1. FAMILY ALLOWANCE PROGRAM PRAF
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS
FAMILY ALLOWANCE PROGRAM PRAF

2. Mother and Child Voucher
(Bono Materno-Infantil – BMI)
Family Allowance Program PRAF
November 2006

3. What is PRAF?
PRAF is a Social Investment Program, created through an executive agreement on July 17, It began as a social compensation program aimed at attenuating the effects of the Adjustment Programs among Honduras’ poorest population. [1]
It is a decentralized entity under the Presidency of the Republic, with national jurisdiction and indefinite duration.
[1] Memoria Institucional Cuatrianual. PRAF, Period.

4. Working Areas [2] Mother and Child Voucher (BMI)
School Voucher (Voucher for Female Head of Household)
Elderly Voucher
Program for the Integrated Development of Women
School Satchel
Youth Voucher
[2] Bono Materno Infantil, Consultant Report. Hernández, Nelson. PRAF, October 1998.

5. Objectives of the BMI
Improve the basic diet of women and children under 5 who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, with the goal of achieving higher protein and calorie intake.
Increase health service coverage in prenatal care, control of growth and development, vaccination, environmental sanitation, control of infectious or contagious diseases, health education and nutrition education.

6. Objectives of the BMI
Reduce the risks of acute respiratory infections and diarrheal infections, through periodic health controls.

7. Targeting until 1998 [3]
Targeting was determined in two stages using technical instruments.
The first:
Poverty map
Height census of first grade school children
The second:
Selection of the Health Units that presented a combined poverty index based on a weighted sum of the unsatisfied basic needs (UBN) and the malnutrition index for each geographic unit
[3] Memoria Institucional. PRAF, 1996.

8. Targeting in 1999
The Phase II pilot project, through 1999, introduced a new method for selecting beneficiaries that was more objective and transparent, as follows:
Identification of the poorest municipalities in the country based on the chronic malnutrition rates obtained in the height census of first grade school children, carried out in 1997
During 2004 and 2005, the selection of beneficiaries was carried out based on household income level, using data from the Multiple Purpose Household Survey (EHPM)

9. Targeting Methodology in 2006
The current targeting methodology is the same as the proximate variables methodology:
1. Water
2. Electricity
3. Overcrowding
4. Average years of schooling of household head
5. Number of children between 0 and 5 years of age

10. Targeting Methodology in 2005
The database for estimating the poverty level is the National Living Standards Survey (ENCOVI, 2004), instead of the Household Survey.
The projected variable for measuring poverty is Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE), estimated as a function of a series of common variables from the ENCOVI questionnaire and the 2001 National Population Census questionnaire.
The threshold for classifying extreme poverty is the Extreme Poverty Line from the ENCOVI, approximately 510 Lempiras per capita per month.
This categorization is carried out for all of the villages in the country.
The independent variables are selected based on the size of the coefficients in the econometric estimates.

11. Selection of BMI beneficiaries
1990 – 2005: Identification of poor families living in the area served by the Health Units (UPS), which have women and children who are minors and which meet the conditions for receiving the voucher (maximum of 4 people per family) [5]
2006: Registry of Beneficiaries (SIRBHO)
(Household Head)
[5] Bono Materno Infantil, Consultant Report. Hernández, Nelson. PRAF, October 1998.

12. Distribution of the BMI [4]
Until 2005: The process for soliciting the vouchers was carried out in 2 ways:
From the PRAF to the Central Bank (Voucher issuance).
From the PRAF to the Departments (UPS personnel).
2006: Using a listing of the Household Heads that have met the co-responsibility requirement, payment is carried out through the national banking system.
[4] Bono Materno Infantil, Consultant Report. Hernández, Nelson. PRAF, October 1998.

13. Monthly Amount (per beneficiary) Yearly Amount (per beneficiary)
Voucher Amounts
Year
Monthly Amount (per beneficiary)
Yearly Amount (per beneficiary) L
(US$ 4.57) L
(US$ 54.8)
1995 L
(US$ 3.1) L
(US$ 37.2)
1996 L
(US$ 3.4) L
(US$ 40.8) L L
(US$ 37.7)
2006&
L 2,150.00
(US$ )
2007#
L – L
(US$ 14.5 – US$ 18.8)
L. 3,300 – L4,300.00
(US$ US$ )
& Solidarity Voucher, one-time distribution during the implementation of the beneficiaries’ census.
# Proposed voucher amount, awaiting approval from the Finance Secretary.
Average price for the sale of the dollar in the financial system, monthly series, Central Bank of Honduras.
Updated on:01/11/2006

14. BMI Beneficiaries and Investments from 1990 - 2005
Total Number of Beneficiaries
Amount in Lempiras
Amount in Dollars
Total
1,491,137
766,994,400.00
56,209,957.51
Yearly average
93,196
47,937,150.00
3,513,122.34

15. BMI Beneficiaries and Investments from 1990 - 2006
Source: General Directorate for Public Investment - DIGIP, based on data provided by the PRAF Planning Department. November 2006.

16. BMI Beneficiaries and Investments from 1990 - 2006
Source: DIGIP, based on data provided by the PRAF Planning Department. November 2006.

17. Results Obtained through the distribution of the BMI
There have been no studies about the health impact attributable to the BMI. However, in an evaluation of the PRAF/IADB 1026 Project, it was demonstrated that beneficiaries:
Increased their use of health services (women and children)
Demonstrated greater awareness of the importance of self-care in health
Improved feeding and nutritional practices through the AIN-C strategy (400 monitors)

18. Institutional Strengthening
PRAF/IADB SF HO 949 Project, Phase I (1995 – 1997)
Investment US$ 20,000,000.00
Objectives:
Restructuring of the PRAF
Systematization of the height census
Financial accounting system
No conditions for the beneficiaries

19. Institutional Strengthening
PRAF/IADB 1026/SF-HO Project (1998 – 2004)
Investment US$ 50,351,000.00
External funds: 45,226,000.00
National funds: 5,125,000.00
45,000 households

20. Objective of the PRAF/IADB 1026/SF-HO Project
General objective:
Reorient PRAF activities from a model of social compensation to one that builds human capital, by improving the conditions of the children from the country’s poorest families

21. Components
Health
Education
Institutional strengthening

22. Health and Nutrition Voucher
L (US$ 3.4) monthly (US$ 40 yearly) per beneficiary
2 beneficiaries per household
2004 – 2005
L (US$ 5.9) monthly (US$ 70.8 yearly) per household

23. Integrated Social Protection Program PIPS. PRAF/IADB 1568/SF-HO
General objective:
To contribute to improving the human capital of the country’s poorest families, through an integrated social protection strategy.

24. Investment US$ 22,200,000.00 IADB Funds: US$20,000,000.00
National Funds: US$2,200,000.00
Beneficiaries: 20,000 households

25. Components Health Education Institutional strengthening
Program that is conditional on meeting co-responsibility