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Preface
The 2008 edition of the Report on Economic and Social Progress deals with the changing patterns of social inclusion and exclusion, one of the most pressing concerns faced by policymakers in Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, much of the lively debate on the economic and social policies needed to attain sustainable and equitable growth hinges on the issue of social inclusion. What this report shows is that attaining social inclusion demands not only redressing past injustices with resource transfers and affirmative action programs, but also, and more importantly, changing the way decisions are made, resources are allocated, and policies are implemented.
Social exclusion is the most dangerous threat that democracy faces in Latin America and the Caribbean. The advent of democracy in our region was the result of a dramatic social struggle that engaged the majority of the population under the banner of creating more modern, more prosperous, and fairer societies. Indeed, the past quarter century has witnessed significant progress that made our political systems more democratic, confronted the corrosive effects of rampant inflation, and integrated our economies into the world market. Yet progress has not been limited to politics and economics: life expectancy, health, literacy, and other indicators of well-being have improved and continue to improve. But poverty, inequality, and lack of good jobs and opportunities to facilitate social mobility for the majority represent areas in which a great deal of work remains to be done—and in which Latin American and Caribbean societies are more than ever demanding results.
At the same time, social exclusion cannot be addressed by short-term or simple “fixes” because it is a complex phenomenon with many interrelated and mutually reinforcing features. Violence, crime, social protests, lack of integration into the financial system, and lack of access to the health and education systems, among other limitations, can condemn members of excluded groups to lives of poverty and squalor. Transforming societies into ones in which the color of a person’s skin or the wealth of a person’s parents does not determine the fate of present and future generations is a complex process aimed at promoting the integration of the majority into the mechanisms and institutions that allow included groups to work, do business, and prosper.
Promoting social inclusion requires well coordinated and carefully considered actions on the part of both governments and civil society to advance the rights of excluded groups. This includes changing both the wider rules by which societies operate and the specific ways in which programs and policies are implemented. The Inter-American Development Bank, as an international financial institution, can aspire to collaborate in this process in multiple ways. The Opportunities for the Majority initiative, in which the Bank is investing significant resources and effort, aims at expanding the opportunities of the excluded majority and improving their access to the institutions and resources that can empower them to take charge of their destiny and to prosper in an economy and a society in which success depends on effort and ability, and not on one’s circumstances at birth.
I sincerely hope that this report contributes to our understanding of the complexities of social exclusion and of the potential of public policy to promote social inclusion and combat social exclusion.
Luis Alberto Moreno
President
Inter-American Development Bank
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