Violet Speek-Warnery Deputy Representative, UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area

1. Child and Gender Sensitive Social Protection Reform in Barbados and the OECSLessons Learned and Way Forward Violet Speek-Warnery Deputy Representative, UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area Barbados - 26 September, 2013

2. Outline of Presentation • Background • Evidence based advocacy • Social Protection Reform • Critical Issues • Way Forward

3. Background

4. Background UNICEF covers 12 Countries in the Eastern Caribbean, social protection work focus is in: • Grenada • St. Lucia • St. Kitts and Nevis • Dominica • St. Vincent & Grenadines • Antigua and Barbuda

5. Evidence Based Advocacy UNICEF engagement with governments, UN agencies, multilateral ad bilateral donors on social protection reform since 2008. Since 2008 UNICEF is engaged with evidence based advocacy with policy makers and key stakeholders in Barbados and the OECS Countries • Child Poverty in the Eastern Caribbean 2008 • Social Budgeting in the OECS (SIDS Paper Series)

6. Evidence Based Advocacy 2009/2010 – Economic Crisis Partnership with World Bank, UN Women and OECS Secretariat Country Level Social Safety Net Assessments • St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St, Kitts and Nevis, Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda • Effectiveness and efficiency of the countries’ current safety net systems, • highlighted the lack of focus on the poor and on children, • Consolidation and rationalization of existing social assistance policies and administrations - key priority for reform.

7. Social Protection Reform Regional Capacity Building (WB, CDB, UN Women, OECS, UNICEF) Workshops for the Eastern Caribbean countries to support the social protection policy development and reform process. • Training workshop on Targeting – 2010 • Training workshop on social protection policy making – 2010 • Training workshop on central registry system/management information system – 2011 South-South Cooperation • Exchange programme to Jamaica – PATH Programme • Knowledge Management: • Inter-Agency Newsletter on Social Protection in the Eastern Caribbean

8. Social Protection Reform

9. Social Protection Reform Country-led Social Protection Reform Initiatives St. Kitts and Nevis: • National Social Protection Strategy (UNICEF and UN Women) • MEND Programme, Capacity Building in M&E (UNICEF and UN Women) • EU budget support for social protection reform (EU) St. Lucia: • National Social Protection Policy (On-going) (UNICEF and UN Women) • Reforming Social Assistance Programme (UNICEF and UN Women) • Koudmen Sent LisiEvaluation (UNICEF)

10. Social Protection Reform Grenada: • National Social Safety Net Policy Framework (UNICEF and UN Women) • Consolidation of cash transfers programmes (WB) Dominica: • Consolidation of cash transfers programmes (WB) • Challenges in implementation of the reform initiatives Antigua and Barbuda: • Consolidation of cash transfers programmes (WB) Starting 2013

11. Social Protection Reform Eastern Caribbean Partnership Group on Poverty (UN Women and UNICEF) • EC Social Protection Newsletter • Coordination of partners’ support to the national child and gender-sensitive social protection reforms- • ie. joint mission, development of an operational strategy for social protection; reformulation of the proxy means test; development of a national beneficiary information system; and cash transfer system implementation.

12. Way Forward

13. Principles of Child Sensitive Social Protection • Avoid adverse impacts on children, and reduce or mitigate social and economic risks affect children • Intervene as early as possible where children are at risk • Consider the age and gender specific risks and vulnerabilities of children • Mitigate the effects of shocks, exclusion and poverty on families • Make special provision to reach children who are particularly disadvantaged and excluded • Consider intra-household dynamics, with particular attention paid to the balance of power between men and women • Include the voices and opinions of children, their caregivers and youth in the understanding and design

14. UN Joint Programme Enhancing Equity: Ensuring a Social Protection Floor for Poor and Disadvantaged Women, Men, Girls and Boys in Barbados and the OECS 2013- 2015 UNDAF Outcome Group # 3 on Social Protection and Poverty Reduction UNICEF, UN Women, UNDP, ILO, FAO

15. Social Protection Floor The Social Protection Floor promotes a two-dimensional strategy for the extension of social security, comprising a basic set of social guarantees: • Child Benefit • Unemployment Protection • Old Age/Invalidity Benefits • Disability • Health

16. Critical Areas Continue to support national child and gender responsive social protection reform processes in Barbados and OECS. • Strengthen legal and policy frameworks • Strengthen existing programmes and schemes with particular focus on consolidation and harmonization of public cash-transfer programmeswith a Puente-like component for indigent poor households • Establish linkages and coherence between social programmes; social assistance, health, pensions, education, nutrition, housing, employment, labour market programmes, gender equity, gender-based violence and child protection. • Expand on access to services among disadvantaged children and adolescents (health, education, ECD).

17. Critical Areas • Working poor- decent employment and entrepreneurship to prevent poverty and protection against social risks. • Reformulate active labour market programs: promote active labour market policies and programmes and/or rationalization of existing programmes within an integrated social protection framework. Combining of ALM programmes with income replacement functions, where appropriate as well as assistance and incentives that promote participation in the formal labour market and promote school to work transition among adolescent and youth.

18. Critical Areas • Capacity building of government and civil society professionals in human-rights based monitoring and evaluation systems for social protection and in the core social services areas. • Consolidating on existing research and assessment (country and sub-regional level) and provide evidence (Social Protection and Expenditure Review and Social Budget Analysis) for Barbados and OECS. • Fiscal Space and Costing for Social Protection Floor in Barbados and OECS • Advocacy and assistance for implementation of select social protection floor guarantees in Barbados and the OECS

19. Key Challenges

20. Thank You!