Synergies between social transfers and child protection outcomes?

1. Synergies between social transfers and child protection outcomes? Presentation by Mayke Huijbregts Innocenti Research Center Florence 20 March 2013

2. Content • Definition of child protection and child protection systems • Definition of social transfers • Child protection outcomes • Malawi country profile • The face of ultra poverty in Sub Saharan Africa: grandmother Edina • Synergies between social transfers on child protection outcomes from Malawi • Mozambique profile • Synergies between social and child protection in terms of financing, coordination, capacity building and implementation modalities • Kenya • Zimbabwe

3. Definition of child protection • UNICEF’s 2008 child protection strategy defines the aim of child protection as ‘preventing and responding to violence, exploitation and abuse against children’, which ‘is essential to ensuring children’s rights to survival, development and well-being’

4. Child protection system: definition Child protection system is comprised of the set of laws, policies, regulations and services needed across all social sectors —to support prevention and response to protection related risks. At the level of prevention the aims of the system include supporting and strengthening families to reduce social exclusion and to lower risk of separation, violence and exploitation.(UNICEF Child Protection Strategy 2008)

5. Focus on creating an optimal child protection system • Optimal CP system should aim to protect all children, unite all actors behind a common set of goals, promote family support and access to early help (social welfare, education, health care, justice, PSS) when needed, and to create a long-term response to the protection of children that is robust, coordinated and adaptable to new problems.

6. Definition of social transfers • Social transfers are regular, reliable and direct transfers in cash/ or in kind to households in poverty and deprivation • UNICEF defines social transfers as ‘predictable direct transfers to households or individuals, both in-kind and cash, to protect and prevent individuals and households from being affected by shocks and to support the accumulation of human, productive and financial assets.

7. Social transfers vs child protection outcomes • Are social transfers effective in addressing the negative outcomes derived from children living in childhood poverty and being exposed to vulnerability and risks?

8. Social transfers vs child protection outcomes • Direct effects • Indirect effects • Implementation effects: • policies, public administration, capacity development, • implementation modalities and M&E

9. Social cash transfers Malawi Grandmother Edina

10. Malawi Country Profile • Poverty levels • 52% of the population live under the poverty line • 22% live under the ultra poverty line • GNI per capita - 170 • A majority of the population lives in rural areas and rely predominantly on agriculture for subsistence and income • Children under the age of 18: 6.8 million • Over 1 million of which are orphans and other vulnerable children • Infant mortality rate: 72 per 1,000 live births (<5 = 122/1,000) • Net attendance ratio: 86% • Children under five who are stunted: 48% • Children involved in child labour: 26% • Childhood poverty high • Vulnerability very high

11. Grandmother Edina • Grandmother Edina represents the face of many social cash transfer programmes in Africa • Our grandmother is 79 years old and looks after 9 orphaned children • She lives in a rural village in Malawi • She lost all her own children who left her in the care of their children • She is labour constrained due to old age, hence she has no income • Her duties are: to provide for the children in her care with food, clothes, shelter, access to education and health, love, care and protection • Why is she smiling? Is she succeeding in her role? • How?

12. Malawi social cash transfer scheme Edina was put on the Malawi cash transfer scheme in 2006 which was designed: • To reduce poverty, hunger and starvation in all households living in the programme areas who are ultra poor and at the same time labour constrained; • To increase school enrolment and attendance of children living in target households and invest in their health and nutrition status; • She receives up to USD 30 per month due to the number of children in her household

13. Results from the BU external evaluation conducted in 2008 showedDirect impact on Children

14. Evidence based impact of cash transfers • Improved child health & nutrition status • Education –improved school enrollment, • attendance and performance • Improved hygiene, clothing and improved housing • Enhanced food security and diversity • Investments in livestock and agriculture

15. Evidence based impact of cash transfers • In terms of child protection • Child labour originally decreased from 53 to 18% • as did child marriages and child trafficking • Evidence was found that girls spent less time on HH • chores • Future impact evaluation will focus more on assessing to what extend cash grants contribute to family reintegration

16. Malawi Zomba pilot Cash grants for schooling girls The Zomba pilot programme in Malawi tested the impact of unconditional cash transfers for secondary schooling girls linked to girls’ sexual behaviour and found a reduction of 48 per cent in child marriage and 38 per cent in early pregnancy.

17. Mozambique Grandmother Ondina with her daughter and four children

18. Mozambique’s poverty and vulnerability profile Orphan hood 2,1 millions Adolescent Pregnancy 41% of girls 15-19y Conflict with Law Child Marriage 52% of girls <18 are married Police Response to Violence Community Radios Child-to-Child Radio programs Social Change Psychosocial Support GOVERNMENT COMMITMENT Systems Strengthening ATTITUDES CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES Children in Institutions 15,000 Religious Groups LEGISLATION Birth Registration Child Labour 22% of children 5-14y (1 million) CAPACITY OF FAMILIES AND COMMUNTIY Community Leaders MONITORING AND OVERSIGHT Alternative care DRR Games Trafficking OPEN DISCUSSION Protective Environment Sexual Abuse 70% of students know cases of sexual abuse Legal Aid School Councils/Clubs Social Protection ESSENTIAL SERVICES CHILDREN`S LIFESKILLS AND PARTICIPATION Prevention of Violence Games Health Response to Violence CHH24,000 School Drop Out 15% of students complete school Civil Society Disabilities 14% of children living with disability Nutrition 44% stunting Natural Disasters Poverty 54% below poverty line HIV 11% of girls and 4% of boys 15-25y

19. Social Protection Programme (PSSB) • PSSB is an unconditional cash transfer programme for ultra poor and labour constrained households as the elderly, persons with disability and the chronically ill as well as their dependents • Largest cash transfer programme in Africa designed since 90’s • Grandmother Ondina receives a basic value of the transfer USD 4 per month (limited impact so far) • The good news is that recently the level of the transfer has improved to 8,5 USD p.m. and children can apply for their dependency allowance • Mozambique is important for fiscal space and synergies on system building and costing: who finances the build up of a child protection system?

