Study on Social Protection and Poverty Reduction - Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE

Based on the Social Policy Framework agreed upon by African governments, social protection is defined as “furthering income security; and also the pursuit of an integrated policy approach that has a strong developmental focus, such as job creation, equitable and accessible health and other services, social welfare, quality education and so on” (Africa Union, 2008). The scope of social protection is wide in many Eastern and Southern African countries, encompassing a wide range of social protection interventions and social safety nets. In general, social protection interventions usually include measures to provide adequate housing and nutrition, ensure access to education and health and promote social inclusion and political stability. Vision and objective: The vision of the Regional Project is to provide policy advisory services on the intersections between social protection and inclusive growth to Country Offices (COs), Governments, Regional Institutions and other relevant stakeholders in the region. Some of the activities that will be carried out include the capacity strengthening of UNDP Country Offices and Governments to develop and implement coherent national social protection programmes, action plans and initiatives. A major component of the work will be a study on the potential contribution of social protection to inclusive growth over the long term to addressing various dimensions of social and gender-based exclusion, inequalities and vulnerabilities. The study will monitor the contributions of social protection to macroeconomic and social resilience in the face of multiple types of vulnerabilities and crises in 6 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. To carry out the study, the Poverty Reduction and MDG Practice of the UNDP Regional Service Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) will work with the UNDP Country Offices of the selected countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Rwanda and Namibia). The countries have been selected based on their stages of development with regards to social protection initiatives and their interest in social protection work. The focus of the study will be the generation and dissemination of knowledge products on experiences and lessons learnt on social protection issues and their contributions to inclusive growth, poverty and inequality reduction. Background on Social Protection in Mozambique: Mozambique has seen impressive progress in the area of Social Protection within recent years, with very solid government and donor engagement in the sector. Among recent developments, the following can be highlighted: The approval of the Social Protection Law in 2007; the approval of the Regulation for Basic Social Protection in 2009; the approval of the National Strategy for Basic Social Protection (ENSSB) in 2010 (for the 2010-2014 period); the increased emphasis on the role of Social Protection in Mozambique’s new Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PARP 2011-2014); and the discussion of the issue of social protection at the Council of Ministers in mid-2011, which resulted in the approval of a package of four social protection programs, which are currently in operationalization phases. However, the history of social protection in Mozambique predates these major achievements of the past five years. Mozambique’s Food Subsidy Programme (Programa de Subsidio Alimentar, PSA) was introduced in 1990, as a system of unconditional cash transfers with national coverage. This programme was entirely government funded, and it was only in 2007 that donors began significant financial involvement in SP in Mozambique. In 2011, PSA covered 252,000 households, which was an increase of 125 percent in four years. The Food Subsidy Programme covered 23 percent of the households with elderly people. Besides in impact evaluation from February 2010, which found the transferred amount of to be too low (the amounts were 130-380 MZN, or 4-13 USD in 2011), no studies to evaluate the long-term impacts of this programme exist. At present, in addition to strong Government interest and lead, there is also significant donor involvement, led by the UN (Social Protection Joint Programme: ILO, UNICEF, WFP), the World Bank and several bilateral donors. Several national and international Non Governmental Organization (NGOs) are also strongly involved in Social Protection projects and renewal efforts in Mozambique, and a number of them have long-term field experience with Social Protection in the country. Efforts are underway to support the Government to scale up, consolidate and coordinate its Social Protection efforts, which up until now to a large degree have been spread among several different Ministries and government institutions, with scope for improvement with regards to coordination and synergy effects. Efforts to ensure an efficient implementation of the National Strategy for Basic Social Protection are currently being prioritized by the development partners. In particular, efforts to support MMAS (the Ministry of Women and Social Action) in the design and costing of a holistic social protection system in line with the 2010 strategy are being prioritized. Both the World Bank and the IMF have been brought in as significant new stakeholders. In addition, the WFP and World Bank are conducting pilots on productive Social Protection programmes. The World Bank has announced plans to spend significantly on Social Protection in Mozambique over the coming years, while the IMF has selected Mozambique as a pilot country for its social protection floor initiative (SPFI) project. In order to further build upon the work that has and is being done, and to create something that is of value to the key stakeholders, UNDP wishes to undertake a study that looks into the long-term contributions of Social Protection in Mozambique – and in particular its impacts on various dimensions on social and gender-based exclusion, inequalities and vulnerabilities. The planned study on long-term contributions of Social Protection in Mozambique will feed into a larger regional study, coordinated by the Regional Service Centre, including four to five other African countries (Ethiopia, Namibia, Rwanda and Lesotho, possibly also Kenya). The UNDP Regional Service Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa and the UNDP Mozambique Country Office propose to conduct a study on the potential contribution of social protection to address various dimensions of social, age and gender-based exclusion, inequalities and vulnerabilities