A Graduation Approach-Based Program for Victims of Colombia’s Armed Conflict: Lessons for Economic Inclusion

Abstract

Transformando Mi Futuro (Transforming my Future) is a poverty reduction program implemented by the Colombian government as part of the strategy to support and repair the victims of the armed conflict. The program is based on the graduation approach that implies a comprehensive intervention in which the household receives consumption support, financial education, asset transfer, technical training, and instruction in life skills. However, unlike other graduation programs, this one targeted the urban population and did not offer direct transfers. Its primary purpose was to build capacities among those households who reported wanting to invest their legal monetary compensation as victims in productive projects. A before-after approach was employed to evaluate this program. The main results highlight positive changes in well-being and a reduction in the gap between the current perception of well-being, expectations for two and five years in the future, and positive changes in labor income and informal savings. These results suggest that the program contributed to improve the living conditions of participating households. However, a heterogeneity analysis shows that changes are differentiated according to participants’ initial labor status.