Financing of services and
decentralization
ASSESSMENT OF THE REFORM OF THE
CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM IN THE
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
June, 2007
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
Budgeting and financing
Affected by:
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The (central) role of MoLSP in planning and
decision making
Not subject of a single unit, but fragmented under
many, 3 of the 10 Departments involved with
different capacities in policy making and planning
of the child protection, (Department for Social
Protection, Department for Child Protection and
Department for Equal Opportunities
Department for Social Protection - in charge for
planning and decision-making regarding the
measures of prevention, non-residential and
residential forms of protection and the right to
social assistance (for the population in general
and children in particular)
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
 Cross sectoral cooperation on national level
- Establishment of temporary working groups
based on shared membership
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Lack of official inter-ministerial protocols in place
to guide planning and decision making in
formalised and specified manner
Same on local level
Preparation of protocols for collaboration
between relevant stakeholders/Ministries, the
MoLSP and the CSWs - one of the priorities of the
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
MoLSP for the future
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Strategies and action plans that guide planning and
decision making, direct and indirect relevance:
National Action Plan on the Rights of Children in the R.
Macedonia 2005-2015 exists – paper based document
Poverty Reduction Strategy (2002), National Strategy for
Equalisation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in R.
Macedonia (2001), the Strategy for Employment (20062010), National Action Plan for Employment for the period
2006-2008, as well as the Strategy for Fight against
Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal migration in the
Republic of Macedonia (2006), the National Action Plan for
Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal
Migration in the R. Macedonia (2006), and the Action Plan
for Combating Trafficking in Children in the R. Macedonia
(2006)
National strategy for fight against domestic violence – in
preparation
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Lack of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms:
impedes the attempts to track down
implementation of the envisaged strategic
objectives
development of Strategies that would
subsequently serve as a basis for
operationalisation of concrete steps
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
Budgeting and financing
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Material assistance for children and
families :
regulated by : the Law on Social
Protection and the Law on Child Protection
reforms in both Laws, regarding the
administration of the social assistance
benefits - initiated by the SPIL project
supported by the World Bank loan
reforms regarding the entitlement to
social assistance allowances (Law on
Social Protection) and reforms in the
rights to child supplements (Law on Child
Protection) Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
- reforms originate from the practice and
the need to advance the protection of
specific vulnerable categories of children
(i.e. social assistance for children coming
out of age) or to make child supplement
benefits available to the most needy
families (targeting of child supplements)
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
Social assistance benefits, average monthly
amounts and number of beneficiaries in 2006:
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Social financial assistance: 64.749; 2.154 den. (35 €)
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Personal assistance allowance: 21.499; 3.390 den. (55 €)
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Permanent financial allowance: 4.988; 3.046 den. (49 €)
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Wage allowance for shortened working hours due to care for
disabled child: 42; 6.590 den. (107 €)
One-off financial allowance: 1.139; 2.080 den. (34 €)
Financial assistance for children coming out of age (18Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
26)893.567 den. (58 €)
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
Assistance to families with children:
 Regulated within the Law on Child
Protection:
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child supplement
special supplement
assistance for newborns
participation in covering expenses for
protection, education, rest and recreation
of children in public institutions for
children or seasonal resorts
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Key reforms relate to:
the introduction of the upper limit for the
amount of the child supplement
introduction of the system of calculation of
the financial assistance for the newborn
depending on the average monthly income
of the applicant
the new Law on Child Protection
anticipates reforms in the system geared
towards more equitable distribution of the
rights (especially of the right to child
supplement and participation) towards the
poorest families and children with the
highest risk ofSuzana
social
exclusion.
