The Battle Against Poverty

In this important book, based on his experience and with data and statistics, former President Santos explains how the battle against poverty was waged in Colombia, and describes the tools, programs, and policies that led to more than five million Colombians overcoming poverty.

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In the second decade of the 21st century, Colombia showed surprising results in the fight against poverty. Monetary poverty dropped, extreme monetary poverty was cut in half, and multidimensional poverty fell. More than five million Colombians overcame poverty. Inequality also decreased significantly. In the middle of an internal armed conflict and peace negotiations, Colombia became a poverty reduction success story. All of this happened under the leadership of President Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018). How was this accomplished?

In this important book, based on his experience and with data and statistics, former President Santos explains how this battle against poverty was waged and describes the tools, programs, and policies that produced these results. In particular, he emphasizes the importance of Colombia's globally pioneering adoption of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), calculated according to the Alkire-Foster method and developed at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). The MPI, inspired by the work of Professor Amartya Sen, has been used in Colombia not only as a poverty measure but also as an instrument to guide social policy.

The Colombian approach to poverty offers lessons, clearly explained in this book, to other nations, academics, and decision-makers. The Colombian experience demonstrates that, with political leadership and reliable poverty measurement, it is possible to make progress toward social equality.