Social Innovation in Latin-America and the Caribbean Achiving Impact

1
Social Innovation in Latin-America and the
CaribbeanAchiving Impact Socio-Economic
Sciences Humanities in Horizon 2020Athens
26 27 February, 2014

• María Elisa Bernal
• Social Development Division
• ECLAC, UN

2
The presentation is based on the Project
Experiences in social innovation in
Latin-America and the Caribbean(ECLAC- Kellogg
Foundation)

• Clear conclusions
• Latin America and the Caribbean is a boom" of
  social innovations.
• At least in part, because we never have had a
  true Welfare State such as the Europeans

3
Even though .....

• Social expenditure
• Countercyclical
• Social programs such as conditional cash
  transfer.
• Issues
• Quality or coverage of education or health,
  income generation, youth programs, with enormous
  gaps and where the population faces serious
  problems. 
• Rural areas in general and in even more remote
  places have lower access to social services and
  higher levels of poverty

4
Overview of LAC Progress in reducing poverty
and extreme poverty and
reached almost all MDGs

• Evolution of
• poverty and
• extreme poverty
• These are averages Haiti (80), Honduras (70),
  Uruguay (10)
• There are still very difficult "pockets" to
  attend, and there are some goals that the region
  might not be able to achieve ( Ex Maternal
  Mortality).

5
The region is the most unequal of the Word
Share of total income (In percentages)
Inequality (Gini)
6
Poverty is not only income. HDI Income
life expectancy at birth education
Latin America has an average HDI which puts us
not far from Europe and Central Asia Human
Development Index 2012
7
Again, these are averages.
There are huge differences.  Chile is the
highest (Rank 40, 0.81), the lowest Haiti (Rank
161, 0.45, 62.4, 4.7), followed by Guatemala
(Rank 131, 0.58, 71.4, 4.1) How will they get
out of poverty in these countries where schooling
is less than 5 years?  Not even finishing
primary. These differences between countries are
replicated within them.  For example, in
Brazil, life expectancy at birth is 14 years
higher for the highest quintal than the
lowest. In education, in Sao Paulo 100 of
children aged 5 and 6 years attend school but in
Melgaco in the State of Para, only 59 attend
school. There is no doubt that under these
conditions society must be creative to find new
solutions to traditional problems.
8
Our definition of Social Innovation

• New ways of doing tasks, new tasks, new ways of
  execution or management
• And it has to be
• Cost efficiency relation better than the one in
  traditional models,
• Has the potential to be replicated in the country
  originated as well as in other countries of the
  region,
• Has proved its financial and political
  sustainability
• Has the possibility of becoming public policy,
• Has impacts on the poverty determinants,
• Has the potential to reduce discrimination and
  exclusion, and

