Emphasizing Prevention in Citizen Security: The Inter-American Development Bank's Contribution to Reducing Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean

In less than a decade, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has developed a sizable lending portfolio in violence prevention and a significant record of research, international seminars, meetings, and technical assistance. This paper reviews the IDB's work in this area, analyzes what seems to have worked and the challenges that remain, and draws lessons for future lending. It is based on research and project reports, internal monitoring and evaluation systems, ex-post evaluation and interviews with Bank staff working in both Headquarters and the Country Offices on different aspects of these operations, and covers loans in Uruguay and Colombia.