OAS - Caribbean Conference on Horizontal Cooperation in Social Protection

Port of Spain 11-12 September 2008

Karoline Schmid – Social Affairs Officer

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (ECLAC)

Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean

Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC)

Economic development context

Slow and uneven economic growth;High public sector debt;Low productivity;Large informal sector;Dependence on small range of goods & services export;Expiration of preferential trade agreements.

Social challenges

Demographic, economic and epidemiological transition;

Migration (brain-drain, return migration);

Natural disasters;

Poverty and vulnerability;

Cross-cutting gender issues;

Health and Education challenges (Access, HIV/AIDS, Reforms).

Poverty

Advanced development: high HDI - BUT:

● Limited availability and access to data;

● Unequal income distribution (high Gini);

● Pockets of poverty and indigence;

● High risk population segments: unemployed youths,

elderly, informal sector employees, the disabled,

female headed households with dependents;

● Poverty estimates vary for various countries: 15 – 38%

(see chart next slide);

Sources:CDB Country Poverty Assessment Reports- Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, BVI, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines; Survey of Living Conditions- Belize and Trinidad

Com para tive P overty Leve ls for S e lected Caribbean Countries

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1 01 52 02 53 03 54 04 5

Country

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GINI Coe fficie nts for Se le cte d Caribbe an countrie s

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0 .1

0 .2

0 .3

0 .4

0 .5

0 .6

0 .7

Country

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Sources: CDB Country Poverty Assessment Reports- Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, BVI, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines; Survey of Living Conditions- Belize and Trinidad; UNDP Human Development Reports – Haiti, Jamaica

Poverty in Haiti

I-PRSP adopted in 2006;

The poorest country in the western hemisphere:

● Per capita income: 250 $US;

● 50% of population < 1 $US a day;

● 76% of population < 2 $US a day;

● Poverty rural phenomenon:

- 69% of population < 1 US$ a day;

- 76% of population < 2 US$ a day.

Gender aspects in poverty and social security

Female headed households with dependents range from 21% to 44.5%;Female headed households with dependents range from 21% to 44.5%;Equal education but unequal access to labor market; equal work for less pay; Females with higher levels of education are more likely to be employed;Opportunities in formal economy biased towards men (higher female unemployment and higher percentage of women in informal sectors); [Barbados 2000 Census shows 77.8% women and 22.2% men were employed in private households];Consequently: Exclusion of women from social security mechanisms such as pensions & other forms of contributory saving plans;Heavy burden of care in home and community.

Data collection:

● SPARC (multi-donor effort), Improving Household Surveys

project (ECLAC);

● CDB/UNDP: support of HH surveys/poverty assessments: A&B

HBS/SLC 2005, Anguilla CPA 2002, Belize SLC 2002, BVI

CPA 2003, Dominica CPA 2003, Grenada SLC 1998, CPA

2007/2008, SKN CPA 2001, Haiti SLC 2001, St. Lucia

SLC/HBS 2005/2006, T&T SLC 2005), T&C CPA 2000;

● Census 2010: multi-donor effort to provide support at national

and regional (CARICOM) level;

Examples of UN Agency responses

Monitoring and Evaluation: support to MDG reporting and costing Belize, T&T (multi-agency); regional project (ECLAC); Development of policies and programs: Research and data analysis to support evidence based policy formulation (ECLAC);Technical assistance on gender, ageing, natural disasters (ECLAC & other agencies);Knowledge sharing: Sub-regional and regional intergovernmental and expert group meetings (ECLAC & other agencies).

Examples of UN Agency responses

Jamaica: PATH project to enhance targeting of welfare programs; Grenada and St. Kitts & Nevis: Initiated formulation of national policies on ageing;Guyana: Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP): Poverty Program, Poor Rural Communities Program, Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF), President’s Youth Choice Initiative;

Examples of Government initiatives

Trinidad & Tobago: Conditional Cash Transfer Program, old age pension, public assistance, feeding programs, employment programs, community development programs and a range of training and extension and business development services;Dominica: BNTF, National Shelter Development Project, Legal Aid Project, Upgrading Rural health Facilities, providing support to business development for job creation.

Examples of Government initiatives

Challenges in addressing poverty

Alleviate poverty in the short run;Break the cycle of intergenerational poverty transmission (human capital);Recognize age- and gender specific aspects of poverty;

Challenges in addressing poverty

Creation of a framework of social institutions: ● Overall policy framework and lead agency;

● Inter-sectoral coordination and integration;

● Transparency and evaluation;

● Reduce administrative costs;

● Continuity and consistency (avoid duplication);

● Significant duplication and gaps in coverage;

● Engagement of civil society.

• Thank you very much for your attention!

• Questions?