World Bank s Social Protection & Labour Strategy

Transcription

1 Wrld Bank s Scial Prtectin & Labur Strategy HelpAge Internatinal s respnse. Helpage Interantinal welcmes the pprtunity t respnd t the cnsultatin n the Wrld Bank s Scial Prtectin Strategy HelpAge Internatinal wrks in ver 40 cuntries t help lder peple claim their rights, challenge discriminatin and vercme pverty s that they can lead dignified, secure, active and healthy lives. A key fcus f ur wrk is securing scial prtectin fr lder peple and their families, and we have cnsiderable experience f designing, implementing, mnitring, and campaigning n cash transfers and scial pensins. In light f ur experience, we wuld like t ffer the fllwing cmments. Firstly, we welcme the Cncept nte s fcus n lw incme cuntries and n building lng term scial prtectin systems which will help rebalance the Bank s funding n scial prtectin in favur f need and building a permanent, sustainable respnse t chrnic pverty and vulnerability. We als welcme the recgnitin f the demgraphic transitin and the impact this is having n rates f pverty and scial prtectin cverage. We think that the Strategy wuld be strengthened by building and addressing the fllwing issues. Addressing ageing scieties and recgnising the needs and cntributins f lder peple Building n the recgnitin f demgraphic transitin, the Strategy needs t define hw scial prtectin systems can t respnd t the grwing needs f lder peple and children, and the large cntributin lder peple can make t reducing vulnerability and pverty acrss the life curse. The glbal trends f declining fertility, increasing migratin and urbanisatin means family structures are changing dramatically, reducing traditinal scial prtectin mechanisms fr lder peple and fr children. HIV/AIDS is having a devastating impact in many cuntries, increasing the care burden f peple living with HIV/AIDS and the children they leave behind. Frm Latin America t Asia migratin has changed the age prfile f relatively yung cuntries, leaving skipped-generatin husehlds f lder peple caring fr grandchildren left by middle-generatin migrants. With remittances infrequent, inadequate r nn-existent, ld and yung in these husehlds are sharing pverty and vulnerability. The Strategy needs t acknwledge that: The wrld ppulatin is ageing and develping cuntries are ageing fastest. Within 16 years, 80 per cent f the wrld s ppulatin ver 60 will be living in develping cuntries i. Lack f secure incme is ne f biggest prblems fr lder peple and their family members: arund the wrld half f lder peple lack a secure incme (342 millin) and by 2050 mre than 1.2 billin lder peple will be withut access t secure incmes ii. That means millins f lder wmen and men living in pverty, and wrking well int their ld age, ften in insecure, lw-paid jbs. 1 Bethan Emmett May 2011

2 Demgraphic and ecnmic trends are changing family structures, resulting in declining family supprt fr lder peple in many cuntries. At the same time, lder peple are playing a significant rle in caring fr grandchildren. Fr example: In Suthern Africa research by HelpAge suggests that 59% f duble rphans are cared fr by lder peple. In sme cmmunities in Kenya and Tanzania, lder peple were caring fr ver 75 per cent f rphans and vulnerable children. In Thailand: 28% f thse aged (and 18% f thse aged 70-79) care fr migrant children Tajikistan, up t 20% f ppulatin abrad; in Mldva, every 3rd wrking age adult has migrated. Grandparent care f children is critical yet skipped generatin husehlds with specific needs are nt n the plicy agenda iii All scial prtectin instruments (e.g. public wrks prgrammes, scial services, livelihds prgrammes and subsidies) must be age-friendly: i.e. respnd t lder peple s needs and be designed in a way which makes them accessible fr lder peple. But the mst effective scial prtectin mechanism t address the needs f lder peple and their dependents is t prvide a universal scial pensin. Internatinal experience f scial pensins in Nepal, Blivia, Suth Africa, Brazil and many thers shws that universal scial pensins: have prven impacts n pverty f lder peple, children and ther husehld members iv ; reach a substantial prprtin f husehlds; are cst-effective. Fr example, research by HelpAge acrss 50 lw and middle incme cuntries shws that prviding a universal 65+ scial pensin wuld cst less than 1.8 per cent f GDP v ; have prved plitically ppular and sustainable vi where they have been implemented vii. Thematic area 1 - building scial prtectin systems apprpriate t capacity and cntext The ultimate gal f the Wrld Bank s future strategy shuld be t strengthen the State s rle in building its wn natinal, cmprehensive, sustainable lng-term system f scial prtectin, based n internatinal standards and bligatins. The emphasis needs t change t prviding transfers n a regular, lng-term and predictable basis. T achieve this, scial prtectin systems need t be institutinalised - i.e. legislated and regulated (but nt necessarily administrated by the State), guaranteed by law, based n entitlements and financed in a sustainable manner. HelpAge welcmes the suggestin t deepen links with civil sciety and cmmunity based rganizatins. Different actrs have a respnsibility in the develpment and extensin f scial prtectin systems, but the Strategy shuld clearly emphasize that the gvernment has the verarching respnsibility in terms f regulatin, budget allcatin as well as mnitring the system. Civil sciety rganizatins can supprt scial prtectin systems by helping in mnitring, versight, imprving accuntability and supprting identificatin f recipients where apprpriate. Netwrks f Older Peple Assciatins and civil sciety partners in Clmbia, Peru, Ecuadr and Paraguay and the Philippines have been instrumental in prviding plitical demand fr new scial pensins in these cuntries, and cntinue t play an imprtant rle advising n design and implementatin f pensins and ther scial prtectin services t respnd t lder peple s needs. Thematic area 2- strengthening the fcus n lw incme cuntries Lw incme cuntries have particular characteristics which have implicatins fr the design and implementatin f lng term scial prtectin systems. In particular: 2

