( Spanish) — The Government of Colombia launched a new transfer program for citizens living in extreme poverty with which it seeks to provide enough cash so that the most vulnerable households, which are below the poverty line, can satisfy their basic needs.
The program Citizen Income seeks to provide enough money “to combat hunger, progressively achieve economic autonomy and access to the enjoyment of fundamental rights,” according to the Department of Social Prosperity of Colombia, in charge of delivering the monetary aid.
After the Solidarity Income program, which was created for aid during the covid-19 pandemic and which ended in December 2022, the Government of Colombia seeks to deliver a maximum monthly ceiling of 500,000 pesos (about US$ 111, at the current exchange rate) for more than 3 million poorest households in the country, according to Social Prosperity.
Although the program has national coverage, Prosperidad Social will allocate “larger amounts” to 466 municipalities “with high and very high prevalence of child malnutrition,” in addition to municipalities “with the highest multidimensional poverty index,” as well as municipalities with Development Programs with Territorial Focus (PDET). Mothers who are the head of the family with children under 6 years of age will also be privileged.
How to check with your ID if you will receive financial aid?
As this monetary transfer program is aimed at the most vulnerable families, it is necessary for you to be part of the Sisbén IV system. The Sisbén is a state survey to find out the socioeconomic conditions of families and classifies them by “their ability to generate income and quality of life,” according to Colombia’s National Planning Department (DPN).
The Sisbén IV measures the living conditions of households to the capacity that they have to generate income. Before there was a numerical score, now the classification is with letters, like this:
- Group A is classified as extreme poverty groups.
- Group B, for those who suffer from moderate poverty.
- Group C, for those who have the “vulnerability” classification.
- Group D, for those who are neither poor nor vulnerable.
Once you are part of Sisbén IV, you must enter the page of the Department of Social Prosperity. Once there, click on the “Check here if you are registered” button and enter your identification data: Type of document, number and date of issue.
On the Social Prosperity page you must fill in this information to find out if you are enrolled in the social program.
What to do if I am not enrolled in Sisbén IV?
The director of Social Prosperity, Cielo Rusinque, said earlier in the News Colombia Today, of the media system of the Presidency of Colombia, that those who are not registered in Sisbén IV must update the survey.
To do this, it is necessary to go to the local mayor’s office and request that a visit be made to the house so that the officials in charge can carry out the survey and the families are registered and, depending on the classification, they can acquire the transfers.
The first transfers began in April 2023 and will be made every two months. In July the second cycle began. The process is called Transit to Citizen Income, and according to the Government it is “the beginning to promote the transformation of transfer programs”.
