Stichting Connect International

Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT’s) have a large promise for developing countries. ‘This is going to be the new hype for development aid in the coming decades’, says Tom de Veer, director of Foundation Connect International. ‘We are only just starting to see its potential.'

Connect International found that progress with its programs is too slow. We enhance development and yes, the poor people we assist achieve a lot of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's). We have assisted one million people in the last few years in Africa, and of them about 250.000 have structurally achieved a number of the MDG's, notably the WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) MDG's. But the pace is slow. Therefore we experiment with low interest rate credits to enable more poor people to purchase especially low cost WASH facilities (e.g. hand drilled boreholes equipped with rope pumps). But many people do not qualify for a loan from a bank and for those who do get one it often takes them over a year to pay back such credits. The pace therefore simply is too slow. Also other basic needs are fulfilled very slowly by poor households and in many places people are even drawn deeper in poverty over the years. Then we found all the evidence of CCT's, which simply fuels the development process in households, enhances local economies, and, we believe, also reduces birth rates (which are staggering high in developing countries, something which cannot go on if we want to preserve our planet ánd enhance people to get rid of poverty). That is why we are so enthusiastic about CCT's. It is a proven concept and it is very affordable. We want to add it as the last essential component to our SMART development concept. So let's go for it!

CCT's have the potential to lift tens of millions of poor people structurally out of poverty in the next decade, enabling people to achieve almost all the Millennium Development Goals in their households. For 40 Euro per beneficiary per year! Not to speak of the acceleration of local economies by CCT's ánd the large effect they will have on the reduction of population growth.

Something therefore that each oneself respecting development professional should know about!

Read further in the following order:

1. Conditional Cash Transfers presentation.pdf
2. Article CCT's Brazil + Mexico.doc
3. Folder CCT's 1 page.pdf
4. Conditional Cash Transfers - Let's do it together.pdf
5. For the most interested persons: Folder CCT research English.pdf

YES we know:
To read all this is quite some homework, not a crying out one-liner without content. But is worth reading through it as CCT's definitely have the potential to change the future of developing countries. If we can make it happen. For that we need the support of every professional person and organization in the business. Let’s do this together!

Also look at the lecture by Joseph Hanlon on this subject: http://www.ssrc.org/features/view/joseph-hanlon-just-give-money-to-the-p...

August 2011