Building Social Cohesion in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

To help define a social cohesion agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean, this paper identifies some of the principal issues related to inequality, poverty and exclusion and addressed some of the available policy options and programs for their solution. As the evidence collected in the paper shows, inequality and exclusion impose severe costs on poverty reduction, growth, and social and political progress, ultimately detaining any effort to build social cohesion, and thus, should be a high priority for citizens, governments and the international community.