• A $300 million project is expected to help ensure minimum levels of quality of life for vulnerable people in the face of the economic crisis caused by COVID-19.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a $300 million project to support Ecuador's response to the economic impact of COVID-19. The project will expand the coverage of the Bono de Desarrollo Humano (Human Development Bond in Spanish), the country's main transfer program, during the recovery period and thus ensure minimum income levels for people affected by the coronavirus.

The operation responds to the inclusive approach of Vision 2025 - Reinvesting in the Americas, the IDB Group's guide to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth and recovery in the region. To do this, it will focus on using cash-transfers as a tool to ensure a minimum income in those households most affected by the economic effects of the pandemic, to reduce inequality and increase inclusion. In addition, it will strengthen the focus on gender and diversity, by prioritizing vulnerable populations such as women, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants.

This operation complements the activities of the investment program "Support for the Provision of Health and Social Protection Services in the Framework of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic", approved in May 2020 for a total of $250 million and currently under execution.

This initiative is expected to improve the lives of approximately one million households in the three poorest deciles, of which 270,000 are new beneficiaries of their cash transfer program.