A/HRC/35/26 residency, and Setenta y Más, another unconditional cash transfer for people over 70 years of age who reside in smaller localities. 68 41. Another famous example is the Bolsa Família in Brazil — Latin America’s largest conditional cash transfer programme — which was introduced in 2004, building on earlier, smaller, cash transfer programmes. Indigent and poor families wanting to receive the cash benefit are required to visit health clinics regularly and/or to meet minimum school attendance requirements. Brazil also has unconditional cash transfer programmes, such as the Benefício de Prestação Continuada, which is disbursed to the elderly and to individuals with disabilities living in low-income households. The Bolsa Família was enacted the day after another law that established a citizen’s income for every Brazilian citizen or foreigner residing in the country for more than five years, regardless of their socioeconomic condition. But the latter law was never implemented and is often confused by the public with other existing minimum income programmes.69 42. Many African countries have unconditional cash transfers in the form of “social pensions” provided to all citizens above a certain age, without prior conditions.70 A newer phenomenon is the introduction of universal unconditional cash transfers in the context of subsidy reform. In 2010, the Islamic Republic of Iran introduced a “cash subsidy” of around $45 per month payable to all Iranians living in the country, to compensate for subsidy reductions on gasoline, gas, water and electricity. 71 Similarly, Saudi Arabia is currently introducing a “household allowance” — a cash transfer to the poor and the middle classes (decreasing with income) to compensate for planned subsidy reforms. 72 43. Unconditional cash transfers, although without strings attached, differ from basic income schemes in several respects. First, they are generally paid to households 73 and may vary accordingly. Second, unconditional cash transfers often target the poor or other categories such as children or the elderly. Third, the amount of the unconditional cash transfers often differs, depending on the recipient’s situation. 44. While Van Parijs and Vanderborght claim that such programmes are “still a long way from an unconditional basic income”,74 others have argued that experience with these cash transfer schemes “gives empirical support to arguments in favour of a universal unconditional basic income”,75 and that they offer guidance for the optimal design of basic income schemes in high-income countries. 76 Still, whether these existing cash transfer programmes are a stepping stone to full basic income schemes remains uncertain. Lavinas has argued that the Bolsa Família is the “antithesis” of a citizen’s income and “cannot be seen as a starting point toward a universal and unconditional income”.77 E. Social protection floors 45. Internationally, social protection floors have been promoted in the context of the Social Protection Floor Initiative, launched in 2009.78 This initiative culminated in the 2011 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 14 Pablo Yanes, “Targeting and conditionalities in Mexico: the end of a cash transfer model?”, in R.L. Vuolo, ed., Citizen’s Income and Welfare Regimes in Latin America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), pp. 67-85. Lena Lavinas, “Brazil: the lost road to citizen’s income”, in R.L. Vuolo, ed., Citizen’s Income and Welfare Regimes in Latin America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), pp. 34-42. Guy Standing, “How cash transfers promote the case for basic income”, Basic Income Studies (April 2008), p. 19. Hamid Tabatabai, “Iran: a bumpy road toward basic income”, in R.K. Caputo, ed., Basic Income Guarantee and Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), p. 285. “Blow of higher utility bills softened for low-income Saudis”, Arab News, 24 December 2016. Tabatabai, “Iran: a bumpy road”, pp. 293 and 294. Van Parijs and Vanderborght, Basic Income, p. 69. Standing, “How cash transfers promote the case for basic income”, p. 2. Evelyn L. Forget, Alexander D. Peden and Stephenson B. Strobel, “Cash transfers, basic income and community-building”, Social Inclusion, vol. 1, No. 2 (2013), p. 90. Lena Lavinas, “Brazil: the lost road to citizen’s income”, p. 44. See A/69/297.