“There is a close link between poverty, unjust deprivation and psychological distress”

UCA’s Argentinian Social Debt Observatory and CAF-development bank of Latin America- held a forum on August 2 on “‘Hidden’ Poverty and Inequality: Social innovation and new measurement tools” in the Mons. Derisi Auditorium of the UCA campus in Puerto Madero.

The Observatory’s director, Agustín Salvia, was the keynote speaker. “Poverty is not defined only by income; it implies much more. Thus, we need an interdisciplinary and multidimensional approach to poverty, which should be understood as unfair deprivation that hinders the development of human capabilities and social integration.”

Salvia stressed that a society is “poor” when its members are not able to develop their abilities, pointing out that we must analyze the subjective and psychological well-being of the people in addition to physical conditions. “There is a close link between poverty, unjust deprivation and psychological distress.” This is also a chronic condition that reproduces itself across generations.”

The CAF’s Director-Representative for Argentina, Andrés Rugeles, warned of increasing poverty in Latin America, and said that there are “186 million poor” in the region, mostly children, teenagers, women, young people, especially in rural sectors. In that sense, he reaffirmed CAF’s support to Argentina through investment in the most vulnerable sectors, and narrowing social gaps through projects in areas such as water, sewerage and education.

“In order to build the fair and equitable Latin America we all dream of, CAF’s actions focus on three axes: narrowing social gaps in Argentina and their geographical expressions, supporting the nation’s reinsertion into global markets and promoting public investment in sectors the private sector has still not tackled,” added Rugeles.

After the keynote speech, CAF’s Director of Social Innovation, Ana Mercedes Botero, argued in favor of the need to understand poverty from a broader perspective, incorporating aspects such as rights and capabilities, with subjective emotional and psychological inputs. She also stressed the importance of discussing poverty with the poor, and opening channels for vulnerable groups to participate in public policy decisions.

The Social Innovation Department at CAF promotes a debate around these new types of measurement, especially the missing dimensions on poverty measurement, and the Poverty Stop Light. In this sense, the director of Foco Sustentable and Centro Lyra, Mireya Vargas, presented a research by Oxford University on dimensions such as subjective well-being, or shame, humiliation and social isolation.

The director of Fundación Paraguaya, Martín Burt, introduced the Poverty Stop Light, which allows families to outline their poverty map and develop and implement a plan to lift themselves out of poverty. “The traditional approach to relief or reduce poverty is insufficient,” he said, and “Latin America’s economic development has not been matched with the social development of the region.”

Finally, a group discussion was held to reflect on poverty in Argentina, with the participation of the National Director of the Social Program Information, Evaluation and Monitoring System, Soledad Cubas; the economic policy adviser of the Ministry of Finance, William Cruces; the President of the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Argentinian Episcopal Conference, Emilio Inzaurraga; specialist in Monitoring and Social Inclusion of Unicef, Sebastián Waisgrais; and Observatory researcher Ianina Tuñón. The moderator was CAF economist María Lucila Berniell.