Social protection status in developing countries

Social protection status in developing countries The case of Kenya Draft Paper prepared for ERD Regional Conference, on Promoting Resilience through Social Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa By L. Mary Mbithi and Mutinda Mutuku June, 2010

Table of Contents Contents 1: Introduction...3 1.1Background...3 1.2 The Problem...4 1.3 Objectives of the paper...4 2: Social Protection Policies and Programmes in Kenya...6 2.1 The Social Protection Policy in Kenya...6 2.2 The Social Protection Policies in Kenya...7 2.2.1 Policies for persons with disability...7 2.2.2 Policies for older persons...8 2.2.3 Policies targeting children s...9 2.2.4 Policies on gender equality...9 2.3 Social Protection programmes in Kenya...10 3: Social Protection and Vision 2030, Economic Growth and MDGs...11 3.1 Social Protection and Vision 2030...11 3.2 Social Protection and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)...11 3.3 Social Protection and Contribution to Economic Growth...12 4: Opportunities, Challenges and Recommendations...13 4.1 Opportunities for Social Protection in Kenya...13 4.2 Challenges of Social Protection in Kenya...13 4.3 Recommendations...14 5. References...16

1: Introduction 1.1 Background The economic growth rate in Kenya for the last five years has been affected by social, economic and political factors. After the 2003 general elections, Kenya was optimistic to improve the economic growth rate by 10 percent. The Country experienced remarkable sustained economic growth for the period 2003 2007 with the GDP growth rate reaching 7.1 percent in 2007, the highest growth rate over the period (Government of Kenya, 2009). This growth translated to improved welfare among the citizens. The level of employment, infrastructure development and intervention to social protection were enhanced. However due to internal shocks like post election disruptions, unfavorable weather conditions, high cost of food and fuel prices and continued political bickering lead to the drop in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 1.7% in 2008 (Government of Kenya, 2009). Some notable external factors that contributed to this drop in GDP included high crude oil prices and global financial crisis. The drastic change in the economic growth pattern meant changes in the government expenditure pattern, giving greater priority to the major economic sectors like tourism, education, internal security and Agriculture. However, Social Protection has remained a key concern to the government, irrespective of the drop in GDP, the central government expenditure on social services increased by 7.8% from KSh 187.8 billion in 2007/08 to KSh 202.4 billion in 2008/09. Though there was a drop in the creation of new jobs from 485, 500 in 2007 to 467,300 in 2008, with a deceleration of the private sector employment creation by 67.7%; Employment in the informal sector is estimated to have expanded from 7.5 million in 2007 to 7.9 million in 2008 (KNBS, 2009). One of the key action plans to the informal employment creation was the Kazi Kwa Vijana which required urgent refocusing on key impact areas both at employment level and activity areas like afforestation, construction of rural roads and damming of seasonal rivers and construction of water pans. Other interventions put in place included the Youth Fund under the Ministry of Youth Affairs, the Women Fund under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, 2008 and the Emergency Programme to take care of the Hunger Safety Net with the Ministry of Special Programme.

Kenya has an estimated population of over 35 million of which 46% live below a poverty line level of one dollar a day. According to KNBS (200), 21% of these are hard core poor. 51% of the total population in Kenya is below 18 years of age (they are children) and 5% are over 65 years of age. Hence over 55% of the total population is dependent. The HIV prevalence is 6.4%, with this rate being higher for women at 8.3% while for men it is 8%. All these and other factors have reduced life expectancy to 46.4 years in an economy with an approximate 2.4% economic growth (KHDS, 2007, 2008). Thus the country has established several social protection measures for implementation. With these challenges, the government has developed social protection policies aimed at improving several categories of persons. 1.2 The Problem The social protection situation in Kenya has received a greater appreciation among the beneficiaries. However, the Government s intervention to social protection though not very well developed is in the process of enhanced documentation and implementation with regard to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights; which states that Social Protection is a fundamental human right for all citizens -Articles 22-26, and an agency to poverty alleviation (UDHR, 1948). The challenge has been that several policies have been developed, some partially planned for and implemented in terms of budgeting and technical input among other variables. There has been little or no stock-taking of these interventions in the country in the last ten years. This raises the problem of accountability on the social protection accountability, lack of social benefit and impact analysis on the different sectors benefiting and poor projections for future policy development and planning. This paper defines social protection with regard to its application in Kenya and synthesizes its importance with regard to vision 2030, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It also explains the challenges and opportunities within the social protection programmes if the above concerns are addressed. 1.3 Objectives of the paper This paper is intended to achieve the following objectives:

i. To establish the existence of the government custodian in social protection issues in Kenya. ii. To establish the different social protection policies developed in the Kenya. iii. To outline the social protection programmes implemented in Kenya. iv. To establish the relationship between social protection and economic growth, Vision 2030 and vision 2030. v. To outline the challenges, opportunities and recommendations with regard to social protection programmes in Kenya. 1.4 Methodology The paper is a review of recent government policies aiming at improving social protection in Kenya. 1.5 Organization of the paper The paper introduction the Kenyan economic status and the concern been addressed in chapter one. Chapter two discusses the social protection status in Kenya with the respective literature and policies developed in the implementation of the tailored programmes. Chapter three shows the relationship between the social protection and economic growth, Vision 2030 and the Millennium Development Goals; while chapter four offers the explains the opportunities, challenges and recommendations (way forward) with respect to the social protection status in Kenya.

2: Social Protection Policies and Programmes in Kenya 2.1 The Social Protection Policy in Kenya By definition social protection is the policies and programs designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting efficient labor markets, diminishing people s exposure to risks, and enhancing their capacity to protect themselves against hazards and interruptions/ loss of income (Ortiz, 2001). According to Asian Development Bank (2001), the policies and procedures included in social protection involve five major kinds of activities: the labor market policies and programs, social insurance programs, social assistance, micro and area-based schemes and child protection. These systems enable societies to advance the well-being and security of their citizens by protecting them from vulnerability and deprivation so that they can pursue a decent life. This benefit is against the emerging criticism like cost, impact of overall economic performance, creation of over dependency on public support. Kenya, through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, has developed a National Social Protection Policy document, currently waiting cabinet approval. The policy aims at providing a National Social Protection Program focused on improving the lives of the poor and vulnerable. The main purpose of the Policy (Government of Kenya, 2006) is to address poverty and reduce vulnerability in the country through creation of a framework, which provides and promotes immediate support to the poor and vulnerable and also build the productive capacity, thereby facilitating movement out of poverty and reducing the vulnerability of falling into deeper poverty of the citizens. The main areas of policy focus include: Addressing poverty in an integrated and coordinated manner, Prioritization on the reduction of extreme poverty,

Advocacy for the provision of cash transfers for those who cannot support themselves, Emphasis on long-term and predictable interventions, Stressing on asset creation and support. The key objectives of this policy include to: Define strategies for the improvement of the socio-economic status of the poor and vulnerable. Provide reference guidelines to stakeholders in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of SP programs. Provide guidelines for cost effective, predictable and sustainable interventions. Provide guidelines for resource mobilizations and allocation. Establish an institutional framework for implementation of a national. 2.2 The Social Protection Policies in Kenya The implementation and coordination of social protection policies in Kenya is under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development. Current policies for social protection include: 2.2.1 Policies for persons with disability According to the WHO (2009), the disabled in Kenya are increasing. For some time, the government has adopted a number of laws and policies pertaining to people with disabilities. These laws are contained in the 1969 constitution of Kenya, the current draft constitution, and the Persons with Disabilities Act (2003), which is a comprehensive law covering rights, rehabilitation and equal opportunities for people with disabilities. The law, thus requires both the private and public sector employers to reserve 5% of the jobs for disabled persons. Other laws include the National Security Act, (chapter 258, Laws of Kenya) which mentions the benefits for worker incapacitated before the established age. The Kenya s vision 2030 (Government of Kenya, 2007) provide a long term development framework and initiatives aimed at sustaining rapid economic growth and tackling poverty. Under vision 2030, Kenya aims at becoming a globally competitive and prosperous nation and aims to combat discrimination faced various groups including people with disabilities

Several other policies addressing the disability protection are the Draft Affirmative Action Bill 2000 which guarantees minority groups including disabled people, the Draft National Disability Policy which operationalizes the Persons with disabilities Act 2003, by providing guidelines for the implementation of the Act. The Draft special Needs Education Policy also provides a roadmap for the education of children with disabilities (ILO, 2004, 2009; Government of Kenya, 2008). The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development is the focal point for disability issues in Kenya. The Ministry of Education provides for children with physical and mental disabilities to be placed in mainstream schools. Other significant bodies are the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE), a government institution established in 1986, with the aim of meeting the educational needs of disabled children, youth and adults. 2.2.2 Policies for older persons The government of Kenya supports the welfare of older persons through various policy documents which have specific provisions for the needs of older persons. However, little progress has seen made in implementing them (UNDESA, 2008). The policy documents include: i. The 9 th National Development Plan (2002-2008) This plan noted that disintegration of the extended family system support due to urbanization and modernization and poverty have rendered older persons helpless, and therefore the need to operationalize the National Policy for Older persons to ensure proper coordination of all programmes for older persons. The plan also designed appropriate programmes to sensitize the public on the needs and rights of the older persons and also mainstreaming ageing issues in the national development planning and budgeting processes and in design of appropriate programmes ii. The Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2000 on National Population Policy

