World Bank s Social Protection & Labor Strategy Consultations Meeting SIGN UP SHEET

Transcription

1 The World Bank Group World Bank s Social Protection & Labor Strategy Consultations Meeting SIGN UP SHEET Country: Ethiopia City: Addis Venue: WB Date: March 17, 2011 Total Number of Participants:? Please fill out below with comments and type of stakeholder. Please add as many comment rows as needed. 1. Based on your experience, what would be the most important challenges in the social protection and labor sector in the coming 10 years in your country or region? A key challenge is affordability of SP. This is a very important issue for poor governments related to dependency and sustainability the country should be able to continue to finance projects through taxes (not only loans). 1 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy

2 High unemployment in urban areas; huge underemployment in rural areas. Labour market institutions are very weak; need to strengthen these institutions. Labour market policies are very weak or non-existence. Training and retraining to give labour force market-based skills support TVET programs; focus specifically on the youth. Migration is often rural urban; in Ethiopia migration is rural-rural seasonal agricultural workers no social protection because there is no state provision and migrants do not belong to the communities. One of the most important challenges: scaling up; how can we in an effectively and in a timely manner scale up what we are doing in SP 2. Please share particular examples of good practice or innovation that should inform the Strategy. 2 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy

3 In Ethiopia and other African countries, normative guidance comes from African Union. African countries usually look at the AU definition of SP. AU includes in the definition of Social Protection anything that falls under humanitarian assistance/disaster risk management. The humanitarian world is p1art of the social protection world how to embrace humanitarian within this discussion on social protection? UNICEF has shied away from a global strategy because it is very hard to evaluate and to measure progress. Comment 3: Ethiopia is working on a minimum package with a social protection platform; revising our policy. Developmental Social Policy is now is moving towards social protection policy Scale of PSNP given need is still very small want to look at best practices 3 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy

4 3. What should the World Bank's role be in your country or region with regard to social protection systems or programs? Capacity building is the most important issue so that countries can build their capacity and take over all the responsibilities for social protection System development social protection should shift from program to system one role of the WB should be establishing a system that is sustainable. Comment 3: Support to harmonization. Countries have to deal with many frameworks from different donors point of reference should be working with governments. Building on what others are doing. Not reinventing the wheel 4 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy

5 4. In strengthening the World Bank s engagement in social protection and labor, what is your opinion regarding the proposed Continued areas investment of focus in in knowledge, D. the Concept including Note listed sharing below? relevant good practice and results A. Moving from programs to social protection systems Positive moves in strategy: focus on LICs and focus on SP systems; What is the optimal role of civil society in systems? For example, in Southern Africa, civil society is brining most marginalized in to the system. This strategy is a place to start talking about good models for this relationship. B. Strengthening the focus on low income countries and fragile states Positive moves in strategy, i.e. focus on LICs; focus on SP systems; 5 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy

6 C. Emphasizing promotion as a goal of social protection when designing programs and systems The strategy does not properly capture that the prevention side can have promotive impacts, especially because SSN enable to take more risks. D. Continued investment in knowledge, including sharing relevant good practice and results 6 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy

7 D. Continued investment in knowledge, including sharing relevant good practice and results 5. What are your suggestions or comments about a new World Bank Social Protection & Labor Strategy? We need social protection because there is always risk, vulnerability to mitigate; protect vulnerable groups. We cannot talk about SP having an end goal (Until when we can manage the risks, prevent these risks) because there are always risks. Social protection requires resource. Where does this come from? Donors? How long can they support us? Reducing vulnerability through the economy rather than depending on donor resources 7 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy

8 UNICEF: used 3Ps in their Strategy. But also a T for the transformative role of SP. Transformational element is most difficult getting parliamentarians interested; questioning Ministries of Finance when there is no spending on SP. Hardest is to move towards national ownership Comment 3: Missing issues: Good working conditions; Employee-employer relations; social dialogue; productivity; Environmental protection; Child labour. Comment 4: Connect to the UN Social Floor and AU social policy framework. More coordination with other donors. Background papers: paper on disabilities as elderly populations are part of the working population - don t disregard other parts of the population that contribute productivity 8 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy

9 Partnership within WB to include coordination for CCA, DRR Absence of transformation level could be seen to be an absence of a higher level or principled advocacy, i.e. human rights, right to social security, etc how this translates into minimums, i.e. 2% for prevention, moral principles behind labor issues not only argument for economic growth. Social welfare services: how do we start building a cadre of social workers? Populations targeted for SP need counselling and linkages with other services. SP has distracted from and taken capacity from social welfare systems. Relationship with traditional support mechanisms: there is a danger of an imposition of instruments that can overrule or neglect the existing social infrastructures of reciprocity. A form of balance would be to push a public sector response that supports informal mechanisms. Regional Economic Communities expand the role of regional oversight; is there a role for some type of peer review mechanism or performance monitoring? 9 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy

10 Link with access to services: access to health should be mandatory to pull out of poverty What is your experience with vouchers to use food vouchers for people living with HIV/AIDS promote informal sector Consider studying the failed examples. What we should not do? 10 World Bank Social Protection and Labor Strategy