9
Characteristics of social innovation in
Latin America and the Caribbean
Social innovations have primarily arisen from the
civil society, the communities or a virtuous
combination of these two, but always with a major
participation of the people.  The community has
the capacity to identify the most pressing
problems and with the support of the external
agents, analyze the feasibility of alternative
solutions.   Social innovation generally arises
as a response to a crisis or extreme poverty in
any of its determinants.   Developing and
facilitating synergies between technical and
modern knowledge with traditional and sometimes
ancestral knowledge.   In the productive projects
in all cases, developing associative
models.   Promoting partnerships with government
at different levels, with civil society, unions
and even with the private sector.  
10
More characteristics ..
The innovative projects generally received
external financial support key for the
developing of the innovation if the financing
agent understood the cycle that requires for the
development of innovation and do not expect
results in a very short time. Despite the huge
number of innovations generated in the region,
the scale-up of the innovative model and
therefore its ability to affect large proportions
of the population is very low.  The scale-up
could only be achieved when this new model
becomes public policy, from the local to the
national level. Unfortunately, very few
governments, at any level, do that.
11
Characteristics of social innovation in
income generation
Emerged at a time when some adverse conditions
have worsened. For example, the Argentina crisis
in the earlier 2000, the security situation in
the Peruvian highlands, or the forced eradication
of illicit crops in Colombia. The idea of
seeking new alternatives arises from the members
of the community on an individual or collective
leadership, and always starts with associative
models.  The output is related to both new
products and the improvement in the conditions of
production in particular levels of quality,
productivity and competitiveness what they
accomplish with associability. In most cases the
key is the support of an external agent, in a
joint effort based on the synergy between modern
scientific and technical knowledge with the
local, even in some cases ancient knowledge.  A
vertical integration process is part of the
success of these models.  The presence of
government is generally very low, the maximum
participation is to request documents. (Its not
good)
12
Results and example
They have been able to increase their
income Example Let Agogo, Haiti From extreme
poverty their income is now equal to the average
of the country.
13
Characteristics of social innovation in
education
Work to reduce school dropout rates increase
accessibility, especially in rural areas and
increase the quality of education especially in
the context of intercultural education.  There
is always a strong presence of an external agent
(NGO) that mobilized the educational community
around the idea that the situation could be
changed and improved.  With the community, the
external agent carries on the diagnosis that
allows the design of alternatives to be discussed
with this community.   In all cases the active
participation of the educational community, in
the entire process including implementation, is
crucial for the success of innovation. The
external agent works to build and strengthen
local leadership that will be able to continue
the process once the agent retires.  The local
government allows testing the "idea" and when the
model has been proved and validated, actively
participates and even finances some components or
the all activities, with the public budget,
allowing the model to grow.  In countries where
participatory budgeting is used  the community,
committed to the model, support its financing
with the local budget and make it possible to
remain independent of management changes.  
14
Results and example
They have been able to reduce dropouts but the
quality of education has been a more complex
achievement because while it is true that the
quality of education has been improved, reaching
the levels of urban schools for the upper class
has been impossible. For example, improvement
in reading comprehension and then improving the
learning process, but of course their teachers
continue to have lower levels. Example Family
Housing for Students , Bolivia
15
Characteristics of social innovation in
Health
Work in reducing infant and maternal mortality,
attention to dispersed and difficult to access
population, improvement in the quality and
relevance of care.  It is the sector where
government presence is higher. It is the concern
of the local health authorities against certain
indexes that move the search for new
solutions.  Also the success of innovation and
one of the innovative features is the active
participation of community members in the
diagnostic process and searches for alternative
solutions. This way of working, where health
comes from the uniqueness of the medical world,
has identified socioeconomic factors underlying
health problems.  It is not as obvious to
identify, for example that poverty affects health
by drinking no-potable water. Structural factors
have been addressed and resolved, positively
affecting health indicators. Non-governmental
organizations are taking great challenges
especially with regard dispersed populated and
difficult to access population. Gradually they
design and test models, cost efficient, but at
the same time, able to ensure the access to the
right of health. Usually, at the beginning, the
project is financed with external resources and
when they could prove that it works, the
government, first the local and then the
intermediate, support the model even funding
partially actions to finally make it public
program in which development NGOs becomes the
coordinator of the activities.
16
Results and example
They have been able to Reduce infant and
maternal mortality as well as other health
indicators Increase the accessibility to health
services Four-Leaf Clover Strategy to Reduce
Maternal and Infant Mortality,
Brazil Community Health Actions in the
Tapajós National Forest, Brazil
17
Summary
Latin America and the Caribbean is extremely
creative but more active action is required by
government authorities to achieve significant
increase in the scale of work.  Universities and
research centers such as those gathered here can
play a central role in several areas In the
development of social innovations, acting as an
external agent that supports and accompanies the
communities in diagnosing the problems and find
the alternative solutions. In the evaluation of
the social innovations and, in the promotion of
government programs and policies using those
innovative models. Latin America has a lot of
social innovation experiences that could share
with Europe, specially to work with the migrants.
18
Thank you !!!
The information of the social innovative
experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean
could be find in www.cepal.org/dds/innovacionsoc
ial