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Inclusion and Resilience: The Way Forward for Social Safety Nets in the Middle East and North Africa
FIGURE 3.5
No. of SSN programs
Nonsubsidy SSN Program Mix by Type, Middle East and North Africa, c. 2008–11
The Current State of Social Safety Nets in the Middle East and North Africa
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BOX 3.1
Principal Cash Transfer Programs in the Middle East and North Africa, Selected Countries
20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Most of the principal cash transfer programs in the region target specific populations assumed more likely to be poor, such as orphans, widows, individuals with disabilities, and families of prisoners. This box describes the main features of these programs. Bahrain
Egypt, Arab Rep.
Iraq
Cash transfers Housing Workfare programs
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon Morocco
Saudi Arabia
Fee waivers, education, and health benefits Micro-credit and income-generating activities Others
Syrian Arab Republic
Tunisia
West Yemen, Bank Rep. and Gaza
Food and other in-kind transfers Training
Source: Authors’ calculations based on MENA SSN Inventory. For specific programs covered, see appendix C.
The programs available in each country vary greatly in number. Some countries, such as Iraq and Syria, have only a few SSN programs. Others, such as Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco, have more than 10 SSN programs. Program fragmentation is especially evident in Jordan and Morocco, where many programs attempt to achieve the same objective (as previously noted concerning Morocco’s multitude of education programs). This snapshot reveals that Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco have more than five programs in one category, which implies intense competition for limited fiscal resources and a high probability of overlap. In terms of spending, most Middle Eastern and North African countries concentrate on cash transfer programs (see table 3A.1). However, in Lebanon, the bulk of spending goes toward fee waivers for education and hospitals. In the Republic of Yemen, half of the nonsubsidy SSN expenditure is on workfare, while in Morocco, noncash programs such as community infrastructure projects take precedence. Finally, in Jordan, training and micro-credit programs consume a substantial share of the SSN budget. The next section assesses the performance of some of these programs, focusing especially on principal cash transfer programs, described in box 3.1. Because subsidies constitute such a significant share of spending on SSNs in the Middle East and North Africa, a later section evaluates the performance of subsidies as SSNs.
Egypt: Monthly Social Pension (formerly Sadat Pension) The program was legislated in 1980 and is implemented by the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs. Its objective is to help families without able-bodied males. Beneficiary households are paid about LE 145– 205 per month depending on household size. Iraq: Social Safety Net (SSN) Founded in 2006, the SSN (also known as the Social Protection Network, or SPN) is implemented by the Social Welfare Department. The program targets orphans, children of divorced women, the handicapped, the unemployed, and families of prisoners. Households receive US$110– 170 per month depending on household size. Jordan: The National Aid Fund (NAF) The NAF was established in 1986 as an administratively and financially independent organization to protect and support needy individuals and families by extending recurring or emergency financial aid as well as vocational training and free health insurance. The cash transfer is implemented by
the NAF Directorate within the Ministry of Social Development. Households receive around US$56–254 per month depending on household size and the number of handicapped people in the household. Besides regular cash assistance, the NAF also provides free health insurance coverage and emergency assistance.
Morocco: Tayssir Program Initially a pilot study implemented by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in 2008, this program was a conditional cash transfer targeting 6- to 12-year-old students living in poor communities. Its objective was to promote primary school enrollment and to reduce dropouts of poor primary school students. Each student received US$8–13 per month, with higher amounts conditional on attendance and higher grades. An impact evaluation revealed that dropout rates were reduced, especially in higher grades (with stronger impacts on dropouts for girls), and provided some evidence of improvement in math achievement for boys. Tunisia: National Program of Assistance to Needy Families (Programme National d’Aide aux Familles Nécessiteuses; PNAFN) Founded in 1986, the PNAFN is implemented by the Ministry of Social Affairs. The program covers about 7.2 percent of the population and mainly targets the elderly poor, poor widows, and handicapped individuals of the poor regions in the (box continued on next page)