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TABLE 5.2
Challenges for SSN Systems and Possible Ways Forward in the Middle East and North Africa, Selected Countries, 2012 Human development challenges
SSN system challenges
Main ongoing SSN initiatives
Possible way forward
Nonsubsidy SSNs have low coverage of the poor (3%) and are highly fragmented. Lack of experience. Strong focus on capacity building.
Implementing a “workfare plus” program, viewed as a model for the region. High incountry visibility and ownership. Prepared SSN strategy.
Set up a unified registry of beneficiaries of social assistance. Scale up “workfare plus” program. Use ongoing initiatives as platform for support. Engage new stakeholders.
Egypt, Arab Rep.
High child poverty (29%). High vulnerability (17% live with $2–2.5/day) High malnutrition (29%). Spatial pockets of poverty (rural).
Nonsubsidy SSNs have low impact on poverty, linked to low coverage of the poor (14%), low targeting accuracy, and low size transfer provided. They are highly fragmented. Increasing fiscal pressure from subsidy system.
Workfare program under preparation.
Rebalance SSN away from subsidies. Create new, cost-effective, and flexible targeted SSN. Consolidate fragmented SSNs.
Tunisia
Spatial pockets of poverty (rural). High unemployment and discouragement among the poor. Higher levels of school dropout and maternal mortality among poor.
Weak M&E systems at the central, regional, and program levels. Leakages to nonpoor for direct SSNs (unconditional cash transfers and health cards). Increasing fiscal pressure due to universal subsidies.
Implementing pilots: (a) workfare project, and (b) skills development in community-driven rural development and service delivery project. Improving information systems and creating a unified registry of beneficiaries. Evaluating national cash transfer and health card program and building social accountability systems.
Enhance targeting. Rebalance SSNs by focusing on targeted programs rather than subsidies. Strengthen SSNs that promote human capital and assets of the poor and vulnerable. Establish SSN infrastructure and, in particular, develop a unified registry of beneficiaries. Consolidate SSN programs across different programs and agencies or ministries.
Iraq
High child poverty (27%). High vulnerability (16% live with $2–2.5/day). Spatial pockets of poverty (rural). Postconflict environment.
Nonsubsidy SSNs have low impact on poverty, linked to low coverage of poor (6%) and high leakages. Low transfer size. SSN consisting mostly of subsidies. are under increasing fiscal pressure. Food ration system has high leakages.
Enhancing targeting of cash transfer program. Developed strategy for subsidy reform.
Create SSNs that promote human capital and assets of the poor. Enhance targeting. Enhance administrative capacity.
Jordan
High child poverty (20%) and malnutrition rates among the poor (15% of children 0–5 years old in poorest quintile are stunted). Pockets of poverty in lagging areas (Al-Mafraq). Large poor-rich divide in human development indicators.
Nonsubsidy SSNs have small poverty impact linked to low coverage of the poor (23%), fragmentation and low transfer size. Increasing fiscal pressure from subsidy system.
Developing targeting and poverty reduction strategy. Preparing a unified registry of beneficiaries.
Prioritize interventions focused on children and that help build human capital. Rebalance SSNs away from subsidies. Establish administrative systems. Consolidate fragmented SSNs.
Lebanon
Regional inequities in access to basic infrastructure and social services. Relative deprivation in lagging areas (Akkar, Dinniyeh).
Due to limited experience in implementing SSNs, the focus has been on capacity building, mainly on targeting.
Developing first national targeting database (NPTP).
Expand the coverage of the targeting database through outreach. Institutionalize NPTP systems and business processes. Rationalize and improve the targeting of existing SSN programs. Improve the evidence base for policy making through regular household survey data collection.
Morocco
High child poverty and malnutrition rates among the poor (29% of children 0–5 years old in the poorest quintile are stunted). High vulnerability (11% live with $2–2.5/day). Spatial pockets of poverty (rural). High inequality in access to basic services between poor and rich, urban and rural residents. High unemployment and discouragement among the poor.
Nonsubsidy SSNs have low coverage of the poor (17%) Scope to improve targeting. Weak coordination between institutions implementing SSN and fragmentation. Increasing fiscal pressure from subsidy system.
Developed social protection strategy. Implementing CCT on education.
Prioritize interventions focused on children and that help build human capital (e.g., scaling up the education CCT). Rebalance SSNs by focusing on targeted programs rather than subsidies. Consolidate fragmented SSN.
Yemen, Rep.
High poverty rate (35% live with less than $2/day). High malnutrition rates (almost 60% of all children 0–5 years old are stunted). Spatial pockets of poverty (rural).
Limited coverage of the poor (29%, which is below world average). Scope to improve targeting. Increasing fiscal pressures from fuel subsidy system.
Implementing a workfare program, a cash assistance program, and a community-driven development program. Capacity building for cash transfer program to scale up during future crises. Has expanded coverage of the poor. Currently, cash transfer reaches over 1 million households.
Build on successful workfare and cash transfer program and existing administrative systems. Link SSNs to interventions that build human capital. Strengthen sustainability and coordination of implementing agencies.
West Bank and Gaza
Conflict has negatively affected people’s livelihoods and access to food, health, and education.
Lack of graduation strategies to divert less-poor households to other programs. Despite overall good targeting, there are concerns about inclusion and exclusion errors.
Expanded coverage of cash transfer program. Created unified registry of beneficiaries. Enhanced targeting. Invested in enhancing targeting and data collection.
Manage the rapid expansion of the program. Strengthen sustainability and coordination.
Bahrain
High vulnerability.
Nonsubsidy SSN system has fragmentation. High leakages to nonpoor. Heavy reliance on costly universal subsidies.
Evaluating and benchmarking existing SSNs.
Establish targeted SSN. Develop administrative systems. Simplify eligibility criteria.
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The Way Forward: How to Make Safety Nets in the Middle East and North Africa More Effective and Innovative
High poverty (40% live with less than $2/day). High malnutrition (33% of all children 0–5 years old and 45% in the poorest quintile stunted). High unemployment (55%).
Inclusion and Resilience: The Way Forward for Social Safety Nets in the Middle East and North Africa
Djibouti