Velkovska,
Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
Social assistance benefits - reforms
towards "means-testing"
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The Social Protection Implementation Project
(SPIL), supported by a World Bank loan, (2004 –
2008) ,initiated the most significant changes in
the domain of:
improved administration and targeting of the
social financial assistance
The objectives of the SPIL for Macedonia:
to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of
social protection system through improved
administration
long-term sustainability of the pension system
improved targeting and administration of cash
benefits
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
 Component 2 of this project comprises:
- support for the policy framework for streamlined,
cost effective and better targeted cash benefits,
- implementation of local social planning and
deinstitutionalization of social work services,
- establishment of inspection, supervision and
quality assurance functions,
- information management systems and IT capacity
strengthening
 Reform processes concerning social assistance,
largely associated with the synchronization of the
Macedonian with the EU legislation, and through
the method of coordination, with the other
systems as well
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
Services
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Service purchasing based on the principle of
pluralism introduced (Law on Changes and
Amendments on the Law on Social Protection
(65/2004) refers to:
possibilities for citizen's associations (NGOs) and
individuals to become service providers
besides NGOs, individuals and legal entities, as
well as the units of local self-government may
establish institutions for social protection (except
for CSWs or institutions for protection of children
and youth with educational, social, and
behavioral problems), and day care centres
This was introduced to upgrade the quality of
services in the domain of social protection
through the introduction of the competitiveness
in this domain Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Reforms towards service purchasing are
evidencing progress:
financial means set aside annually from the
MoLSP budget for service purchasing
in 2006, the MoLSP set aside 1.000.000 denars
(16.129 Euro) and opened 2 tenders: 1) for
establishment of National SOS Line for Victims of
Family Violence (project implemented by the NGO
Union of Women's Organisations) and 2) tender
for 1 National SOS Line for Drug Abuse
available funding for service purchasing is
gradually improving: for 2007, the amount set
aside for service purchasing tripled to 3.000.000
denars (48.387),Suzana
4 tenders
are ofalready opened
Velkovska, Ministry
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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budgeting on the basis of programming expenses:
CSWs are obliged to prepare annual programmes
(which are mostly formal in character and are
necessary for the purpose of budget planning)
and monthly programmes for social assistance
introduction of a budget circular which CSWs
have to fill in and submit it to the MoLSP
Purpose of the change : to facilitate budget
planning at the central level, as filling in budget
circulars is not based on any actual assessment of
needs, but rather based on approximations of the
required monthly funds to cover social assistance
entitlements envisaged in legislation
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Considerable changes in budgeting are required
for more flexible and joint financing of reforms :
the system does not allow for inter-sectoral
transfers. Each Ministry, including the MoLSP
prepares budget proposal for the following year,
which is submitted to the Ministry of Finance.
Proposals are then adopted by the Government
and enter in Parliament procedures, although
most often the budgets in the proposed amounts
are not approved. In cases when budget
shortages appear as a result of implementation of
reform measures, rebalancing of the budget is
undertaken, and these re-budgeting requests are
usually accepted
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
Transferring of financing
Decentralization process in social protection:
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Initiated in 2004, carried out in parallel with the
decentralisation process in R. Macedonia in
general
Mainly refers to municipalities' possible role as a
funder and service provider of a variety of social
protection services (residential and day care
services)
Still not taking place in practice due to lack of
administrative and financial resources at
municipal level
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Relationship between CSWs and municipalities:
CSWs are obliged to administer municipal social
protection programmes, but their role in planning
is not envisaged within the legislation, although
in practice this may be the case
Both CSWs and municipalities may establish
mechanisms to ensure additional funding for
these programmes
However, these developments are yet to take
place
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
Next steps:
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Overcoming of current fragmentation in planning
and decision-making under the responsibility of
several departments towards unified policy
making, through integration of child protection
accountability into a singe department within the
MoLSP
Enhancement of inter-ministerial cooperation
through official protocols developed by the
relevant Ministries
Enhancement of capacity building for
development of strategic objectives and effective
monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for
follow-up of their implementation within the
MoLSP through staff training
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Updating of the working methodology applied by
the Commission for Cooperation with the NGO
sector in the domain of announcing specific
tenders
Identification of areas where NGOs services could
best fit within the system of child protection
based on needs assessment of the actual gaps in
services
Continuation of the rising tendency of the annual
budget set aside from the MoLSP for service
purchasing with the NGO sector
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Encourage municipalities to enter the social
protection arena through :
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supporting activation of the local NGOs
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promotion of the engagement of individual
professionals in the social service provision
utilisation of the existing infrastructural objects
in the municipalities (for non-residential forms of
protection in particular), as well as
provision of concrete assistance in the
development of the Local Social Protection
Programmes to municipal personnel
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Decentralisation of existing day-care centres
DCCs and short-term protective shelters (STPSs)
through selection of pilot municipalities - the
process of fiscal decentralisation should be used
for identification of municipalities that seem to
have financial and administrative capacity to
manage them
Additional binding elements should be in place to
regulate the relationship between CSWs and
municipalities at the local level (i.e. the role of the
CSWs in planning and development of
development programmes)
Joint training in fund raising, to encourage CSWs
and municipalities to ensure additional funding
for the local development programmes
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia
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Within the development of the role of the
municipal organs for addressing social
protection needs of citizens, MoLSP,
Ministry of Local Self-government (MLSG)
and municipalities, could analyse the
possibilities and practicalities around the
eventual transfer of the administration of
all financial allowances from the CSWs to
separate department within the
municipalities
Suzana Velkovska, Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy,
Republic of Macedonia