Patricio Crooker / World Bank
Beneficiary history/appointment
“I earned a bonus the pandemic. I used them to make biosecurity masks; I am a craftsman. We could not go out to work, everything was paralyzed, we had to invest and there was no access to the banks at that time, so it was a great help to buy materials and continue producing. I also used the premium component to buy food for my family.
Noah Mamani, 25 years old
Challenge
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bolivia, as well as the strict social distancing measures followed by the country’s government to respond to it, have had significant economic and social effects, mainly affecting the deficient and vulnerable. In Bolivia, where a 2018 survey found that 80% of staff in the personal sector work in the informal sector and that most of the population is vulnerable to income source crises, a pressing accumulation in social assistance is essential. The effects of COVID-19 mitigation measures have affected not only poor and vulnerable households, but also giant segments of the middle class that were self-employed in the informal economy. Bolivia’s social assistance programs, which included conditional cash transfers, social pensions and disability benefits, were not designed to respond to a sudden source of income. Shocks. The formula for the delivery of social assistance was characterized by institutional fragmentation, with records of benefiting formulas of payment of aries and money.
Approach
The World Bank built the provision of economic transitoriness to deficient and vulnerable families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through the offer of monetary resources to implement
temporary movements of money nationwide and expand the use of an effective payment system. After the closure measures were introduced in March 2020, the Bolivian government (GoB) created 3 new temporary money movement programs: Bono Familia (BF), Bono Canasta Familiar (BCF) and Bono Universal (BU). The World Bank allocation financed BU and BF and provided analysis for the design of the 3 programs. Together, those mechanisms aimed to provide financial support to families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the combination of the 3 Moves making sure that all families from the back 60% of the population earned welfare.
World Bank groups provided timely and applicable technical assistance to the GoB in the preparation of the project. At the height of the pandemic, the World Bank played a key role in sharing the moves that other countries around the world were taking to deal with the crisis. In April 2020, as part of the preparation of the project, the World Bank team conducted economic simulations to help the GoB refine its reaction and ensure that it would succeed with the deficient and vulnerable, as well as with staff who might become unemployed. For example, based on the simulations, the BCF extended beyond families with young people receiving public education to succeed also in private sector schools with low-income students.
Test results
From April to September 2020, the allocation fostered broad and inclusive growth, specifically through improved access to some critical elements for poorer communities through the temporary expansion of the safety net canopy to cover contingent staff unemployed due to the pandemic.
Contribution of the banking group
The World Bank provided $254. 3 million in financing for the project, adding $54. 3 million from the International Development Association (IDA) and $200 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
partners
Ministry of Economy and Public Finance (Ministry of Economy and Public Finance MEFP). The MEFP was the unit responsible for the assignment and the Bank’s main government counterpart in the execution of the assignment.
The National Agency for Electronic Government and Information and Communication Technology is guilty of defining the final list of beneficiaries of the BCF and BU programs through database crossings.
The Public Manager of Los Angeles Social Security Largo Plos angeleszo supported the MEFP in the management of the contract with SINTESIS for the delivery of payments.
SINTESIS, a personal payment platform, was used to pay for transient money transfers, ensuring fast and transparent invoices for beneficiaries. The World Bank has been executing with members of Bolivia’s Development Partners Group the GoB strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 mitigation measures, specifically the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Thinking ahead
In January 2021, the GoB introduced a new transitional economic program following the design of the BU program, which was developed in collaboration with the World Bank.
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