PREVENTION, PROTECTION, PROMOTION

THE WORLD BANK’S EVOLVING FRAMEWORK OF SOCIAL PROTECTION IN AFRICA MILAN VODOPIVEC WORLD BANK

Prepared for the conference “ Social Protection for Inclusive Growth”

Johannesburg, Oct 11-14, 2010

Outline

1.

2.

The evolving social protection framework at the World Bank Implementing the social protection framework in Africa

1. The evolving social protection framework at the World Bank

Incorporating the social risk management approach into the PPP framework: prevention, protection, promotion

Three key roles of social protection

Social protection aims to alleviate poverty,

manage individual risks and promote equitable and sustainable growth through:

 Prevention:

Providing security to the vulnerable

  Protection:

poor Ensuring adequate support for the

Promotion:

Expanding opportunities for higher productivity and incomes

Social Protection Policies in the Economy

Based on Social Risk Management as an integration tool

Includes weather and crop insurance, irrigation, community level insurance PREVENTION Security and Risk Management Social Protection PROMOTION Opportunity, Productivity, Employment PROTECTION Equity and Poverty Reduction Includes labor market instruments, education and training, and beyond (investment climate , infrastructure, macrostability) Includes safety net programs, land distribution, property rights, enforcement of contracts, basic education

The centrality of Promotion in Social Protection

 The emphasis on measures that contribute to human capital

development and economic growth

 Social insurance programs  By reducing impact of shocks, they increase wellbeing, but also contribute to better human capital, higher risk/return production choice, and effectiveness of job search (South Africa)   Labor market policies and programs   LM regulation: improved access to good jobs not only levels the playing field for informal workers, but also enhances the productive potential of economy ALMPs build skills, enhance productivity Safety nets programs for the poor and vulnerable  Not only help reducing inequality, but also help protect and build the human capital of the poor, thereby breaking the vicious circle of poverty.

2. Implementing the social protection framework in Africa

Social Protection Focus in AFR

 Supporting Balanced Growth Agenda that includes:  Developing sustainable innovative safety nets (and SP systems) that help households and communities better manage shocks that reduce the downward poverty spiral and provide them with a stronger basis for participating in and contributing to economic growth  Enhancing earning opportunities and jobs for the vulnerable to contribute to growth agenda (strong emphasis on short-term youth)  Making services work for the poor by increasing capacities of communities to demand and local governments to provide better services

Developing Innovative and Productive Safety Nets

      Tailor safety nets to country’s needs Analyze existing programs ( via Safety Net Assessments/PERs) to assess fragmentation, targeting, and budget allocations, and propose streamlined, coherent programs Innovate to design productive safety nets that create both physical and human capital Improve the design of countercyclical programs and contingent financing that can be scaled up in crisis Continue to innovate with conditional cash transfers and school bursaries that can encourage human capital investments, including second-chance programs for out-of-school and unemployed youth Experiment with innovative designs of programs and the use of ICT

Good Practice: Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program works and cash transfers with its public

Enhancing Earnings Opportunities and Productive Jobs

       Formulate best practices in skills development for both formal and informal firms Encourage the creation and boosting productivity of informal, non-farm household enterprises Foster youth employment via training (apprenticeships, on-the-job training, demand-driven training – Kenya) and “comprehensive training programs,” as well as other active labor market programs Introduce innovations into Public Works (skills and life-skills training) Address institutional obstacles for formal sector job creation For MICs, investigate ways of introducing/expanding the use of unemployment insurance by innovative designs that combine risk pooling and mandatory savings (and, in South Africa, state transfers) Evaluate existing employment and skills development schemes to learn what works best, through rigorous piloting and experimentation

Making Services Work for the Poor & Vulnerable

       Offer support to local governments through block grants & TA Increase focus on incentives, conditional cash-transfers, and insurance to help address financial and social barriers to access Scale-up integrative service delivery (example: Ethiopia Protection of Basic Services Support Project increased local spending on health and education; similar projects under design in W. and E. Africa) Focus on governance and accountability aspects of service delivery Continue to build community capacity, especially in low capacity, ‘post’ conflict environments Consider the introduction of weather and crop insurance to reduce vulnerability Introduce nutrition interventions to prevent irreversible negative impact on human capital development

Thank you!