PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2 ND MEETING OF THE COMCEC POVERTY ALLEVIATION WORKING GROUP

Transcription

1 Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2 ND MEETING OF THE COMCEC POVERTY ALLEVIATION WORKING GROUP Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region COMCEC COORDINATION OFFICE January 2014

2 Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2 ND MEETING OF THE COMCEC POVERTY ALLEVIATION WORKING GROUP ON TARGETING MECHANISMS OF THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET SYSTEMS IN THE COMCEC REGION (December 26 th, 2013, Ankara, Turkey) COMCEC COORDINATION OFFICE January 2014

3 For further information please contact: Mr. Mehmet Fidan Expert Mr. Mehmet Akif Alanbay Expert COMCEC Coordination Office Necatibey Caddesi No: 110/A Yücetepe Ankara/TURKEY Phone : Fax : Web : comcec@comcec.org mfidan@comcec.org malanbay@comcec.org

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Opening Session The COMCEC Poverty Outlook Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region A Brief Global Outlook on Social Safety Net Programmes and Targeting Mechanisms Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region Member State Presentations Benin Cameroon Egypt The Gambia Nigeria Palestine Turkey Local Authorities and International Development Institutions Experiences in Targeting the Poor Municipality of Altındağ World Bank Closing Remarks ANNEXES Annex 1: Agenda of the Meeting Annex 2: Program of the Meeting Annex 3: List of Participants... 24

5 Introduction The 2 nd Meeting of was held on December 26 th, 2013 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 14 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Poverty Alleviation Cooperation Working Group namely, Azerbaijan, Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Representatives of the COMCEC Coordination Office, IDB, SESRIC, World Bank Ankara Office and Municipality of Altındağ have also attended the Meeting. 1 After the opening remarks of Mr. Mehmet Metin EKER, Director General of the COMCEC Coordination Office (CCO) and Mr. Ercüment IŞIK, Advisor to Minister of Family and Social Policies of Turkey and the Chairman of the Meeting, the representatives of the CCO made presentations on COMCEC Poverty Outlook 2013 and the analytical study titled Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region. During the presentation of the COMCEC Poverty Outlook 2013, the participants were informed about the state of poverty in the world and the COMCEC Region as well as the efforts on poverty alleviation both in the world and in the COMCEC Region. The Meeting considered the social safety nets and their targeting mechanisms in the COMCEC Member States and the analytical study titled Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region commissioned by the COMCEC Coordination Office especially for the Meeting with a view to enriching the discussions. The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, achievements and challenges that they faced in targeting the poor. The Meeting also provided an opportunity to the representatives to learn the experiences of local authorities and international institutions in targeting mechanisms of social safety net systems. 1 The list of participants is attached as Annex 3. 1

6 1. Opening Session In line with the tradition of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Meeting started with the recitation from the Holy Quran. At the outset, Mr. M. Metin EKER, Director General of the COMCEC Coordination Office briefed the participants on the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) and the COMCEC Working Group Mechanism. Mr. EKER expressed that COMCEC meets annually, at ministerial level under the chairmanship of the Turkish President in İstanbul to discuss development challenges and review the cooperation efforts. In his statement, Mr. EKER informed the participants of the new vision document of the COMCEC, namely the COMCEC Strategy, adopted by the 4th Extraordinary Session of the Summit Conference, held in August 2012 in Makkah. Mr. EKER stressed that the Strategy would give a new impetus to the cooperation efforts under the COMCEC. He underlined that the mission of the COMCEC is to make this organization as a platform where the Member States will produce knowledge, share experiences and try to approximate policies in the long term in accordance with the common objectives defined by the Strategy. He stated that in order to fulfill its Mission, the Strategy brought some instruments in order to further activate cooperation under the COMCEC. One of these instruments is the Working Groups which were established in the six cooperation areas, namely trade, transport and communications, tourism, agriculture, poverty alleviation and finance. It was expressed that the Working Group Meetings convenes twice a year in Ankara in each cooperation area defined by the Strategy. They aim at bringing together experts of the member countries having necessary knowledge and expertise regularly to discuss the common issues of concern in each field, to produce knowledge, share experience and best practices and develop a common understanding. Mr. EKER also stated that the Secretariat of the COMCEC prepares important background reports and research documents for each Working Group meeting. Afterwards, he mentioned about the analytical study entitled Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region prepared for the Meeting. He has noted that such reports are prepared to enrich the discussions during the Working Group Meetings. Moreover, Mr. EKER highlighted that the second operational instrument initiated by the COMCEC Strategy is the Project Cycle Management (PCM) which enables the Member States to propose multilateral projects in the cooperation areas defined by the Strategy. Mr. EKER informed participants about the first project call within the PCM which was made in September He expressed that 23 different member countries and 3 OIC institutions submitted 98 projects to the CCO under the PCM. The successful projects were shortlisted by the CCO and a timeframe has been given to project owners to resubmit their proposals and complete the application process. After that, the final evaluation of the projects will be made by the CCO and the successful projects will be financed on a grant basis by the CCO. Mr. EKER underlined that, the main aim of the PCM is to more actively involve the member states human resources and institutional expertise in the cooperation efforts under the COMCEC. He expressed the readiness of the COMCEC Coordination Office to guide the Member Country experts regarding the application process. Furthermore Mr. EKER underscored that eradicating extreme poverty is the main objective of the Strategy. Considering the fact that 21 COMCEC Member Countries are in the group of the Least Developed Countries and one fourth of the total population of the COMCEC Region live under 1.25 USD a day, he emphasized that poverty alleviation is a crucial cooperation domain for the member 2

