PowerPointPrsentation

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Social Cash Transfers - An effective and feasible
instrument for poverty alleviation.
Experiences from German Development Cooperation.
International Council on Social Welfare
33rd Global Conference Tours, June 30 July 4, 2
008 Symposium Poverty Reduction and Minimum Inco
me Policies Results and Limits
Dr Matthias Rompel Team Leader, Sector Initiative
Systems of Social Protection German Technical Co
operation (GTZ)
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GTZ in a nutshell

• German Technical Cooperation (GTZ)
• Implementing agency of the German Federal
  Government for Technical Assistance in
  International Cooperation
  
• Organised as a government-owned corporation
• 2.200 projects in 130 countries worldwide -
  11.500 staff
  
• Core Competence Capacity Development
• Building and developing the capacities of
  people, organisations and societies.
  
• Objective Partners are able to make effective
  and efficient use of resources in order to
  achieve their own goals on a sustainable basis.
  
• GTZ operations in the area of social protection
• work on social protection in some 50 TA
  programmes / projects in about 30 countries
  worldwide
  

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What is Social Protection?

• Households and individuals face various risks
  that can force them into poverty (illness,
  accident, death, unemployment, old age, maternity
  etc).
• More than half of all people worldwide are
  uninsured against risks of this nature.
  
• Insufficient social protection can have a
  disastrous effect and impoverish people - or
  drive them deeper into poverty.
  
• Social security aims at protecting households and
  individuals against social risks and shocks to
  their livelihoods.
  

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Basic Social Protection

• Aims at those groups of the population who, for
  reasons beyond their control, are not able to
  provide for themselves
  
• Residual protection of the poorest households

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Point of DepartureThe Right to Social Protection
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Basic Social Protection Program Types
Basic Social Protection
Social Cash Transfers
In-kind Transfers
Unconditional Cash Transfer
Food aid
Non-contributory Pensions, Disability Grants, Ch
ild Benefits
Waiver-systems for Health Services
Conditional Cash Transfers (tied to school atten
dance etc)
Education vouchers
Cash for Work
Food for Work
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Social Cash Transfers (STC)

• Regular and predictable grants that are provided
  to vulnerable households or individuals
  
• Long term objective lifting households over
  poverty-line
  
• STCs as investment in human resources
• Twinned goal long term investment dimension and
  short term assistance turning from mitigation to
  prevention
  
• Design option universal vs. targeted
• Social cash transfers (currently being piloted in
  Zambia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, South Africa,
  Kenya)
  
• Social pensions (eg. South Africa, Lesotho,
  Namibia, Botswana, Bangladesh, Brazil, Nepal)
  
• Child benefits (eg. South Africa)
• Conditional cash transfers (Brazil, Mexico,
  Bangladesh)
  
• Disability allowances (eg. Namibia)

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Evidence

• Affordability
• Universal pension schemes in Botswana, Brazil,
  Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Nepal, and South
  Africa, cost between 0.2 and 2 of GDP (e.g.
  universal pension in Namibia for over 65 aged
  costs 0.7 GDP)
• Efficiency
• SCTs reduce extreme poverty effectively, e.g. in
  South Africa, the non-contributory pension
  reduced old-age-related poverty by 94 and
  poverty in the population as a whole by 12.5
  (evidence).

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Impacts

• SCTs are enabling people to access basic social
  services
  
• Hence they are strengthening demand
• Even greater in the case of CCTs
• Conditional transfers bundle health,
  nutritional and educational interventions and
  create a strong demand to use services to invest
  in human capital, e.g.
• El Salvador 42 increase of health service
  utilization for children
  
• 12 reduction in ill-health among under-5s in
  Mexico 19 among adults
  
• Nicaragua immunization levels among children
  aged 12-23 months increased 18
  
• Challenge Balance of demand- and supply-side
  (!!)
  

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Impacts

• Consumption Investments
• SCTS Zambia
• More households both consumed and invested more.
  The number of beneficiary households making
  investments quadrupled from roughly 14 to 50
  and the average amount invested doubled.
• 7 times as many households owned goats and the
  ownership for chickens increased by 15.
  

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Challenges 1/2

• Capacity development
• Political economy
• Integration in comprehensive social protection
  policy strategy
  
• Institutional set-up / design / coordination

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Challenges 2/2

• Including Civil Society
• Costing / Fiscal Space / Sustainability
• Graduation
• Targeting

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Conclusion

• Social transfers
• as effective tool for poverty alleviation
• but not a panacea
• will complement (and have to be complemented by)
  other social security and social policy
  interventions
  
• Essential challenges in building social transfer
  schemes
  
• Capacity development
• Political will

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Thanks for your attention!

• For more information
• www.gtz.de/social-protection-systems
• www.socialcashtransfers-zambia.org
• Matthias.Rompel_at_gtz.de