Mi Familia Progresa (MIFAPRO)
Mi Familia Progresa (MIFAPRO) was Guatemala's flagship national conditional cash transfer program, launched in April 2008 by President Álvaro Colom to fight extreme poverty and chronic child malnutrition. It paid mothers in extremely poor families a bimonthly cash bonus conditioned on children's school attendance and family participation in health and nutrition checkups. The program was funded by the Government of Guatemala with technical and financial support from the World Bank (a US$122 million loan) and the Inter-American Development Bank. It scaled from an initial 130 municipalities to 302 of Guatemala's 333 municipalities before being phased out in 2011-2012 amid allegations of political clientelism, and was succeeded by the "Mi Bono Seguro" and later "Bono Social" programs.
Conditional Cash Transfer, Historical Program, Guatemala, Rural Poverty, Maternal & Child Health, Politicized CCT, Multilateral-Backed
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Government of Guatemala (Ministry of Education, under the Consejo de Cohesión Social)
- City
- Guatemala City
- State / Province
- Guatemala
- Country
- Guatemala
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 862,000
- Funding type
- Government
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Payment frequency
- Variable
- How long the program lasts
- 44 months
- Distribution Type
- Cash
- Benefit details
MIFAPRO paid a mother-recipient household up to two bimonthly bonuses: a Bono Educación (education grant) of Q150/month for children ages 6-15 conditioned on 80% school attendance, and a Bono Salud/Nutrición (health/nutrition grant) of Q150/month for children under 6 and pregnant women conditioned on attending health checkups and trainings, for a combined maximum of about Q300/month per family (some later accounts describe tiered family types receiving Q150-Q400/month depending on composition). Benefits were physically disbursed as cash at public community distribution events every two months, with only one transfer per benefit type per family. Non-compliance with co-responsibilities three times could result in cancellation of a family's benefit.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligible households were families living in extreme poverty with children under 15 years old and/or a pregnant woman, identified through a two-stage targeting process: geographic targeting of the poorest municipalities, followed by a proxy-means-test census of households within those prioritized municipalities. The named payment recipient in each household had to be the mother. Families exited the program automatically as children aged out (turning 6 for the health component, 15 for the education component) or as mothers completed the postpartum period.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 0
- Maximum age
- 15
- Sex
- Female
- Gender
- Female
Family
- Family Status
- Parent, Expecting
Geography
- Countries covered
- Guatemala
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Optional
- Research / participation requirements
The World Bank approved a US$122 million loan in 2009 ("Expanding Opportunities for Vulnerable Groups Project") that funded institutional strengthening, monitoring, and an impact evaluation of MIFAPRO, including beneficiary follow-up surveys, spot checks, and local audits. The Inter-American Development Bank separately financed a loan around mid-2009 specifically to support an impact evaluation of the program. It is not documented that individual beneficiaries were required to participate in these evaluations as a condition of receiving benefits. The program was also the subject of independent academic research (e.g., PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review; Social Policy Review) studying its transparency and accountability mechanisms.
Application Process
- How to apply
Families did not apply in a conventional sense; eligible households were identified proactively through a government census/proxy-means-test survey conducted in prioritized municipalities. Households confirmed as eligible were then registered and issued an identifying "Citizen Number" at community registration events in order to receive benefits.
- Selection process
Selection combined geographic targeting (prioritizing the poorest of Guatemala's 333 municipalities, expanding from 130 to 302 municipalities by 2011) with an indirect means-test (proxy means test) census carried out household-by-household within those municipalities to identify families in extreme poverty with children aged 0-15 and/or pregnant women. Verified beneficiary families were registered under the mother as recipient and required to periodically prove compliance with co-responsibilities to remain enrolled.
