INTRODUCTION
In the past two years, the Plurinational State of Bolivia has reduced the indicators of moderate and extreme poverty by 2 and 6 percentage points, respectively.
At the beginning of this period, 60 per cent of Bolivians lived in poverty and 38
per cent were living in extreme poverty. The reality faced by other Latin American
countries as well as by Caribbean and African countries is not much different.
Faced with this reality for decades, various
schools of economics and
social sciences have
discussed and studied the
relevance and effectiveness,
in terms of economic and
social development, of
granting subsidies or direct
transfers to vulnerable
groups. Beyond this discussion, however, the international community must also
be made aware of the concrete results from the implementation of social protection
measures. These measures, which resulted in the acceleration of poverty reduction,
match the policy objectives of the Social Protection Floor Initiative proposed
by the United Nations and, ultimately, dignify the elderly in the Plurinational
State of Bolivia.
For the Plurinational State
of Bolivia, now being able
to guarantee a social protection floor for the elderly has been one of the most important and far-reaching
social accomplishments in the country’s history. Along with other social measures,
it has also had a clear impact on poverty reduction and the quality of life of the
country’s citizens. In this way, the Dignity Pension (Renta Dignidad), a benefit
established within the Bolivian non-contributory Social Security Scheme, has improved
the beneficiaries’ living conditions.