7 countries. He argued that exerting all the required efforts and bringing together the resources and experiences of the member countries are crucial for adressing this common challenge. He continued his words by mentioning about the four output areas of the strategy in its poverty alleviation section: Aid Effectiveness, Improving the Productive Capacity of the Poor, Effective Utilization of Financial Resources and Monitoring Poverty. Lastly, he stated that to the Working Group will discuss the issues under these output areas in its future meetings. In accordance with the traditions of the OIC, as the Head of Delegation of the host country, Mr. ERCÜMENT IŞIK Advisor to Minister of Family and Social Policies of Turkey was elected as the Chairman of the Meeting. Mr. IŞIK welcomed the all participants to the 2 nd Meeting of the Poverty Alleviation Working Group and expressed his thanks to the participants for electing him as the Chairman. Then, he introduced himself and the programme of the Meeting. 3

8 2. The COMCEC Poverty Outlook Ms. Hande HACIMAHMUTOĞLU, Expert from the COMCEC Coordination Office, has presented the key findings of the COMCEC Poverty Outlook In her presentation, Ms. HACIMAHMUTOGLU focused on the concept of poverty, the state of poverty in the world and in the COMCEC Region, the global efforts on poverty alleviation and the efforts on poverty alleviation in the COMCEC Region. With regards to poverty, Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU stated that since the perception of poverty might change depending on time and place, it is necessary to use a certain method to analyze the state of poverty. She briefly explained the frequently used methods both in monetary and nonmonetary terms, and she mentioned that in the Poverty Outlook, for the monetary terms poverty line USD 1.25 a day and as for the non-monetary terms the Human Development Index, the Multidimensional Poverty Index and the Global Hunger Index have been utilized in order to analyze the state of poverty. Afterwards, Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU shared some figures which reveal the state of poverty in the world and in the COMCEC Region. She demonstrated the similarity between the progress recorded in monetary and non-monetary poverty indicators. While explaining the state of the global poverty, she used poverty headcount ratios at US$1.25 a day (PPP) and the income levels of the different types of human development indicators. As for the COMCEC Region, she explained the monetary and non-monetary poverty regarding the three sub-regions of OIC, namely the Arab, African and Asian regions. In this part, she explained: GDP per capita (in PPP terms) figures of some COMCEC Member Countries, the share of low income COMCEC Countries total GDP in the COMCEC Regions total GDP, state of the COMCEC Member Countries in terms of Human Development, Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) values of the COMCEC Member Countries, the share of the population living under deprivation with regards to each MPI indicator and the Global Hunger Index values for the COMCEC Member Countries. Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU indicated that, for the period of , poverty levels decreased both in monetary and non-monetary terms for most of the countries globally. Afterwards, elaborating the above-mentioned indicators for the three sub-regions of the COMCEC region, she demonstrated that monetary and non-monetary poverty situation vary significantly among the Arab, the Asian and the African regions where the most serious poverty situation exists. Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU pointed out the most prevalent two perspectives in poverty alleviation efforts, namely pro-poor growth and human development approach. She discussed that pro-poor growth refers to providing enabling conditions for the poor to ensure their participation in the development process.. On the other hand, human development approach relies on a view that poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon that is less responsive to quick-fix solutions. After that she enumerated the major strategies or programmes targeting poverty alleviation namely; the Millennium Development Goals, Poverty Reduction Strategies of the World Bank and the IMF, Social Protection and Labour Strategy, the Comprehensive Development Framework, Official Development Assistance and micro-finance activities. Regarding the strategies and the programmes on poverty alleviation in the COMCEC region, she briefly explained the COMCEC Strategy, Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development and Special Programme for Development of Africa, OIC Cotton Programme and Vocational Education and Training Programme. 4

9 Underlining the gradually increasing efforts on poverty alleviation in the COMCEC Region, Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU summarized some important remarks related to poverty alleviation in the region as follows: Poverty is a major concern for a significant number of COMCEC countries Poverty has irreversible effects on children, since child poverty leads to a vicious cycle of poverty The poor have low skill and very low labor productivity Efforts towards reducing poverty in the COMCEC region may focus on the regional and national disparities 5