20. Development Partners/ SAWG GoM Basic Social Security Coordination Council System Strengthening SP Common Fund Private sector MMAS/INAS Other line Ministries MoF 11 DPMAS 11 DPS 11 DPEC 30 INAS Delegations UN TA 128 DDEC 128 SDMAS Birth registration/ Alternative care Health Psychosocial support Access to BR Access to complementary services Education Access to basic services Civil Society Legal protection WatSan Protection from violence & abuse Nutrition Community Case Management and Referral (Community Committees, Community Social Worker/Permanentes) Social Protection

21. Social Protection synergies Mozambique – implementation effects • Identification • Registration, enrollment • Birth certificate and civil registration (singly registry) • Case Management • Referral to other social services (education, health, watsan) • Referral to complementary support services (PSS, alternative care, legal protection, prevention and response to violence and abuse) • Knowledge management on the status of the household in an IMS • Beneficiary card/booklet

22. Social Protection synergies Mozambique • National level Coordination, Social Security Council • National Social Action Work Plan - Social Action Working Group • Capacity development of social welfare workforce, child protection committees • On case management and referral • Common Fund • With joint Financing and Procurement Modalities • Cost of child protection system reflected in SA Work Plan which is the basis for your Common Fund allocations

23. Programme Coverage KENYA CASH TRANSFERS FOR OVC PROGRAMME (CT-OVC) Total of 144,931 HH OVC reached in December 2012 CT-OVC benefiting approximately 525,000 (27% coverage) Increasing government support and ownership (40% of the programme funded by GOK

24. CASH TRANSFER FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN Implementation synergies – Child Protection / Social Protection Systems CT-OVC as part of the Child Protection System Entry point to the Systems Approach to Child Protection Focus on one of the target groups (Orphans / AVED / Disability / Parental Care) Possible Links with Child Protection Centers Source of information from MIS and possible links with Child Protection Data base

25. SP and CP Synergies in Zimbabwe Direct effects: • We have evidence that the social transfers impact directly on child protection through the identification and follow-up processes for child protection which are built in to the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer (HSCT) targeting mechanisms • Through engagement of child protection committees as HSCT focal persons and community watchdogs. • The HSCT MIS also collects data on reported child protection violations and generates local lists for Department of Social Services follow-up.

26. SP and CP synergies in Zimbabwe Indirect effects through sensitisation on child protection issues of key enumerators involved in CTP: • Independent verification: Similarly through the innovations in Verification. • The trained enumerators for Verification have received specific child protection training and act as a further level of surveillance and reporting to statutory authorities of protection violations.

27. SP and CP synergies in Zimbabwe • Cash and care nexus: The implementation of cash transfers as part of a package of measures specifically intended to address protection violations has meant the development of an digitalised national case management system intended to integrate access to social welfare and justice. • The HSCT MIS has been designed to accommodate the Case Management system, initially to track reports, and act as a management tool to ensure appropriate follow-up as well as identify gaps in service provision for planning processes. • The MIS is also designed to harmonise with other social protection mechanisms through the adoption of national statistical agency conventions for household and household member identification.

28. SP and CP synergies in Zimbabwe • Formal independent evaluation: The Impact Evaluation for the Zimbabwe HSCT (baseline 2013 and follow-up 2014 and 2015) will specifically ask if cash transfers improve the human development of children and adolescents, including improved access to health and education services, improved nutrition, reduced abuse exploitation, and HIV risk. • Zim is interested in the violence element which tracks VAC through HSCT households...do we change service access? Does violence look different in these households? What really is the link between poverty and violence at household level? • Hence, exciting info to come from Zimbabwe!

29. Do we need to broaden the definition of child protection to feature some risks related to childhood poverty and vulnerability? Grazie, Obrigada, Thank you Grazie, Obrigada, Thank you

30. SUPPLY Overall Protective Environment for Children WASH Targeting ultra poor and labour constrained HHs for water supply, sanitation and CLTS Education Free basic education, school feeding, life skills, vocational training, Child Friendly Schools Youth Clubs Nutrition Prevention and treatment of chronic and acute malnutrition Child Protection Psychosocial Support, Alternative Care, Prevention and Response to Violence and Abuse, Legal Protection, Birth Registration HIV Free access to ARVs, paediatric care, VCT & PMTCT, HBC Health Free basic health care for pregnant women and children ECD CBCCs Parenting Education DEMAND • Social Policy • Policy, legal and regulatory framework • Data collection & analysis • Information Management Systems • Technology • Research • M&E • Advocacy • C4D • Case Management Referral • Access to Services • Social Protection • Social Cash Transfer with education bonus • Inputs Subsidy Programme • Public Works Programme & Micro-credit • Village Savings & Loans • Insurance programmes (social, crop, livestock) Child Poverty and Vulnerability (Bottom quintile)