Conditional cash transfers are widely used in the world and are proving effective in delivering results. CCTPs are government programs that typically provide cash to participants upon their fulfillment of a set of conditions or responsibilities (e.g., school attendance by children, visits to health facilities). According to the World Bank, the number of CCTPs increased from 27 in 2008 to 53 in 2013. There is a preponderance of evidence from impact evaluation studies that CCTPs are delivering their intended results. In its 2014 The State of Social Safety Nets report, the World Bank surveyed impact evaluations of CCTPs and found that they have been successful in generating proven poverty alleviation impacts.
However, CCTP achievements are undermined by fraud, errors, and corruption. The risk of such occurrences, collectively referred to here as integrity risks or the “seven deadly sins”:
(i) access to information is insufficient;
(ii) high inclusion and exclusion errors;
(iii) noncompliance with CCT conditions;
(iv) payment delays;
(v) inefficiencies in grievance resolution processes;
(vi) inadequate access and/or quality of health and education services; and
(vii) exit.
These integrity risks and international experiences in managing them by using both state and civil society led efforts have been analyzed in a draft paper prepared by Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) as part of “Guarding the Integrity of the Conditional Cash Transfer Program (CCTP) in the Philippines” being implemented by a Filipino Civil Society Organization (CSO), the Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Government (CCAGG). The Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) is providing the funding for the project.