10 3. Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region 3.1. A Brief Global Outlook on Social Safety Net Programmes and Targeting Mechanisms Ms. Sırma DEMİR ŞEKER, Expert from the COMCEC Coordination Office has presented Social Safety Net Programmes in the COMCEC Region based on the key findings of the study called Targeting Mechanisms of Social Safety Net Programmes in the COMCEC Region. In her presentation, Ms. DEMİR ŞEKER focused on the concepts of poverty and social safety net, the state of poverty in the COMCEC Member Countries and the social safety net programmes in the COMCEC Member Countries. With regards to poverty, Ms. DEMİR ŞEKER stated two important aspects of poverty, namely monetary and non-monetary poverty. She mentioned that although income/consumption is an important factor for well-being and, low income/consumption is typically correlated with other non-monetary indicators of well-being; it is not the only way to measure well being. She also emphasized that how poverty is conceptualized is fundamental to how the poor are targeted by Social Safety Net programmes. Regarding social safety net, she provided definitions of social protection and a brief chart for explaining its components. She stated that social safety net is one of the components of social protection system which includes social insurance, labor policy and targeted service delivery. She mentioned that social protection system aims to protect individuals and households at risk of poverty by providing income or consumption transfers and/or by enhancing the social status and wellbeing of the poor and vulnerable. And social safety net transfers are non-contributory transfers that target the poor and those vulnerable to poverty and economic shocks. In this regard, she briefly explained benefits, potential costs, effectiveness and efficiency of social safety net programmes. In her presentation, she shared some figures to reveal the state of poverty and human development in the COMCEC Region. In this regard, she stated that 57 COMCEC Member Countries are distributed across four income categories - high, middle, middle-low and low income- and they are also distributed across four groupings based on human development indicators. Furthermore, Ms. ŞEKER provided social safety net programmes in the COMCEC Member Countries. She stated that social safety net programmes differ according to the income level of the member countries; while in high income countries governments provide generous universal social protection policies which are untargeted, in low, lower middle income and middle income countries social safety net programmes are mostly targeted. Ms. ŞEKER highlighted that the main types of social safety net programmes in low, lower middle income and middle income countries are unconditional and conditional cash transfers and in-kind transfers. Afterwards, she explained that although many social safety net programmes in the COMCEC Member Countries are provided by governments; there are some social safety net programmes which rely on formal and informal remittances or on Zakat and charitable donations and also there are some programmes funded and delivered by international donor agencies and NGOs including faith-based organisations. Lastly, she mentioned about conditional cash transfers as a widespread social safety net programme in the COMCEC Member Countries. 6

11 3.2. Targeting Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Systems in the COMCEC Region Ms. Hande HACIMAHMUTOĞLU, Expert from the COMCEC Coordination Office, has presented Targeting Mechanisms of Social Safety Net Programmes in the COMCEC Region. She explained the key findings of the analytic study, titled Targeting Mechanisms of Social Safety Net Programmes in the COMCEC Region. In her presentation, Ms. HACIMAHMUTOGLU focused on universal and targeted social safety nets (SSNs), targeting approaches of SSN programmes, objectives and methodology of the analytic study and targeting mechanisms of SSN programmes in High, Middle and Low Income Countries. With regards to universal and targeted social safety nets, Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU stated that in universal targeting, all citizens are entitled to social protection, and these type of SSN programmes are mostly used in high income countries. On the other hand, poverty targeting has been used to channel resources to certain individuals or groups in a society. Afterwards, she has briefly defined the types of targeting approaches of SSNs, namely geographical targeting, means testing, proxy means testing, community targeting, categorical targeting and mixed targeting. She has mentioned that since targeting might lead to some mistakes and leakages, targeting mechanisms must balance the cost of the programs and the benefits to be provided to the poor. Afterwards, Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU has explained the objectives and the methodology of the analytic study. She has shared the findings of the study regarding high income, upper-middle income, and lower-middle and low income COMCEC Member Countries. In this part, she has mentioned that in the high income member countries SSN programmes are mostly universal and generalized price subsidies on food and fuel are common. She argued that this type of generalized subsidies are benefited by rich people who actually do not need support. Then, she has explained the situation in the upper-middle income countries, where means testing, self-targeting and categorical targeting are used. She stated that these countries are developing databases to support the selection of recipients, and are more likely to use proxy means testing. Afterwards, she has defined the situation in the low and lower-middle income countries by mentioning that weak governance, institutions and administrative capacity might inhibit successful implementation and monitoring of the SSN programmes in these countries, and the result might be very low SSN coverage. She discussed that in these countries there is a heavy reliance on private transfers such as remittances and social networks to assist families living under poverty or facing severe economic shocks caused by drought, floods, etc. Continuing her explanations regarding the situation in low and lower-middle income countries, Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU underlined that in these countries targeting, especially means tested or proxy means tested targeting is basically redundant. Hence categorical, geographical and community based targeting are the most common targeting methods and the choice of targeting mechanisms is usually restricted by available data. Since in many low income countries, population estimates and good household data are not available and selection on the basis of specific criteria can result in a random selection of individuals. She further emphasized that categorical targeting can be more successful because the identification of the poor can be easier. However, high level of population movement can make targeting difficult. The use of community leaders and local elites in selecting recipients for SSNs in low income countries can be prone to cronyism and abuse. Furthermore, the risk of under-coverage and leakage increases where the participation of local people in programme scoping and the setting of eligibility criteria are scarce. 7

