Social Protection – an essential element for poverty reduction



STATEMENT MADE BY S.B.E. SCOTT, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AT

THE REGIONAL EXPERTS GROUP MEETINGS ON SOCIAL PROTECTION, DAKAR, SENEGAL 9-11 JUNE 2008

HPNOURABLE MINISTERS

MEMBERS OF THE DIPLOMATIC CORP

DISTINGUISHED PARTICIPANTS

ALL PROTOCOL FULLY OBSERVED

Let me start by thanking the Government and people of Senegal for hosting such an important meeting, precedent to the AU Meeting.

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone and on behalf of myself, I feel honoured to make a statement at this historic meeting. Let me use this forum to applaud, Current Evangelism Ministries (CEM), Help Age International and other sponsoring bodies for making this meeting a reality. I believe at the end of our three days deliberations we would have come out with pertinent recommendations that will improve and impact on the issue of Social Protection.

Introduction

Sierra Leone became an independent state in April 1961, and subsequently a republic on 19th April 1971. Since independence, the country has suffered dramatic economic deterioration and political instability through five military coups and a brutal armed conflict that lasted 11 years (1991-2001).

The Country Context

Sierra Leone is a post-war country located on the west coast of Africa. With a population of 4.8m, the country appears small relative to her vast natural resources. However, long years of mismanagement of the country's resources exacerbated by the 11year rebel war left the bulk (about 70%) of the country's population below the poverty line with about two-thirds of the poor described as living in conditions of extreme poverty. GDP is extremely low at US$ 116.43.

The long period of civil strife intensified the decline in social indicators putting Sierra Leone at the bottom of the UNDP's Human Development Index - about 57% of the population live below US$ 1 a day and about 74.5 % live below US$ 2 a day.

In terms of demography, about 50% of the population are under the age of18years and 3.2% over 64years. These represent the vulnerable sector of the population - youthful and aged - the majority of whom do not have some form of social protection.

Poverty Situation

In the Sierra Leonean context poverty is defined in terms of the capacity of the household to meet its food and other basic needs such as health and education. The national poverty line corresponds to the full poverty line of Le 770,678 per year or Le 2,111 per day per capita (SLPRSP, 2004). Within this context, the Integrated Household Survey (SIHS, 2004) suggests that 70% of the population is poor. Food/core poverty translates to Le 377,045 per year or Le 1,033 per day per capita - this represents the extreme poor segment of the population (26%).

The statistics imply that the overwhelming majority of Sierra Leoneans do not have adequate access to food, safe-water and sanitation, shelter, good health, basic education, and easy access, both in terms of affordability and distance, to various economic and social infrastructures such as schools, health facilities, markets and public transportation.

Geographic Dynamics

Geographically, the rural areas contribute about 73 percent of all poverty in Sierra Leone, while other urban areas account for 25 percent, leaving Freetown with 2.2 percent (SLPRSP, 2004). The poorest urban areas occur in Tonkolili, Bonthe, Kailahun, Koinadugu, and Bombali districts whilst the poorest rural communities are found in Kenema, Kailahun, Bombali, Port Loko and Tonkolili districts.

Health Dimension

In Sierra Leone, ill health is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. Poor people lack the resources to pay for health services, food, clean water, good sanitation and other key inputs for producing good health. As a result, life expectancy at birth has declined from 42 years in 1990 to 34.3 in 2002 (SLPRSP, 2004). Malaria and tuberculosis are prevalent and widespread with the former particularly hazardous to children of school-going age. Evidence in the Literature on Sierra Leone abounds to suggest that the bulk of the people with limited access to health services both in terms of access and quality are the poor. This has a direct effect on the general welfare of the population and a long-term effect on the country’s human capacity development.

Educational Outlook

The SLIHS draws a relationship between educational level of households and poverty status dimensions. On the whole, the results of the survey suggest that the higher the incidence of poverty, the lower the propensity of households to accord their children access. Also, school attendance across households improves with income .Since the incidence of poverty is high in Sierra Leone, it stands to reason that the ability of Ids to provide quality education for their children is limited.

Social Protection – An Essential Element For Poverty Reduction

Social protection is a broad concept, which includes the social security systems, and more generally the non compulsory or private measures (for instance mutual health insurance) as well as social assistance measures. There is no such a thing as a pattern for social protection set once and for all. Social protection can have different shapes, and the only condition is that these measures are not anti-discriminatory and they should be based on systems of solidarity and social justice.

For the International Labour Organization (ILO), the leading UN agency dealing with social protection, social protection is in the first place a human right. Indeed, social protection is listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 23, 25) and in the International Covenant on Social and Economic Rights of the United Nations (art. 9). Social protection is defined by the ILO as the set of public measures that a society provides for its members to protect them against economic and social distress that would be caused by the absence or a substantial reduction of income from work as a result of various contingencies (sickness, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, invalidity, old age, death of the breadwinner), the provision of health care and the provision of benefits for families with children (ILO, 1998; ILO, 2000). By this definition, social protection is broader than social security since it incorporates non-statutory or private measures for providing social security, but still encompasses social security measures such as social assistance and social insurance (Bonilla García and Gruat, 2003). The ILO places social protection in the context of a Decent Work for All strategy that advocates productive work opportunities for women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. The framework has the following four strategic objectives (ILO, 1999):

• Promote fundamental principles and rights at work;

• Create opportunities for decent employment and income;

• Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection; and

• Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.