over the long run. The study will monitor the contributions of social protection to macroeconomic and social resilience in the face of multiple types of vulnerabilities and crises in Mozambique. The study should specifically look at the links between agriculture and social protection, and in particular to productive social protection, seeing that Mozambique is still predominantly rural, the majority of the population depends on agriculture (and a majority of those are women), and poverty rates in rural areas are much higher than in urban areas. The study should also aim at looking at social protection throughout the life course, identifying age-specific challenges and solutions. There are several potential channels whereby Social Protection contributes to macroeconomic and social resilience in the long-term: (i) Regular injection of cash into local economies ensuring a predictable cash flow and demand for products where it did not exist before; (ii) Enhanced livelihoods through works focused on sustainable agricultural productivity; (iii) Diminished exposure to shocks (e.g. through works focused on improving climate variability adaptation) as well as improved readiness to face shocks through savings; (iv) Increased coverage of basic financial services; and (v) Increased human resource productivity through enhanced health and labor/agricultural productivity training. Mozambique has been selected based on its stage of development of social protection initiatives and its interest in social protection work. The study will aim to explore the long-term contribution of social protection to address various dimensions of social, age and gender based exclusions, inequalities and vulnerabilities. Some of the questions that the study will explore include the following: What does it take to utilize social protection as a tool to address various dimensions of social, age and gender-based exclusion, inequalities and vulnerabilities over the long time? How can specific types of social protection policies and programmes be combined and/or made to work together? How can the design of social protection programmes better address gender-differentiated sources of vulnerabilities, inequalities and exclusions? The study is expected to generate information on experiences and lessons learnt on social protection issues and their contributions to poverty, vulnerability and inequality reduction.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work: Carry out a mapping study (building on existing literature, including the comprehensive 2011 Social Protection assessment review) that will feed into a comprehensive regional policy framework that can ensure the sustainability of social protection schemes in Africa in terms of political sustainability, fiscal sustainability, policy sustainability and technical sustainability. Identify the main contributions of social protection to macroeconomic and social resilience in the long-term in the face of multiple types of vulnerabilities and crises in Mozambique. Identify requirements and partnerships to move strategies into action and innovative institutions and financing mechanisms to sustain social protection programmes and schemes at the country level (making use of work on fiscal space to finance Social Protection by IMF and ILO). Carry out a study on the potential contribution of social protection in addressing various dimensions of social and gender-based exclusion, inequalities and vulnerabilities over the long time in Mozambique. Identify the main trends and issues facing the government and their development partners to develop and implement social protection schemes and programmes, actions to address and progress made (making use of 2012 WFP internal process evaluation to identify planning and implementation gaps). Identify accompanying measures that can help people migrate out of extreme poverty and, ultimately, out of Social Protection schemes. Review successes and failures of social protection schemes and programmes that can be replicated in Mozambique by taking African diversity into consideration. Look especially at countries where process evaluations have been conducted (Ghana, Tanzania etc). Identify a list of specific entry point opportunities for UNDP immediate action on sustainability of social protection in Mozambique. Deliverables: Timeline: 20 working days A short (10-15 pages) overview study in English of Social Protection in Mozambique, with focus on political, fiscal, policy and technical sustainability. A short Reference paper (10-15 pages) in English on the potential contribution of Social Protection to addressing various dimensions of social, age and gender-based exclusion, inequalities & vulnerabilities over the long-run in Mozambique. Timeline: 20 working days A short (10-15 pages) paper in English on international Social Protection lessons, success and failures, with particular relevance to Mozambique Writes a short paper in English identifying entry point opportunities for UNDP action on sustainable Social Protection in Mozambique Presentation of main preliminary findings of study to the G19 Social Protection Working Group. Timeline: 10 working days Final versions delivered.

Competencies

Technical / Functional Competencies: Strong analytical aptitude, communication and presentation skills. Outstanding communication skills in English and Portuguese required. Computer proficiency: MS Office. Proficiency in both English and Portuguese; spoken and written. Knowledge of UNDP and other UN agencies is an advantage. Personal Competencies: Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards Positive, constructive attitude and approaches work with energy Demonstrates openness to change and ability to receive / integrate feedback Good networking skills to engage with both internal and external partners

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Masters degree in Economics, International Development, Public Policy or other relevant field. Experience: A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in development and/or implementation of social protection programmes is required. Experience in policy development and delivery in developing countries in general and Africa in particular. Work experience in Mozambique a strong asset. Knowledge of challenges and issues on development, poverty, vulnerability and exclusion in Mozambique and/or other Least Developed Countries or Sub-Saharan Africa countries a strong asset. Experience in conducting research, especially on gender and inequality, is an advantage. Required Languages: English and Portuguese.

Study on Social Protection and Poverty Reduction