12 She also argued that self-targeting can fail if information is not widely available to potential recipients. Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU has raised some important findings of the study as follows: There is no one-size-fits-all targeting mechanism. Targeting should be contextual and need based. Lack of coordination and diffusion of responsibilities to different government agencies and the involvement of a multiplicity of agents can result in duplication, low coverage, leakage and misappropriation. Many poor countries do not have the capacity to apply Proxy Means Testing (PMT) method and certainly not in a context-dependent framework, which would make it most effective. Fiscal constraints inhibit programme reach and delivery. Insufficient institutional capacity and technical ability adversely affect implementation of SSN programmes. Poor targeting leads to inadequate identification of the right poor. SSN Programmes themselves are not a panacea for poverty reduction, they have to be accompanied by other development and infrastructure advances. Increasing attendance at school for example will not improve educational attainment unless the quality of education is good. Social safety nets improve the livelihoods of millions of people, but in so doing, they sometimes leave the root causes, such as structural inequality, unaddressed. The key challenge facing COMCEC countries is to ensure that tangible links exist between equity and the practical policy planning and implementation of social protection and social safety nets. Lastly, Ms. HACIMAHMUTOĞLU has summarized the recommendations of the study, with regards to building institutional capacity, identifying the Poor, improving monitoring and evaluation, holding governments to account. Following the presentations of Ms. ŞEKER and Ms. Hacımahmutoğlu, the participants raised some questions and expressed their comments on the issue. Question: In many cases geographical targeting can be considered an efficient method because it helps decreasing the administrative costs. However, in the analytical study the geographical targeting is evaluated as an inefficient method. Can you please elaborate on this issue? Answer: For some cases geographical targeting might be better. However, the findings of the analytic Study depend on the current social safety net programmes implemented in the COMCEC Region. Therefore, the Study evaluated the current programmes and it was found that the geographical targeting programmes implemented in the COMCEC Region are not successful. But for some cases, it is better to use geographical targeting system like Tunisia. 8

13 Question: What are the common characteristics of the SSN programmes in the COMCEC Member Countries? Can you evaluate the differences between the COMCEC Member Countries and other regions of the World regarding implementation of SSN programmes? Answer: The current state of SSN programmes in the world is explained briefly but the main concern of the analytical study is the situation in the COMCEC Member Countries. Most of the member countries have similar SSN programmes especially in terms of informal programmes. Question: How do you evaluate the administrative costs of the SSN programmes and what are the main challenges of targeting poor especially in low and lower middle income countries? Answer: The main challenge in implementation of efficient SSN programmes in the COMCEC Region is accurate data because the needy segments should be correctly targeted. Otherwise there would be no chance to implement targeted SSN programmes and somehow they will turn to universal targeting. Regarding the administrative costs, among others, the accurate data, and good monitoring and evaluation systems are important elements. 9

14 4. Member State Presentations 4.1. Benin Mr. Richard MEKPOH, Senior Economist in the Ministry of Economy, Economic Forecasting, Development & Evaluations of Public of Benin, has made a presentation on his country s experience in targeting mechanism of SSN programmes. He stated that social protection is considered as a vital instrument to empower the poor and vulnerable groups to cope with risks and shocks. Mr. MEKPOH also underlined that social programmes are sets of interventions to promote self-reliance and personal protection and social cohesion. Mr MEKPOH expressed that Social Spending Priority and Priority Social Projects are the two main programmes implemented in Benin to deal with poverty. Furthermore, Mr. MEKPOH mentioned about the Public Investment Programme (PIP) of Benin in which 5 distinct areas have been defined as social sectors. Those are health and national solidarity, education and community, agriculture, energy and water, and other social sectors including microfinance. Regarding health sector, he argued that five different programmes have been initiated, which targeted to improve the health status of the poor in Benin. Nonetheless, it was discussed that there have been many obstacles in ensuring universal access to health services and quality care and improving governance and resource management. Regarding education, it was pointed out that the main policy has been to reinforce human capital, and eighteen programmes have been developed in this regard. The main difficulty highlighted by Mr. MEKPOH is to sustain access to school and ensuring synergy between different sectors of education for all segments of the society Cameroon Ms. Bouba Djukam GERNIQUE, Director at Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Cameroon, made a presentation on her country s experiences in targeting the poor. Ms. GERNIQUE informed that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security is charged with designing the national policy in terms of social security. She expressed that Cameroon s social protection system comprises of the following: The social security scheme for workers of the private sector, The retirement pension scheme for civil servants and other State employees, Social assistance and social action which deal with the people affected by specific social problems. Furthermore, Ms. GERNIQUE stated that with a view to alleviating poverty, social safety nets mechanisms have been developed in Cameroon. These mechanisms have been developed in cooperation with the World Bank which include pilot programmes. She expressed that the abovementioned mechanisms are monetary transfers and public works that mainly target the poorest and most vulnerable groups. 10