Social protection being basic right, universal social security coverage is for the ILO a priority objective.

Social protection has been a topic in Sierra Leone’s Development agenda for a long time and is continuously gaining momentum in the context of national development policies aiming at reaching the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.This paper analyses the reasons why social protection is important for development and offers an outlook into possible future avenues.

It is quite true that Social Protection cuts across all categories of people, but not much has been done for the aged. The effort is not good enough. The present scenario for the aged, to say the least, is dismal. There is a King George Home for the Aged which was established in 1940 in Freetown (the Capital City) however, there is no commensurate facility for the Aged in the provinces.

There is a current drive in government’s effort in mainstreaming concerns of the aged through related policy initiatives such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT); Social Safety Net (SSN), these efforts have been crowned by the Government in creating a Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs (MSWHCA).

But there is a great deal more for us to do. Our research highlights the effectiveness of cash transfers to reduce older people’s poverty and support multi-generational households. Promoting social pensions as part of a package of social protection measures will be a major focus of our work in the coming year.

A unique strength of Help Age International is its network structure, connecting a wide range of organizations in many parts of the world. We will continue to work to create opportunities for these organizations to engage with governments and other organizations to develop practical solutions to the problems of older people.

Poor people are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of disease, poverty in old age, natural disasters and wars. Therefore, government is supporting the establishment and further development of social protection systems in order to strengthen or to restore self-help capacity of the poor and help prevent life-threatening situations and cover basic needs. National social security systems are one way to provide partial or total support in the case of illness, failed harvests and natural disasters. One important target group is constituted by aged, women, children and disabled people.

The basic forms of social protection are:

• solidarity-based groups (e.g. families)

• cooperative, membership-based systems of social security

• private insurance

• government-based or -regulated forms of social security (for instance public welfare or social insurance)

The significance of these basic forms of social security for poor population groups varies considerably. Traditional support systems relying on mutual commitment within a solidarity-based group, or small, community-based insurance systems often constitute the only, and very limited, form of protection available. Private insurance is usually not available to poor groups to cover their risks, as they are unable to pay more than a very limited contribution. Government-based social security programs often have low coverage rates because they are limited to people in formal employment or public servants. There is no single blueprint or one-size-fits-all design for a social protection system.

The development of a national social protection strategy for Sierra Leone will be attained with the participation of the private sector, civil society, and the poor themselves and through integrating family- based, community-based, public and private interventions into a comprehensive and inclusive social protection system.

The Current Social Protection Initiatives Of Sierra Leone

Social Security, however, involves broader aspects and includes more contingencies than are being addressed by the National Social Security and Insurance Trust( NASSIT).Essentially, social security refers to (i) the protection which society provides for its members through a series of public measures, against the economic and social distress that would be caused by the stoppage or substantial reduction of earnings resulting from sickness, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, invalidity, old age and death; (ii) the provision of medical care; and (iii) the provision of subsidies for families with children. While (i) above applies mainly to workers, (hence their prominence under the ILO’s Conventions); (ii) and (iii) apply universally to all members of the society.

In preparation of the Sierra Leone Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper in 2004, focus group discussions were conducted in order to learn about the priority needs as felt by the people living in conditions of extreme poverty themselves. They identified inadequate education and health, as well as inexistence of social protection in emergencies, old age, or when sickness strikes, as some of the most important problems of poverty. Hence, improvements in these fields could help enhance people’s well-being and boost the self-help capacities of the poor. The Government is currently pursuing the promotion of social protection within the framework of sectoral priority areas such as health, education, sustainable economic development social welfare and governance.

Last but not least – in addition to poverty, sickness, old age and death, there are a number of other social risks for which social protection is needed, such as maternity, accidents, unemployment and also losing one’s means of production (e.g. caused by natural disasters). As it is impossible to protect people against all risks, priorities have to be established based on an assessment of the greatest risks in the poorer segments of the population.

Strategies For Social Protection In Sierra Leone

Social security as it exists in Sierra Leone can be classified into the following broad categories: Old Age (Retirement), Invalidity, Survivors, Employment Injury, Sickness, Medical Care, Maternity and Family subsidies. These are covered by various legislative and institutional arrangements.

Social Insurance: NASSIT was established by an Act of Parliament, Act No. 5 of 2001. It is a social insurance scheme in which members contribute periodically and receive benefit when a contingency occurs.

Old Age, Invalidity and Survivors: The National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) Act of 2001 made provisions for old age, invalidity and survivors’ benefits (in the form of pensions or grants) to workers and their dependants. It established a Trust with a mandate to administer the scheme, based on social insurance principles.

Social Safety Net

It is intended to provide social transfer of funds and/or food itemsto identifiable vulnerable groups in Sierra Leone starting with the Aged in particularly difficult circumstances .Later on, other identifiable groups like the disabled,widows, The separated children will be incorporated into the programme. The SSN is consistent with various Government policy instrument like the PRSP the MDGs.