The Sessional Paper reorganized that the elderly present a potential problem in light of the breakdown in societal structures that used to take care of them and the absence of comprehensive support programmes faced by majority of families. iii. The Kenya National Policy on aging This policy has the overall objective of facilitating the integration and mainstreaming of the needs and concerns of the older persons in the national development process. The policy ensures that older persons are reorganized, respected and empowered to actively and fully participate in society and development (UNDESA, 2008). 2.2.3 Policies targeting children s i. The Children Act (2001) Kenya ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child in July, 1990. The enhancement of the Children s Act of 2001 gives effect to the obligation of Kenya under the Convection of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Children s Charter. Since then, The Government of Kenya has developed a domestic legislation concerning childcare and protection (Children Act, 2001). ii. Draft Orphans and Vulnerable Children Policy and the Draft National Children Policy This draft published in 2005 seeks to support and protect the rights of OVC in the areas of child survival, child development, child protection and child participation (Smart, 2003). 2.2.4 Policies on gender equality i. The National Gender and Development Policy The National Gender and Development Policy was developed in 2000. The policy provides a framework for the state to address gender imbalances and inequality. ii. The Constitution of Kenya Bill of Rights The current draft constitution in chapter 4 recognizes the Bill of rights hence providing for socioeconomic rights of human dignity and self- fulfillment (Government of Kenya, 2010).

2.3 Social Protection programmes in Kenya In the implementation of these polices, the government has established the following social protection programmes, some of which are jointly supported by development partners. The programmes identified to exist in the country based on the African Development Bank categorization include: Table 1: Social Protection Programmes in Kenya Cate Labor Market gory No. policies 1 The Constituency Development Fund 2 The Kenya Roads Bard Fund 3 The Local Authority Transfer Fund 4 Gender equity policies 5 Arid and Semi Social Insurance Social assistance Policies policies National Social The Hospital Fee Security Fund waiver The National Community and Hospital family safety nets Insurance Fund The Civil The People with Service Pension disability Scheme programme Occupational The Proposed Pension Hunger Safety Net Scheme Programme The HIV/AIDS Global Fund Arid (ASAL) programme 6 Elderly Persons Health Voucher Source: Government of Kenya, various documents Micro and Area Based Programme Youth Empowerment Scheme Women Enterprise Fund Kazi kwa vijana initiative Child Programmes The Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programme The Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)

3: Social Protection and Vision 2030, Economic Growth and MDGs 3.1 Social Protection and Vision 2030 Kenya s Vision 2030 was developed after the end on implementation of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS) formulation in 2003 and ending 2007 (Government of Kenya, 2003). By this time the economy had grown by about 7 per cent (KNBS, 2003). A long term development blue print was formulated Kenya Vision 2030 (Government of Kenya, 2007). The vision is founded by three pillars, the Economic Pillar, the Social Pillar and the Political Pillar. Social Protection is within the Social pillar which seeks to provide a just, Cohesive and equitable social development in a clean and secure environment The vision 2030 allows for equitable and affordable health care system of the highest possible standards. It also ensures that vulnerable persons at households, community and national levels are in improved livelihoods translating in to high quality of life and equal opportunities (Government of Kenya, 2007). It is expected that once fully implemented, the Kenya Vision 2030 will increase social infrastructure, reduce poverty among the elderly in urban and rural areas from 48 per cent and 55 per cent respectively to 25 percent. The vision will also reduce economic dependency from 50 percent to 25 percent, also eliminate paid child labor especially in agriculture sector, reduce the number of orphans from 2.4 million to 1.4 million and also empower people with special needs such as physically disabled (Mwega and Ndung u, 2008) 3.2 Social Protection and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Social Protection provides the biggest gap between the need for and the provision of basic social protection in developing countries (Schubert, 2005). Kenya has not made such progress with regard to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2. There is also need to improve its efforts to meet (MDG 1) of the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015 (Economic Commission for Africa, 2004). Social programmes play a bigger role in the provision for the right to food, and also contribute to the attainment of some MDG targets by providing tangible resources which individuals can invest in productive activities (FAO, 2003, Holmes and Jones, 2010).

