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Elena GaiaUNICEF Regional Office CEECIS

Third CARRA Inter-agency Conference, Almaty, 15 April 2011

The role of Social Protection systems in Central Asia for addressing

poverty and vulnerability to risks

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Outline

For every childHealth, Education, Equality, ProtectionADVANCE HUMANITY

Social Protection – what and why? Linking SP, DRR, food security and

energy SP systems in Central Asia Priorities for coordination Conclusions

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What is Social Protection?

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The set of public and private policies and programmes aimed at reducing, managing and overcoming the economic and social vulnerabilities of children, women and families, in order to ensure their access to a decent standard of living and essential services and to opportunities, livelihoods and jobs

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An integrated set of interventions

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Social Transfers (cash and in kind, social insurance and assistance)

Economic and social access to servicesSocial care & support servicesLegislation, regulation and policies to ensure equity

and non-discrimination

To be complemented by:- Investments in supply of quality and affordable services- Labour market policies and generation of decent

employment opportunities

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Why do we need Social Protection in Central Asia (1)

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- Living standards have been improving over last decade, but global crisis has halted trends

- However, even before the crisis, growth patterns not equitable: large groups of population remain highly vulnerable to shocks due to low family incomes (working poor, women, families with children, with disabled members,HH in rural areas)

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For every childHealth, Education, Equality, ProtectionADVANCE HUMANITY

ABSOLUTE POVERTY

YEAR TOTAL URBAN RURALWith

children % total

Poor as % of families

with children

TAJIKISTAN 2009 47% 42% 49% 53% 62%

KAZAKHSTAN 2008 16% 12% 21% 7% 15%

UZBEKISTAN 2007 24% 18% 27% 30% 44%

KYRGYZSTAN 2008 32% 23% 37% 27% 62%

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Why do we need Social Protection in Central Asia (2)

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Structural vulnerabilities-poverty and inequities in access to services, energy and water & sanitation-malnutrition-high out-of-pocket expenditures for health

Compounded by external shocks-global economic and financial crisis-volatility of food and energy prices-proneness to natural disasters

SP can contribute to preventing and addressing compound risks

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SP Instrument ObjectivesFood distribution in drought,

flood, etc. affected areasFood security

Geographically targeted direct subsidized provision of

services and cash to populations highly vulnerable

to climate change, or in aftermath of emergency (e.g.

Kyrg)

Income security

Access to basic services

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For every childHealth, Education, Equality, ProtectionADVANCE HUMANITY

SP Instrument ObjectivesPublic works schemes to build

physical infrastructure to improve climate change resilience (dykes, canals) and social infrastructure (housing, public schools, health

centers) that is earthquake proof and energy efficient

Employment and income security

Mitigation and adaptation / resilience

Improved service deliveryEnvironmental protection

Weather-indexed crop insurance; micro-insurance; benefits from

pensions or social assistance indexed to prices or season

Food & income security

Livelihoods

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Implications for SP reform in Central Asia

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Volatility of food and energy prices, exposure to natural disasters and volatility of coping mechanisms such as remittances call for SP programmes to become more flexible, adaptable to changing circumstances, include contingency plans and easily scalable to respond to crises – can UN and donors help?

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For every childHealth, Education, Equality, ProtectionADVANCE HUMANITY

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Reality check: Social Protection systems in Central Asia

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•High aspirations and self-perceptions: poverty concepts and measurements remain highly controversial•Attitudes towards causes of and solutions to poverty: the deserving the poor, avoiding dependency•Legacies and rigidities of previous systems: old privileges and benefits that do not reflect current needs assessments•Fiscal limitations are a serious constraint in Taj & Kyr, less so in the other three countries

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Fiscal balance as percentage of GDP 2006-2011

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan

pe

rce

nt

of

GD

P

200620072008200920102011

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For every childHealth, Education, Equality, ProtectionADVANCE HUMANITY

•Low expenditure on social assistance, worsening with crisis (Taj 0.4% GDP in 2008)

•Targeted cash benefits do not reach most needed, huge errors of exclusion In Kyrg, Monthly Benefit (MB) targeted at poor families with children, covers only 18% of poorest quintile

•Level of SA benefits is not enough to make a difference, pensions perform better Value of MB in Kyrg is 7% of total HH consumption

But more research is needed into impact and cost-effectiveness of different types of interventions as well as costing of alternative models

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Way forward in SP reform (1)

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• Consolidate fragmented systems, balancing cash with services and employment

• Protect spending on SP and make it a central government budget item

• Replace privileges and benefits based on merit to free up resources (including strategy to balance opposition of ‘losers’)

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Way forward in SP reform (2)

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• Adjust targeting to dynamic nature of poverty: in CA context difficult to perform the sophisticated PMT targeting methods in a timely and cost-effective manner; consider using specific demo or geo characteristics

• Increase outreach to marginalized HH and areas, information campaigns, reducing documentation requirements

• Include contingency plans for emergency

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Priority areas for coordination?

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1. Evidence-based policy and data collection: asking the right questions and disseminating the results

2. Common strategising for the right entry points in each context to advocate for reforms of social protection that include DRR

3. In the two low income countries, contribute to funding of schemes to expand coverage, increase levels of benefits (and supply of services) and support M&E

4. however, the most vulnerable and marginalized may still remain excluded, more so during emergencies – can UN and donors work together to help systems walk that extra mile?

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Conclusions

For every childHealth, Education, Equality, ProtectionADVANCE HUMANITY

Approaches to SP may be different, but key common concerns bring us together: poverty, malnutrition, water-related diseases, vulnerability to shocks

With improved designs, better management and more funding SP systems in Central Asia can significantly contribute to addressing those concerns – role of UN and donors in capacity building, generating evidence, sharing best practices and ensuring DRR is incorporated into strategies

The integrated nature of SP interventions is a unique opportunity to bring together the spectrum of experience and resources across UN and donors

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Thank you!

Questions?

egaia@unicef.org