15 she further stressed that in order to cope with unemployment, several programmes are being executed in Cameroon. These programmes target youth, women, vulnerable groups as well as people with disability. The programmes mentioned by Ms. GERNIQUE are as follows: The National Pact for Youths Employment (PANEJ), The Support Project to Actors of the Informal Sector (PIAASI), The Support Programme to the Rural and Urban Youth (PAJER-U), The Socio-economic Project for the Integration of young people into the manufacturing of sporting equipment. Moreover, she explained that government with its relevant stakeholders have implemented major labor-intensive programmes such as the Yaoundé Sewage Project (PAD-Y) and the World Food Programme (WFP) projects. The PAD-Y mainly focuses on the sewage and cleanliness projects of the Yaoundé city town. Another progamme was initiated by the World Food Program. This programme is titled as food versus job which has been fully operational in the North and Far- North regions of Cameroon and covers approximately 17 thousand families in the said regions. Ms. GERNIQUE Continued her presentation by underlining that the implementation of social protection programs in Cameroon has resulted in major achievements and the most prominent of them are as follows: The public authorities of Cameroon have expressed their strong commitment in considering social protection as a key instrument for overcoming poverty; The existence of formal social insurance mechanisms and social safety net systems developed by the State and development partners or even by the communities themselves, as well as of formal mechanisms based on the family, village and occupational-related solidarity networks. Before concluding her presentation she mentioned about the main challenges faced in Cameroon on the issue as the following: The irrelevance and insufficiency of the existing systems, due to the differences in the existing systems, the insufficient coverage in terms of health and the bottlenecks inherent in the access procedures. The insufficiency of support programmes targeting vulnerable groups. The weakness in inter-sectoral and intra-sectoral coordination, notably at the elaboration and implementation levels of the programmes. Lack of information regarding the efficiency of programmes due to the absence of a realistic monitoring mechanisms Egypt On behalf of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Dr. Ibtissam EL-GAAFARAWI, Professor, National Center for Social and Criminological Research, Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs of Egypt, made a presentation. In her presentation, Dr. EL-GAAFARAWI presented her country s experiences 11

16 regarding the main programmes implemented in targeting poor. She explained that different types of programmes need to target different segments of the population. For instance, in cash transfer program, Egypt concentrated on the very poor segments of the society. Dr. EL- GAAFARAWI informed that only ten percent of the population has been targeted for cash transfer. She also discussed that economic and political issues affect the targeting mechanism s efficiency. Dr. EL-GAAFARAWI informed that poverty rate in Egypt is 26.3 percent in In this connection, one third of the budget was allocated for social safety nets and about 12 percent of the GDP goes to subsidies. She stated that cash transfer program covers limited number of the poor. On the other hand, food and fuel subsidies are universal with high leakages to the non-poor. This explains why Egypt needs to have a well-designed targeting mechanism to increase the effectiveness of its social safety net programs. Continuing her presentation Dr. EL-GAAFARAWI stated that Egypt has been developing a new approach concerning using Geographic Targeting and Proxy Means Testing (PMT). The new approach could also benefit ration card system. The objective is to expand the coverage of poor, prevent leakages, improve public resource allocation and build a database for poor household. It was expressed that Egypt has designed its PMT by using national household income and consumption surveys. Egypt has designed a program for rural and urban areas using economic indicators like; family characteristics, housing, electricity bill, etc. Geographical location is also used at targeting poor in Lower and Upper Egypt. It was noted that the main challenges on the issue are as follows: Social workers reorientation, Avoiding fraud and errors, Dealing with PMT errors, Managing complaints, Database management: regular update, creating links with other national databases, Exit policy, Building effective monitoring system The Gambia Ms. Juldeh CEESAY, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of the Gambia, made a presentation on the Social Protection Programs implemented in her country. In her presentation Ms. CEESAY stated that the Gambia has made a significant progress towards reducing poverty in the last decade with the Poverty Reduction Strategies. In this connection, according to the MDG Reports, the Gambia is among the top four African countries progressing towards meeting the MDGs. It was also stated that the Gambian authorities give priority to increasing allocation of financial resources to the social protection programs. In this respect, in the Gambia, allocation of resources to pro-poor programmes increased from 33.4 percent in 2009 to 39.4 percent in

