The Negative Implications of The High Levels of Inequality in Colombia

Territorial Inequalities in Colombia: Realities and Prospects

By Ramiro López-Ghio - Laura Giles Álvarez - Ekaterina Cuéllar - Cristhian Larrahondo

Territorial inequality comes at a cost: it significantly reduces economic efficiency and hinders productivity in the most vulnerable regions...

Colombia, like many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, has high levels of inequality, in both in terms of income and the country’s geography.  This characteristic has negative implications for its economic growth and the quality of life of its population.

Severe income inequality at the national level requires, among other measures, progressive fiscal policies to generate greater equity.  Yet territorial inequality presents a significant challenge: we lack measures of territorial inequality over time that are comparable to those at the national level.  This limitation hinders evidence-based diagnosis that could support the development of effective policies.

Measuring Territorial Inequality in Colombia

In order to better understand inequalities between Colombia’s different regions and consider public policies to address them, the IDB published on a study in which it developed a multidimensional index of territorial inequality.  This index measures seven determining factors in the lives of Colombians, from childhood to old age.  It also provides an objective measure of the phenomenon that can be replicated over time.  The results outline four broad categories when it comes to the different departments of Colombia.  These groupings, which together we can call the Multiple Colombias (see Figure 1) are:

1. Consolidated Colombia: The most prosperous departments, where a robust and diversified economic model has been consolidated.
2. Emerging Colombia: Departments that, although lagging in some dimensions, have the conditions to consolidate improvements in the well-being of their inhabitants.
3. Colombia in Transition: Departments facing significant structural challenges, but able to partially mitigate social shocks.
4. Vulnerable Colombia: Departments where multiple factors that inhibit citizens’ well-being and quality of life converge.

The results show that the differences between these regions are equivalent to the disparities between countries of vastly different wealth and development.  There are regions in Colombia with social and economic indicators equivalent to high-income countries, other areas resembling upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income ones, and others with results similar to those of low-income countries.

The Implications of Territorial Inequality

Territorial inequality comes at a cost: it significantly reduces economic efficiency and hinders productivity in the most vulnerable regions.  The concentration of resources in favored areas not only limits the development of disadvantaged regions; it keeps them in a state where the lack of opportunities and investment perpetuates a vicious cycle of poverty and exclusion.  This dynamic negatively impacts productivity and economic growth, hindering inclusive development.

In fact, the departments in the Vulnerable Colombia have shown a negative gap of one percentage point in real GDP growth over the last decade compared to the national average.  In contrast, the departments in the Consolidated Colombia show a positive gap, which reinforces their competitive advantage.  Likewise, departmental competitiveness indices reveal significant disparities: while departments in the Vulnerable Colombia score an average of 3.1 out of 10, those in the Consolidated Colombia  have almost double this score with an average of 6.4 out of 10.

Social mobility is also negatively affected by these gaps.  Compared to other countries in the region, Colombia has lower social mobility, as revealed by studies that consider both years of education and other wealth indicators.  This lack of access to equitable opportunities, exacerbated by territorial inequalities, perpetuates poverty over generations, restricting the possibilities for socioeconomic advancement and maintaining these disparities over time.

Strengthening territorial work

Counteracting regional disparities is essential.  At the IDB, we emphasize the importance of designing evidence-based territorial development policies that can respond to the specific needs of the Multiple Colombias. These policies should address the economic, social and environmental particularities of each region and be integrated into national development plans.

The use of multidimensional inequality indices and measures of social mobility is an important advance in this sense.  These instruments provide a more complete and nuanced view than traditional metrics and are crucial to the design of effective strategies to address inequalities in a comprehensive manner.  Strategies to improve the quality of education and cash transfer programs, for example, will be effective to the extent that they consider territorial realities.

In addition, it is essential to strengthen territorial entities with programs that increase their capacity to generate their own resources and formulate projects of public investment and social support projects.  This support will not only improve the effectiveness of regional policies but will also reduce inequalities and help promote equitable development.  After all, every citizen, regardless of where they live, should have the opportunity to benefit from inclusive growth: to prosper and contribute to the country’s development.

