Strategies to Combat Poverty in Latin America, by Dagmar Raczynski

Abstract

Combating poverty requires economic growth and job creation along with complementary social policies that help the poor become productive participants in development. This book emphasizes the importance of comprehensive social programmes that co-ordinate all of the political, technical, economic, institutional and management elements that make up the development process. Key to a successful national strategy is developing the human resources and institutional capacity to effectively design, carry out and evaluate social programmes. The role of decentralization and the private sector in combating poverty is also examined. Case studies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Costa Rica look at social policies in the context of each county's historical and institutional framework. The studies analyze the extent to which these countries have been able to integrate economic and social policies to effectively combat poverty.