Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH)
Ecuador's Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH) is a government-funded conditional cash transfer that provides monthly payments to households living in poverty and extreme poverty, prioritizing families with children, older adults, and people with disabilities. Recipients are identified automatically through Ecuador's national Social Registry (Registro Social) rather than through an application, and typically receive USD 55 per month, rising to as much as USD 150 for households with more children under the Bono Variable component. Running continuously since 2003 (as successor to the earlier Bono Solidario) under the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES), now reorganized as the Ministry of Human Development, the program is funded entirely by Ecuador's national government (with earlier co-financing from the IDB and World Bank). It is one of Latin America's longest-running and most extensively studied cash transfer programs.
Conditional Cash Transfer, National Poverty Program, Registro Social (proxy-means test), Ecuador, Extreme Poverty, Long-running (since 2003), Extensively Studied/RCTs
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Ministerio de Desarrollo Humano (formerly Ministerio de Inclusión Económica y Social, MIES)
- City
- Quito
- State / Province
- Pichincha
- Country
- Ecuador
Contact
- Phone
- +593 2 398-3100
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Active
- Application status
- Rolling
- Number of recipients
- 609,222
- Funding type
- Government
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- Ongoing / unconditional
- Yes
- Distribution Type
- Debit/magnetic card, cash withdrawal at public and private bank windows, authorized cooperatives, and non-bank correspondents (e.g., Mi Vecino, Banco del Barrio, Mi Banco)
- Benefit details
The base BDH pays USD 55 per month to the household representative. Under the Bono de Desarrollo Humano con Componente Variable (added 2018), payments can rise up to USD 150/month depending on the number of children under 18 in the household (up to 3 children under 5 and up to 3 children ages 5-18). No application is required; benefits are paid monthly via a card or cash pickup at authorized banking and non-banking points nationwide. In October 2025, the government added roughly 55,000 new beneficiary families nationally, funded by reallocated fuel-subsidy savings.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Targets households in poverty and extreme poverty as measured by Ecuador's Social Registry (Registro Social) welfare/proxy-means-test index (historically, scores at or below roughly 28.2 points for poverty and 24.07 for extreme poverty). The household representative - preferably the female head of household or spouse - must be between 18 and 64 years old, not be an active contributor to Ecuador's contributory social security system (IESS), except rural social security (Seguro Social Campesino) or unpaid domestic work coverage, and not receive other incompatible state bonuses. The Variable component further targets families with Ecuadorian children under 18. There is no self-application; households are identified via government census/survey visits and automatic database cross-referencing.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 18
- Maximum age
- 64
Family
- Family Status
- Parent
Financial
- Currently receiving government benefits
- Disqualifying
Citizenship
- Citizenship / immigration status
- Citizen
Geography
- Countries covered
- Ecuador
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Complementary program enrollment required
- Variable BDH recipients receive an 18-month 'Acompañamiento Familiar' (Family Support) component with psychosocial home/group visits, community meetings, and access to the Crédito de Desarrollo Humano micro-credit and vocational training programs (Crédito Productivo Solidario), participation in these linked services is part of the program design but not a separate enrollment requirement.
Application Process
- How to apply
There is no formal application or online sign-up. Households are identified through Ecuador's national Social Registry, built from door-to-door government surveys/censuses that collect socioeconomic data. Once identified as beneficiaries, individuals are notified by phone and can verify status and their assigned payment point by entering their national ID (cédula) number at www.desarrollohumano.gob.ec, or by calling the MIES toll-free call center (1800 002 002).
- Selection process
The Ministry cross-references the Social Registry's welfare index (a proxy-means test based on household socioeconomic indicators) against geographic poverty-incidence data (INEC/Unsatisfied Basic Needs Index) and categorical criteria (families with children under 18, adults over 65, or people with disabilities). Households scoring at or below the poverty/extreme-poverty cutoffs are automatically enrolled, with the transfer assigned preferably to the female head of household or spouse aged 18-64.