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The Gender equality issue in The Bahamas is set to be addressed via a constitutional referendum

Have Your Say: Bills To Bring About Gender Equality

Tribune242 Nassau, The Bahamas:



PRIME Minister Perry Christie announced the introduction of four bills in the House of Assembly on Wednesday morning which, once passed, will effect a constitutional referendum.

BILL 1: Would allow a child born outside of the Bahamas to a Bahamian mother and a non-Bahamian father to have citizenship.

BILL 2: Would allow a foreign man married to a Bahamian woman to seek citizenship.

BILL 3: Would allow an unmarried Bahamian father to pass his citizenship to a child born to a foreign mother.

BILL 4: Would end discrimination based on sex.

Have you been affected by any of these issues? Are they relevant to your life? If so, you can leave your comments below.

July 23, 2014

Tribune242

Gender Equality in the Caribbean

Gender inequality in the Caribbean: A sad story

By Rebecca Theodore:



Christianity, it has been argued, “changed the world, established the roots of civilization and advanced the general well -being of humanity.” Astoundingly enough, it now seems that the Christian thought that evolved from the fiery preaching of St Paul the apostle to the Ephesians is now engulfing the Caribbean in a tide of darkness and destruction. Emboldened by a religious intellectualism fiddled with emotionalism, the dilemma of gender inequality lies fortified amidst a wreckage that yearns for a perfect comprehension in the Caribbean.



The lurid and pithy utterances and the revelation contained in Ephesians 5: 22-23 and 1 Timothy 2:11-14 are now distinguished in a surge of gender inequality that betrays the progress that women have made and continue to make in the Caribbean.

If statistics concerning gender inequality in the Caribbean are correct, then we at once see the economic, social, and political status of women being rapidly eroded in a patriarchal society where religion worships the epitome of a male dominated supremacy.

As ministers of religion take to the pulpits and preach the boldness and grandeur of the scriptures, it seems more men are taken in with the soaring flight of their own imaginations as a reason to beat their wives because they are the head of the household. Others feel compelled to restrain them to silence in church ministry and political participation.

Statistics report that “women in the Caribbean still lack promotional rights, free from job discrimination as social and legal institutions do not pledge equality in employment and earning and social and political participation.” Caribbean women not only continue to cluster at the lower sectors of society in terms of employment, wages, and political representation, making them vulnerable to poverty and gender-based violence and harassment, but to conflicting ideology of power and religious oppression as well.

The impact of gender inequality on Caribbean shores should now awaken the conscience of governments to take measures to ensure that all its citizens are protected. It is time that Caribbean governments focus on the eradication of direct and indirect forms of discrimination against women through legislative reforms and the enactment of gender sensitive social, political and religious policies.

Although one might be tempted to infer that Christian morals should be upheld in every aspect of our daily lives, it must also be seen that in a society where women’s rights are vaporized by religion, then the narrative becomes sexist in origin and chaos quickly follows.

It is assumed that since St Augustine and his confessions, the Christian church continues to misread Paul and religious interpreters are losing sight of the controversy regarding the relationship between men and women. Former professor at Harvard University Divinity School Krister Stendahl confirms that “Paul’s biblical exegesis, historical interpretation and sociological analysis, is only demonstrative of an "introspective conscience" hence the real dynamic in Paul’s polemic, i.e., the relationship between men and women should not be one that encourages or contributes to abuse of women or gender inequality.”

If God is the liberator of all humanity, then shouldn’t the aim of the law as understood in Christianity construct a device capable of inclusion of all sexes? Why then should St Paul declare it a shame for women to speak in public or constrain them to silence, thus reducing them to inequality and slaves of the law?

Seeking to alienate women from the duties and privileges of church leadership or employment equity is antiquated in nature especially in a glowing 21st century where much emphasis is placed on gender egalitarianism and non-discrimination.

History has proven time and time again, that institutions of faith destroy equality. It must also be remembered that it was the skepticism of organized religion that led to the fundamentalist movement in the United States and the manipulation of individual faith as a means to a political end, because people wanted the freedom to learn from the bible, and interpret it themselves through their community church.

And while there is salvation on the Damascus road, the need for structural reform, redefinition of power, accelerating human rights for women to provide a firm foundation for social, religious and economic development and security should now be an urgent plea in many Caribbean societies.

June 06, 2013

Caribbean News Now!

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