteristics…

This annual report discusses the work of the Grassroots Educare Trust to provide economic and technical assistance to 177 preschool communities throughout Western Cape Province in South Africa, with a heavy emphasis on those in poor, black-populated areas. After messages from the chairman of the board of trustees and the director, the report is…

The 900 Schools Programme, adopted in March 1990, was designed to improve the quality of education in Chile's most impoverished public primary schools through "positive discrimination," the channeling of additional resources to the 969 schools that initially took part in the project. The 900 Schools Programme has sought to: (1) improve…

With Chile's return to democracy in 1990, evidence of serious deficiencies in quality and equity in Chilean schools prompted the Ministry of Education to design and implement the 900 Schools Programme, a reform measure to improve the quality of primary education in the country's impoverished areas. The guiding principles of the program are…

This newsletter issue focuses on programming undertaken to address the health and educational needs of rural families in developing and developed nations. After examining the nature of rural families and rural poverty, the newsletter discusses: (1) the Mon Women's Organization in Thailand; (2) The "Contact With Kids" parent education…

The Citizens' Campaign Against Hunger and Poverty and For Life is a nongovernmental organization in Brazil that recruited and organized more than three million volunteers to distribute food baskets, support gardening and water projects, provide basic health care, create jobs, assist homeless children, and encourage local and state governments to…

As part of a commitment to eliminate child poverty, the British government has established Sure Start programs across the country. Sure Start programs are very similar to U.S. Early Head Start initiatives; their stated aim is to improve the health and well-being of disadvantaged families and children before and from birth. The article describes…

The Fundacion Social, a grassroots organization in Colombia, uses profits from its 14 companies to fund community self-help initiatives aimed at eliminating poverty. Social programs focus on community integration, microbusinesses, recycling, education, and communication. The organization seeks to eliminate structural poverty and is currently…