3 Building sustainable scial prtectin systems in lw incme cuntries needs t take int accunt the cnsiderable difficulties f implementing narrwly targeted prgrammes, such as means-tested r pverty-targeted cash transfers in the cntext f bth widespread abslute pverty and lw administrative capacity. Categrical appraches t targeting are administratively simpler t implement, mre cst-effective, mre accurately reflect the realities f vulnerabilities experienced acrss the life curse. Brader, categrically targeted prgrammes als tend t attract brader plitical buy-in which is critical fr sustained lng term financing. Evidence shws that narrwly targeted scial assistance prgrammes tend t receive and sustain very lw budget allcatins, whereas brader based prgrammes accessible t tax-paying middle classes receive a larger budget share e.g. lng-established universal scial pensins in Blivia, Lesth, Sama, Mauritius cnsistently attract funding f +1% f GDP; means-tested pensins in India, Bangladesh, Csta Rica, less than 0.3% GDP. Similarly, strict cnditinal appraches t cash transfers are mre cmplex t administer in lw incme cuntries and d nt perfrm well where the prvisin f scial services is lw and/ r f pr quality. HelpAge is cncerned that the Strategy will cntinue t recmmend safety nets fr lw incme cuntries (i.e., shrt term, narrwly targeted prrammes with n legislative guarantee) rather than lng term scial prtectin instruments based n permanent entitlements, legislated in natinal law. Scial pensins in Nepal and Blivia shw permanent, legislated and entitlement- based scial prtectin prgrammes are pssible in lw incme cuntries. There is a clear need t braden Wrld Bank funding n scial prtectin frm the handful f MICs wh recieved the bulk f the Bank s pst-crisis scial prtectin funding. The Banks funding fr scial prtectin shuld fcus n lw incme cuntries where the need is strngest. Hwwever the Strategy shuld nt exclude wrking in middle incme cuntries where demgraphic transitin is taking place and ppulatin ageing is ne f the key cncerns. Bank shuld cnsider the Thai gvernment example f extending the existing scial pensin as a rapid respnse t the financial crisis and ageing ppulatin, and fcus sme f its supprt n extending and deepening existing scial pensins in cuntries such as the Philippines, Clmbia and Peru. Thematic area 3: prmtive, prductive aspects f the Scial Prtectin Strategy There is a strng emphasis in the cncept nte n prductive and prmtive aspects f scial prtectin. HelpAge Internatinal is cncerned that: In terms f prductive and prmtive scial prtectin measures, the majrity f pr peple in lw-incme cuntries may need livelihd interventins rather than thse mre fcused n emplyment services and retraining due t the large size f the infrmal sectr. Plicies that recgnise and imprve cnditins in the infrmal ecnmy, where mst pr wmen and men earn their livelihds, are critical t pverty reductin. Fr example, prer lder peple are heavily represented in the agricultural sectr and are cncentrated in the infrmal sectr (especially lder wmen). In Malawi, 96 per cent f lder men and 86 per cent f lder wmen ver 60 cntinue t wrk viii. Research int the experiences f lder wrkers in lw and middle incme cuntries highlighted prblems such as age discriminatin, vilatin f rights t prperty and land, exclusin frm skills develpment prgrammes and ther livelihd supprt prgrammes and wrk being unpaid and unrecgnised. Strategy shuld acknwledge that preventive instruments f scial prtectin ften lead t prmtive utcmes (e.g. pensins leading t families being able t take risks that lead t ecnmic imprvements in their family incmes etc). In Mauritius and Suth Africa scial pensins have cntributed t investments in livelihds and reduce pverty substantially. 3