17 Continuing her presentation Ms. CEESAY informed the participants about the Social Protection Programs implemented in Gambia. In this regard, she noted that the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) has been running a Family Strengthening Program. This is a conditional cash transfer program targeting the poor and vulnerable and its main focus is to strengthen their incomegeneration capacity. In the first phase of the program, every household were supported with seed grants to start up their own businesses and about 130 rural and urban families have benefited from this program. Ms. CEESAY further stressed that the Cash Transfer Initiative was another important program initiated to mitigate the adverse effects of poverty. This program was initiated with the support of the World Food Programme (WFP) and local partners. She informed that approximately 20 thousand people in the Upper River Region of the Gambia benefited from Cash Transfer Initiative programme. Furthermore, Ms. CEESAY informed that the school feeding program is a longstanding social assistance program which has been developed in cooperation with WFP to improve nutritional status of the children. As of 2013 the program has supported nearly 130 thousand vulnerable children per year in food insecure rural and some urban areas. She underlined the challenges faced in this regard are as follows; Limited financial resources. Rapid population growth and rapid urbanization. Inefficiency of social protection schemes designed to address targeting poor. Social exclusion of the vulnerable segments and limited access to informal social protection systems. Inadequate capacities (financial, material and human) of institutions providing social protection services and social safety nets programs. The inability to fully expand and strengthen social welfare services at the regional level. Before concluding her presentation Ms. CEESAY emphasized some key issues for development of a well-functioning targeting mechanism: Effective coordination among national institutions. Strengthen and build institutional capacities on resource mobilization and programme implementation for social protection and provision of social safety nets. Develop and promote pro-poor policies for development. Substantial investments to achieve full employment for women and youth. Increase awareness on social protection issues and allocation of resources by state-run social protection and social safety nets schemes. Development of official plan/programmes to increase budget support to social sectors. Mobilization of domestic and external resources for implementation of social protection programs. 13

18 4.5. Nigeria Ms. Aisha Shehu OMAR, Deputy Director at International Development Funds Division of International Economic Relations Department of Federal Ministry of Finance of Nigeria, made a presentation on her country experience s regarding the social safety nets. In her presentation she stated that improving the living conditions of Nigerian society through implementation of social safety nets programs is among main goals Nigerian authorities. She also stated that women s access to financial services is also a significant political objective of the government. At the outset Ms. OMAR briefed the participants about the current state of poverty in Nigeria. She stated that poverty in Nigeria increased from 2004 to 2010 from 54.4% to 69% respectively while percentage of extremely poor increased from 22% to 38.7% in the same period. Ms. OMAR continued her presentation with giving brief information about the social safety net programs that have been implemented in Nigeria such as Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), Graduate Internship Programme, National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and National Programme on Immunization (NPI). Afterwards, Ms. OMAR mentioned about Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO). She stated that the program aims to increase the standards of the poor in terms of employment opportunities, social services and strengthened social safety net systems. The program mainly targeted extremely poor households with children between 0-18 years old, pregnant women, the physically challenged, semi-skilled and unskilled unemployed youth aged years and other unemployed youth. Furthermore, she stated that National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) is another important program in targeting poor. In this regard, she expressed that the programme offers conditional cash transfers to the very poor and vulnerable groups in targeted areas. Furthermore, the areas of concentration are education, child mortality, maternal health, agriculture, small businesses and cooperative societies. Ms. OMAR concluded her presentation with underlining the following required actions to overcome the challenges regarding effectiveness of social safety net systems: Strengthening capacity of institutions that are in charge of developing programmes for poverty reduction, Strengthen monitoring and evaluation systems, Improving data collection and development, Building of Social Safety Nets for vulnerable groups, especially by assisting women to get access to financial services and inputs, Developing value chain in agriculture/agro-industry and processing mineral resources, Improving governance, particularly public financial management and accountability 4.6. Palestine Mr. Khaled Al- BARGHOUTI, Deputy Director General at Ministry of Social Affairs of Palestine, made a presentation on his country s experience concerning the current state of poverty and targeting mechanisms. 14