3.3 Social Protection and Contribution to Economic Growth From the view of the many social protection policies undertaken by the government, social protection seems an expensive use of the available scarce resources (Devereux, 2003). However, the benefits are beyond the costs; for instance the humanitarian relief is provided to people whose lives and livelihood are threatened by natural disasters. Secondly, the effective safety nets can encourage moderate risk taking by the poor, leading to higher average incomes. Third, there are both direct and indirect economic costs of not investing in social protection. The governments investment in economic development and comprehensive social protection measures, then the costs and impacts of environment can be contained (DFID, 2004). Kenya s adoption of a pro-poor growth strategy would need to create strong incentives for investment, foster international economic development links, provide broad access to assets and markets hence reducing risk and vulnerability. Economic growth is critical for social protection since it not only provides for additional incomes which allow for critical private and informal transfers and mutual support, but also the basis for public revenues due to increased economic production which can be used as insurance and for basic social security to enhance the quality of life for citizens (Farrington et al., 2004; Shepard et al., 2005). Social protection creates significant effects on transactions in local markets. The provision of pension or cash allowances have an impact of market demand causing a multiplier effect in the local economy (Farrington and Gill, 2002; Help Age International, 2006)

4: Opportunities, Challenges and Recommendations 4.1 Opportunities for Social Protection in Kenya Several opportunities have been identified which Kenya needs to capitalize on to maximize its potential in developing social protection policies and programmes. They include: i. Kenya can use the existing enabling policies as entry points to improve the welfare of the citizens defined in the policies ii. Since social protection is one of the major objectives Kenya s Vision 2030, the government should enhance its implementation as a way of achieving the Vision 2030. iii. There is considerable interest by majority of development partners, who can work together with the government to implement the Vision 2030. iv. The government has ratified and domesticated regional and international instruments which can be sued as references in the development and implementation of country specific social protection policies. v. There is government good will to develop and implement the social protection policies, hence different organization should take advantage and improve the welfare of Kenyans. vi. There is availability of shared knowledge with other countries for bench marking and best practice. vii. Social protection can help in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 1, 2, 3,4,5,6 and 8, and therefore social protection is important to undertake and implement. 4.2 Challenges of Social Protection in Kenya While implementing social protection programmes, different initiatives are addressed through different sectors of the economy. The programmes are therefore fragmented with a high probability of duplication. The different sectors select their priority areas, increasing the probability of exclusion of beneficiaries who could be very vulnerable and extremely deserving. The implementation sites are at many times directed by the donor or funding organizations, thus the resources may not be proportionately invested both geographically and sectorally. This

notwithstanding, other challenges faced during the implementation of social protection programmes include the following: i. The government lacks adequate coordination and information sharing between actors, therefore leading to duplication of activities. ii. There is inadequate funding for most of the activities, hence delayed start-time for some of the products. iii. The increased number of social protection policies to be implemented, which are at the end poorly implemented. iv. The increased HIV/AIDS pandemic. v. The identification of the targeted recipients has been a challenge in the implementation of the social protection policies. vi. Social protection initiatives are not publicized to the citizens, therefore learning and information is limited to the institutions undertaking specific programmes. 4.3 Recommendations Despite the opportunities and challenges, Kenya should embrace the following, if it will successfully implement the social protection policies:- i. The country needs a comprehensive social protection framework to guide in the implementation of the social protection activities. This is because, the current social protection policy is not well developed to accommodate the social protection requirement in the country. ii. A social protection needs assessment and survey should be contacted, to reduce the acts of duplication. iii. National coverage of social protection is very important to enhance equal distribution of income across the country. iv. The government should avail data on the progress of the social protection activities to policy makers to offer their advice to the government on policy to social protection. This is because the Kenyan government is not ready and willing to give information on what they are undertaking especially the cash transfers. v. A comprehensive social and welfare impact assessment survey for the last ten years should be undertaken with respect to the contribution of social protection programmes to

economic growth, industrization, Economic Recovery Strategy on employment, wealth creation and Vision 2030, and also the realization of vision 2030, using analytical and statistical measurements. The survey should audit the existing policies and programmes and also establish the country need in terms of social protection policies and programmes. There results would then be used to develop policies and projections as the country puts in to place viable social protection policies and measures in future.

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