Conditional cash transfer helps Pinoys beat poverty trap http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/07/30/10/conditional-cash-transfer-helps-pinoys-beat-poverty-trap Anti-poverty programmes: Give the poor money http://www.economist.com/node/16693323 Conditional Cash Transfers http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTSOCIALPROTECTION/EXTSAFETYNETSANDTRANSFERS/0,,contentMDK:20615138~menuPK:282766~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282761,00.html Conditional Cash Transfers: A Global Perspective [pdf] http://www.undg-policynet.org/ext/MDG_Insight/MDG_Insights_Feb_2010.pdf Oxfam GB http://www.oxfam.org.uk/ Solving the problems of the world's poor is an issue that has consumed the attention of many non-governmental organizations (NGO's) for decades, and there is much debate about the most effective methods involved in combating this situation. One idea that has been garnering increased attention is conditional-cash transfers (CCT). CCT's are distributed to poor families on the condition that they make sure that their children are attending school, receiving medical checkups, and so on. Policy-makers are intrigued by the findings in the favelas (slums) of Sao Paulo, where these programs have been in place for several years. While they seem to be fairly effective in urban settings, they seem to work best in rural areas thus far. The program is not without its critics, as some think that it may erode incentives to work, and that it has failed to reduce child labor in cities. Interestingly enough, the program is slowly being adopted in the developed world, and there are now similar initiatives in large American cities, including the "Opportunity NYC" program in New York. The first link will take visitors to a recent article from The Economist that reports on the possibilities and pitfalls of the CCT program in Brazil. Moving on, the second link leads to a piece from ABS/CBN News that discusses the use of the CCT program in the Philippines. The third link leads to another recent piece from The Economist that discusses potential improvements to the CCT program. The fourth link leads to a webpage from the World Bank website which offers a host of details about how the CCT program functions. The fifth link leads to a thoughtful reflection on the use of CCT's by Gaspar Fajth of UNICEF and Claudia Vinay of the United Nations' Development Programme. The final link leads to the homepage of the Oxfam GB organization, which has been working on a variety of anti-poverty initiatives since 1942.