Employment Injury: The Workmen’s Compensation Act No.2 of 1971 makes provision for providing compensation and other benefits for workers injured during the course of performing job-related tasks. The key provisions of the act include the calculation of benefits that should be provided to workers injured during active course of duty.

Maternity: The provision of Maternity benefits applies within the context of Collective Bargaining Schemes negotiated by organised labour unions and worker’s associations. Many formal sector institutions provide cash benefits (mostly by continuing payment of salaries) during periods of maternity.

Sickness: Sickness is covered, like Maternity, mainly for formal sector workers who earn salaries. Workers who work for daily or hourly wages mostly do not receive pay for periods they do not work and are not usually covered for sickness.

Medical Care: Medical care is provided for workers in the formal sector in the context of conditions of service. The level of coverage for medical conditions or amount of treatment varies across sectors (public/private); across levels in the administrative echelon; and across institutions. This benefit also applies only to salaried workers. Such medical schemes are administered by either making periodic finite cash payments to workers to provide for medical contingencies or through an employee insurance scheme that is financed by the employer.

Family Subsidies: These are provided mainly through Government programmes that aim either at reducing the economic and financial burden on families for certain activities or at enhancing living conditions. Current national family subsidy programmes include:

• Examination-fee subsidies for pupils taking external standardised examinations;

• Provision of Free text book ,tuition and uniforms to girl child

• School feeding programme

• Grant in aid to students in tertiary institutions

• Subsidisation of essential drugs in public medical facilities (cost recovery) ,

• Cash benefits paid to the extremely poor elderly members of society through a Social Safety Net Scheme.(social assistance)

• Provision of input to farmers and fisher folks

• Provision of micro credit facilities to women

• Provision of shelter for amputees and war wounded victims

• Provision of skills training for youth empowerment

• Provision of social funds for multsectoral projects geared toward the improvement of the social welfare of communities in the country.

• Free waivers for the importation of health services and the importation of educational and learning materials.

• food for work programs for households with self-help potential

• Vaccination of toddlers

Policy Directions

Social protection is an aspect of decent work, and action is required at various fronts. This has been laid down in a draft plan of action for extension of social security, prepared by the MODEP. The plan is to be formalized and implemented.

• In seeking solutions through social dialogue and in a participative manner, Sierra Leone is in an excellent position to make substantial progress towards an integrated social security framework.

• Technical solutions related to social protection need to be seen in the wider economic, social and political context, seeking the most appropriate balance, and reflecting the national poverty reduction strategy. The participation of workers and employers is key

• In the public sector, the questions related to the coverage, benefits and funding of pensions must be addressed with a sense of urgency. Likewise, the special needs of women in relation to social security need the attention and input of all stakeholders.

• Efforts to reach those people not currently covered by any social security scheme, and especially those who cannot afford regular financial contributions, must be systematized. In order to embrace the excluded and the poor, the existing formal schemes in Sierra Leone as well as other safety nets schemes initiatives at village level offer opportunities but managerial and administrative capacity gaps have to be addressed and ongoing reforms have to continue at a faster pace.

The Current Evangelism Ministries (CEM) and Help Age International (HAI), held a multi-stakeholder Seminar at the Kimbima Hotel, Aberdeen, Freetown in the Republic of Sierra Leone at which the following recommendations and messages were agreed on: [pic]

1. Recommendations:

□ The formulation of a National Policy and Legal Framework on Social Protection in Sierra Leone.

□ A three year National Strategic Plan on Social Protection with lessons learnt from the Social Safety Net Programme in Sierra Leone and examples from other countries in Africa, including an information dissemination strategy

□ The setting up of National Task Force, Regional (West Africa) and Continental Coordinating Committees on Social Protection.

□ Support from the donors including but not limited to bilateral, multilateral institutions, Government of Sierra Leone, African Union, International NGOs and other interested stakeholders interested in Social Protection Issues.

□ The inclusion of Social Protection into Peace and Security and Service Delivery Mechanisms

□ An all inclusive, Rural Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Scheme set up to oversee the Social Protection implementation

□ Submit the report of the workshop for inclusion into the development of the second generation of the implementation of the PRSP in Sierra Leone.

2. Messages:

□ The Republic of Sierra Leone wants to share information on design and implementation of Social Protection with other countries in the West Africa Region

□ Include Social Protection in the AU Social Policy Framework

□ We want a cross-country learning process especially among the war affected and fragile countries.

Precepts

If social protection is human right as declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Right (Art 23,25) and in the International Covenant on Social and Economic Rights of the United Nations (Art 9) then, it is manifestly unacceptable to deny the aged and vulnerable groups Social Protection.

If old men and women, were at one time, the human capital for development in any country, then, it is manifestly unacceptable to abandon them when they are old. They must have social protection.

Finally, Dear Participants, we must realize that ageing is no respecter of sex, religion, tribe, nationality or stutus. I implore you to use this forum to develop sound policies that will stand the challenges of tomorrow.

I THANK YOU!

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