4 The strategy will emphasize prmtive and prductive aspects f scial prtectin at the cst f prtective aspects i.e. will fcus n getting wrking age peple int the labur market. While this is a necessity in itself the strategy must als fcus n thse wh cannt wrk, and need prtectin children, lder peple and peple with disabilities In additin, we welcme recgnitin f existing internatinal and reginal plicy framewrks fr scial prtectin and suggest that the Strategy explicitly supprts the fllwing existing reginal and internatinal cmmitments n scial prtectin: The Wrld Bank s future strategy shuld actively supprt the Scial Prtectin Flr Initiative. Established by the UN in 2009, in the cntext f a successin f glbal crises which threatened t undermine prgress twards the MDGs, the Scial Prtectin Flr Initiative aims at building a basic set f scial prtectin guarantees fr all citizens, including a basic set f essential scial transfers. These transfers, in cash and in kind, are paid t the pr and vulnerable t enhance fd security and nutritin, and prvide minimum incme security and access t essential services, including educatin and health care. AU Scial Plicy Framewrk fr Africa (AU SPF). African leaders have already cmmitted t the implementatin f a minimum scial prtectin flr, intrducing and extending publicly financed nn-cntributry cash transfer schemes; cmmitments reiterated in the Yaunde declaratin ( ) which supprts the Scial Prtectin Flr Initiative and states that the initiative is affrdable, based n existing gvernment dmestic resurces in the cntext f prgressive realizatin. ASEAN scial prtectin strategy which shws supprt fr strengthening scial prtectin fr lder peple. We furthermre recmmend that Wrld Bank, in its interest in supprting the nuts and blts and infrastructure f scial prtectin, pursues the fllwing: Investing in the cllectin f disaggregated data accrding t age, disability, gender, emplyment status, etc in rder t prvide a mre accurate picture f need and a baseline fr cllecting data n impact f scial prtectin prgrammes. Supprting investment in natinal identify card and registratin mechanisms which can be used t mre accurately identify and register peple fr scial prtectin. Lack f ID cards is ne f the key blckages t accurately identifying the prest, particularly wmen and peple in rural areas wh tend t lack such dcuments. HelpAge has prduced a number f publicatins drawing tgether internatinal experience n the design and implementatin f age-friendly scial prtectin systems. See fr links t papers n the fllwing: Registratin mechanisms Rle f cash transfers in strengthening state-citizen relatins in fragile states Cst f universal scial pensins in 50 cuntries Financing f scial pensins Management Infrmatin Systems i UNDESA, Ppulatin Divisin, Wrld Ppulatin Ageing 2009, New Yrk, United Natins, 2009 ii UNDESA, 2007 iii HelpAge Internatinal (2008) - Mind the gap - HIV and AIDS and lder peple in Africa 4

5 iv See fr example, the Wrld Bank s wn research n scial pensins in 18 Latin American cuntries: Dethier, Pierre Pestieau and Rabia Ali (2010) Universal minimum ld age pensins : impact n pverty and fiscal cst in 18 Latin American cuntries PK=469372&menuPK= &entityID= _ and Barrients (2005) Nn-cntributry pensins and pverty reductin in Brazil and Suth Africa v HelpAge Internatinal 2011 see vi e.g. lng-established universal scial pensins in Blivia, Lesth, Sama, Mauritius cnsistently attract funding f +1% f GDP; means-tested pensins in India, Bangladesh, Csta Rica, less than 0.3% GDP. vii See e.g. (Pelham, 2007) The plitics behind the nn-cntributry ld age scial pensins in Lesth, Namibia and Suth Africa viii Fr instance, see HelpAge (2010) Frgtten wrkfrce: lder peple and their right t decent wrk 5