A/HRC/13/33/Add.4 A. Social programmes 67. Among the impressive number of initiatives taken by the current administration in order to improve the situation of the poorest segments of the population, those coordinated by the Council on Social Cohesion (Consejo de Cohesión Social) feature prominently. The most important of these initiatives is the cash transfer programme Mi Familia Progresa, currently reaching 136 municipalities identified as the poorest in the country. 68. Under Mi Familia Progresa, monthly cash transfers of GTQ 150 or 300, equivalent to 10 or 20 per cent of the minimum wage respectively, are provided to poor families. These transfers are conditional on school attendance by children and regular medical checkups. According to information received during the mission, 446,174 families benefited between March 2008 and September 2009 and 90 per cent of the allocation went on food expenses. The programme was able to expand quickly, due to its flexible nature, but some supply-side problems have surfaced, for example the insufficient capacity of school and health centres to cope with the rise in attendance. 69. In addition, Mi Familia Progresa only covers selected municipalities. To determine the target areas, a 2002 municipal vulnerability index prepared by SEGEPLAN was used, according to which 80 municipalities were classified as priority areas and 41 as high priority. Under the current administration another 10 municipalities were included in the priority category in 2008. The Special Rapporteur regrets that more up-to-date and disaggregated data collected by SESAN has not been used to improve the index. For a better mapping of food vulnerability and insecurity, the State should strengthen these capacities and incorporate a human rights-based approach to the indicators used.54 70. Other food security-related programmes are comedores solidarios, which offers nutritious meals at affordable prices through public cafeterias in urban centres and bolsa solidaria, which distributes a monthly package of grains and foodstuffs in and around Guatemala City, conditional on the participation of beneficiaries in development training. Additionally, the bolsa solidaria rural temporal offers a package of basic foodstuffs to rural families at risk of malnutrition, and the bolsa de subsistencia provides ready-to-cook food to families in a state of disaster. The impact on food security of these particular programmes would be further improved by provisions to ensure to the extent possible the purchase of locally produced foodstuffs, preferably from family farms and rural entrepreneurial families. 71. Some degree of accountability for these social programmes has been ensured. For example, if a family living in one of the municipalities covered by Mi Familia Progresa is not deemed eligible, it can bring its case before the municipal delegation of the programme, which has the obligation to review it, while Community Councils for Development (Consejos Comunitarios de Desarrollo, COCODES) allow for beneficiary participation and monitoring of the delivery of aid and cash transfers. 72. Concerns have nevertheless been expressed about the sustainability, transparency, and coordination of social cohesion programmes. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, these concerns could be addressed by the increased integration of human rights principles in these programmes, and Mi Familia Progresa in particular. This would require a better mapping of poverty and food vulnerability and insecurity, ensuring improved targeting until universal coverage can be achieved, and prioritizing the food insecure. In addition, beneficiaries should be better informed about their rights under the programmes in order to 54 18 See the report prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Indicators for Promoting and Monitoring the Implementation of Human Rights (HRI/MC/2008/3).