摘要：In 2001, the Colombian government initiated an experiment in poverty alleviation called Familias en Acción. This conditional cash transfer (CCT) program takes a novel approach to poverty reduction by addressing short- and long-term factors contributing to poverty. Though Colombia’s CCT program is just one of a wave of similar initiatives, its unique context and unexpected social effects, beyond the primary intentions of program designers, differentiate it from other such programs. Drawing on 200 interviews and focus group discussions which he conducted with academic experts, program beneficiaries and program administrators in three Colombian cities, the author finds that an unexpected and underappreciated component of Familias en Acción, the beneficiary meeting, has taken on a unique and meaningful role in the eyes of the program’s beneficiaries by contributing to the empowerment of beneficiary mothers through community-building. This is particularly important in Colombia, a country in which a 60-year-old violent conflict among guerrillas, paramilitaries, and government troops has shattered communities, plunged families into poverty, and distracted from social programs. Colombia is home to the second-largest population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world, and its 3.5-5 million IDPs are among the country’s poorest citizens. For this population, Familias en Acción is more than just a welfare program: it is a means of rebuilding the social structures destroyed by displacement. While previous papers have examined and evaluated the program’s economic and human capital effects, this paper makes a unique contribution to an understanding of the community-building and empowerment effects of Familias en Acción. Conditional Cash Transfers, Community, and Empowerment of Women in Colombia When Familias en Acción, Colombia’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, debuted in 2001, it was well-received by beneficiaries. The “revolutionary” (El Tiempo Editorial Staff, 2007) program had a specific objective: to provide a small cash stipend to mothers as long as their children maintained regular school attendance and medical checkups.[1] One beneficiary, excited about the promise of the human capital-focused program, summarized the sentiments of thousands: “Finally the government remembered us poor people. Now I can buy my children school supplies and take my kids to the doctor” (El Tiempo Editorial Staff, 2001). Enthusiasm was not limited to beneficiaries. Though the CCT concept was hatched independently in rural areas of Mexico and Brazil in the 1990s, the programs’ successes caught the eyes of economists and leaders throughout the region and around the world, particularly at the Inter-American Development Bank and
关键词：cash transfers; internally displaced persons; empowerment; women in poverty; Colombia; community-building; Familias en Acción
