translated from Spanish: Government says ‘speed and transparency’ in the face of criticism of IFE delivery

During this day Progressive Convergence – a block made up of the PS, PPD and PR – published a statement in which they raised various qualms regarding the implementation of the new Emergency Family Income. The missive calls into question “the eyedropper strategy” and the lack of clarity with which the Executive has acted, stating that “Serious administrative problems remain limiting access to the IFE 2.0 that needs to be corrected. The current situation demands transparency, which the Government is not having.” Faced with this and other criticisms, the Ministry of Social Development and Family (MDSF) issued a statement stating that “As a Government we have not only committed ourselves to working with the greatest speed and transparency in its implementation (of the IFE), but also with a sense of urgency and focus on families, aiming to solve and facilitate all those situations that could generate doubts about how to access the benefit”. In the response, they also stated that they have been “strengthening our information channels and training as many people involved in the processes of reviewing information in the territories, and in the communes, which is where people come first when it comes to updating their data from the Social Register of Households”. Regarding the changes that have been reported in the socio-Economic Emergency Indicator sheets, the formula by which the beneficiaries are defined, stated from the Ministry that “It is important to mention that the socioeconomic situation of families during the emergency is built with the last available information of them, which is why, the last word regarding income is always held by the neighbors”. In that line they added that “The depth of the crisis, the rawness of its effects, and the urgency with which we must act, compels us to act with mettle, responsibility and a spirit of collaboration.”

Original source in Spanish