19 In his presentation Mr. BARGHOUTI informed the participants that Palestine has been working to tackle the adverse effects of natural poverty as well as poverty resulting from the presence of the occupation and its daily practices. He noted that the number of Palestinians living in Palestine at the end of 2013 was 4.5 million, and around 2.8 million reside in the West Bank and 1.7 million in Gaza Strip. Mr. BARGHOUTI informed the participants that an actual design of the targeting mechanisms in Palestine has been initiated in 2008, where two cash transfer programs were integrated in one program. This new integrated program is Cash Transfer Program (CTP) and it has had concrete criteria to measure the standards of living of poor. It was also noted that Proxy Means Testing (PMT) was used in targeting poor in In this regard, the main goal of the PMT is to contribute alleviating poverty, achieving justice in the distribution of aid, selecting the most appropriate ways of interventions for the poor and marginalized groups. Mr. BARGHOUTI concluded his presentation by expressing that there are four main methods which are being used in targeting poor in Palestine. These methods are proxy means test, categorical targeting, community based targeting and field workers evaluation. He stated that inclusion of the non-targeted population but participating in the program and exclusion of targeted population but not participating in the program are the main challenges faced during the implementation of these methods Turkey Mr. Ersin BİÇER, Expert at the Ministry of Family and Social Policies of Turkey, made a presentation on the Turkey s experience regarding development of targeting mechanisms of the social safety net systems. It was noted that in order to develop a well-functioning targeting mechanism, Turkey initiated a project namely Social Assistance Information System (SAIS). Mr. BİÇER informed the participants that this project was designed to create a social assistance database. Hence, an integrated social assistance information system has been developed. The main objectives of the SAIS are as follows: covering all assistance programs, bringing out geographical differences by using Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), making a differentiation between city centers and rural areas, verifying beneficiaries through home visits Furthermore, Mr. BİÇER pointed out that with above mentioned targeting programme, regions in accordance with some basic indicators like rural, urban, income, consumption, etc. 12 regions have been identified. He stated that more than 100 variables were included in the income based models while more than 150 variables have been included in the consumption based models. Afterwards, Mr. BİÇER explained the main variables used for income based levels such as type of the house, facilities of the house (owning a kitchen or hot water etc.) and properties in the house (TV, mobile phone, vehicle). He stated that these variables affect the income per capita of 15

20 household in a positive manner. He also added that consumption based models are statistically significant compared to income based models. The following common independent variables in consumption and income based have also been mentioned in the presentation. Gender, Education level, Owning a job and the sector of the job, Employment type and status, Wealth of people, Goods and assets. Mr. BİÇER concluded his presentation by giving brief information concerning the result of the interviews conducted to indicate the efficiency of the targeting mechanism used by the relevant institutions of the Republic of Turkey. In this regard, the findings highlighted by Mr. BİÇER are as follows: Targeting mechanism should be well-planned and tested for a long time. It should also be evaluated according to cost of infrastructure, transparency and efficiency. Data collection technique should be determined in accordance with the countries administration system. Collected data should be verified (if possible). Targeting mechanism should be developed in line with countries administration system. It should consider the existence of informal economy, social policy, social security and banking systems, level of information systems and existence of national databases. Different mechanisms should be used. The regional differences should be taken into account and the most informative and representative ones should be chosen. There should be a strong communication and co-ordination between the institutions being responsible for the implementation of social assistance programs. 16

21 5. Local Authorities and International Development Institutions Experiences in Targeting the Poor 5.1. Municipality of Altındağ Mr. Veysel TİRYAKİ, Mayor of Altındağ Municipality, made a presentation which focused on the restoration, urban transformation and social assistance efforts of Altındağ Municipality (Ankara). Mr. TİRYAKİ showed many pictures taken from reconstructed and renovated sites as well as from newly built infant schools, public gardens, sports and youth centers, women education and cultural centers. He stated that almost all public centers of Altındağ Municipality aim at providing education, better health, cultural and environmental conditions to the vulnerable people. In his presentation, Mr. TİRYAKİ explained their efforts to improve living conditions of the poor in Altındağ. He presented many pictures showing old images of the reconstructed sites. He mentioned that the reconstructed places were in the poorest side of the capital of Turkey. Mr. TİRYAKİ mentioned that percentage of planned area in Altındağ has augmented from 68% to 97% between 2004 and He stated that 30 thousand ghettos were demolished since 2005 and 290 km. new roads have been built. He added that by paying small amounts, the squatters have had new apartments and now live in better conditions. Regarding the social, cultural and sportive activities, Mr. TİRYAKİ explained that the poor benefited from the public centers free of charge where training courses on literacy, foreign language, diction, computer, knitwear, skin care, handicraft, etc. are provided. He further informed that 40 thousand women have attended these courses in 200 different branches. It was stated that 12 thousand children attended 170 different seminars. Mr. TİRYAKİ also mentioned about some touristic visits organized by his municipality to various cities of Turkey free of charge. He added that 7500 children attended trips in and out of Ankara free of charge. Mr. TİRYAKİ also informed the participants that they assist the poor in their daily life. He demonstrated some pictures showing the clothing markets where poor families can meet their daily needs with special cards given by the Altındağ Municipality. He stated that poor families are identified by an expert team of the Municipality through household visits. Mr. TİRYAKİ stated that 500 families are benefiting from this facility. He concluded his presentation by mentioning that 71 thousand families have received assistance since 2005 from the charity organization of the Municipality World Bank Mr. Ahmet Levent YENER, Senior Specialist, World Bank Ankara Office, made a presentation titled The Role of the World Bank in Targeting the Poor. Mr. YENER began his presentation by informing participants on World Bank s Strategy for Social Protection and Labor ( ). He argued that a global consensus on the need to build safety nets that are appropriate both during times of crisis and stability. He told that in the context of the World Bank s new strategy for social protection and labor, the World Bank has made an important shift from supporting the delivery of 17

22 social assistance projects to helping countries build safety net systems and also help institutions that respond to country-level poverty, risks, and vulnerabilities. He added that building safety nets is a key component of the World Bank s broader Social Protection and Labor Strategy , which is helping countries move from fragmented programs to social protection systems in order to expand coverage, improve resilience, and increase productivity through investments in human capital and people s access to jobs and opportunity, breaking the cycle of poverty. Mr. YENER briefed participants on the tools and approaches utilized in the programme. He expressed that the World Bank is developing country-tailored tools and approaches (including the new Social Protection Assessment of Results and Country Systems - SPARCS); investing in knowledge, data and analysis by developing new social protection data platform (called the Atlas of Social Protection: Indicators of Resilience and Equity ASPIRE); and providing rapid-reaction policy advice, technical assistance, and capacity-building. He gave figures on World Bank s mentioned support to the countries. He stated that World Bank financing for safety nets and other social protection and labor programs reached USD 24.8 billion (including USD 7.8 billion from the International Development Association (IDA). He added that between 2009 and 2012, the World Bank conducted 60 safety net assessments, including 40 countries in four regions. Mr. YENER also mentioned about the recent trends in safety nets practice. He said that the global expansion of safety nets has included an increasing focus on low-income IDA countries. Between Fiscal Year 2009 and 2012 (FY09-12) a total of 30 countries, with limited or no previous engagement with the World Bank, received financing for safety net expansion. He told that the Africa region has witnessed a great success in safety nets, in particular cash transfer operations. He also expressed that cash transfers are increasingly becoming an important instrument, particularly as know-how on effective payment systems and targeting is improved. Increased cash transfer activity has been especially prominent in post-conflict and fragile contexts. Mr. YENER stressed the importance of targeting and expressed that reducing poverty can be accomplished by providing resources directly to the poor through targeting methods. He argued that the objective of targeting is to achieve the greatest impact for a given budget and reducing wastage by concentrating programs on the desired population. He also expressed that targeting helps improving cost-effectiveness by channeling resources for a target group to equalize quality or provide enriched quality to demand-constraint households. He summarized the experiences of the World Bank regarding the targeting mechanism and related issues as follows; In approximately 25 percent of cases, targeting was regressive so that a random allocation of resources would have provided a greater share of benefits to the poor. There is no clearly preferred method for all types of programs or all country contexts. 80 percent of the variability in targeting performance was due to differences within targeting methods and only 20 percent was due to differences across methods. Implementation matters tremendously to outcomes. Targeting performance improved with country income levels (the proxy for implementation capacity), the extent to which 18

23 governments are held accountable for their actions, and the degree of inequality. Generally, using more targeting methods produced better targeting. He mentioned the basic methods for targeting as follows: Categorical Targeting is a method in which all individuals are in a specified category, Community based-targeting is a method which uses a group of community members or a community leader whose principal function in the community is not related to the transfer program but to decide who in the community should benefit, Universal food subsidies is a form of self-selection and Finally Under self-selection is a program with universal eligibility but involves dimensions that are thought to encourage the poorest to use the program and the nonpoor not to do so. He argued that type of interventions, identity of the actor who undertakes this targeting, identity of the actor who provides the intervention are all important elements on choice of targeting method. He also mentioned that geographical targeting, mean tests and proxy means testing (PMT) are supportive ways on the selection. Mr. YENER concluded his presentation by stating a considerable variation in targeting performance among specific program types and specific targeting methods exist. Therefore, he pointed out that informed choices on targeting methods should be extended beyond the quantitative comparisons of methods. He argued that a good targeting system should ensure: (i) Transparency and consistency, (ii) Maximum inclusion of the poor with on-going access to the registry, (iii) Minimum leakage to the non-poor, and (iv) Cost-efficiency. Comment: Dr. Azhari Ghasım AHMED, Lead Economist at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) briefly informed the participant on the projects/programs initiated by the IDB. Mr. AHMED expressed that approved project portfolio of the ISFD is about USD 350 million. He also explained that IDB has already provided an amount of USD 1 billion to the projects. Mr. AHMED also mentioned that five year program has just ended and now they are preparing a Three-Year Strategic Plan ( ). He expressed that IDB has a Micro-Finance Program with a budget of USD 500 million. 19