U.Better monitoring of social protection in Africa
Economic Commission for Africa, in collaboration with the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ($550,000)
Background
154.
Social protection has gained momentum in Africa in recent years as part of the policy
repertoire to address vulnerability manifested in the form of high poverty and inequality
levels among the population. In the post-2015 development agenda, social protection is
acknowledged as a critical tenet for social and economic development, especially in
terms of addressing various forms of vulnerabilities and ensuring the inclusion of all
groups of population in the development process. In 2012, ECA, the International Labour
Organization, UNCTAD, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the
Secretariat and the United Nations Children’s Fund jointly observed that social protection
programmes that tackle multiple dimensions of poverty and deprivation (decent work,
education, health care, food security, income security) can be a powerful tool in the battle
against poverty and inequality.
155.
Estimates by the World Bank postulate that social protection interventions could reduce
the total poverty head-count rate by 5 to 10 percentage points. However, the World B ank
has stressed that, while many African countries are in the process of introducing and
implementing social protection schemes, a large share of these programmes remain
fragmented and poorly targeted. The availability of data on existing social protectio n and
labour programmes and systems, which is extremely uneven, remains a major constraint,
particularly in fragile States and low-income contexts, and especially in sub-Saharan
Africa.
156.
Available evidence suggests that many African countries need to redouble their efforts in
this domain by deliberately scaling up policy interventions and investments in social
protection programmes to ensure significant poverty reduction and shared prosperity.
157.
Given that poverty in Africa is highly feminized and also afflicts the majority of youth,
social protection policy frameworks and programmes must be developed from a gender
perspective and address the social as well as the economic vulnerabilities of young
people. The range of interventions needs to be broadened from cash transfers, which
typically provide economic protection in response to economic risks and livelihood
vulnerability, to include various forms of social protection such as social services and
active labour-market policies. In this context, developing a robust and interactive
mechanism for the monitoring and evaluation of social protection programmes in Africa
is one of the main building blocks of sustained and inclusive development.
158.
This project falls at the centre of the normative and analytical work of ECA, as it
represents an enhancement of the support given to Member States in generating
knowledge for improved policies geared towards the structural transformation of Africa.
Its results will fill an important gap in the data and informat ion available on social
investments in the continent. Moreover, it will be able to benefit from lessons learned
from the ECLAC initiative to establish a regional database on investment in social
protection.
159.
The project will engage five African countries with different social protection systems to
better capture the heterogeneous nature of social policies and programmes and the
varying needs that stem from these diverse realities. The activities will be implemented in
coordination with the subregional offices, Capacity Development Division and
Macroeconomic Policy Division of ECA. Synergies will be established in the
development of case studies and field activities, including the ECA country profiles.
Complementary funding will be sought to expand this initiative beyond the initial scope
of five countries, to enhance continental representation.
Objective of the Organization: To increase the capacity of
selected African countries to monitor investments in social
protection policies and programmes and to increase the
accountability of member States to set and report on targets for
social protection
Relationship to the biennial programme plan for the period
2016-2017: Economic and social development in Africa
subprogramme 1 (Macroeconomic policy), subprogramme 5
(Capacity development) and subprogramme 9 (Social
development policy); Economic and social development in Latin
America and the Caribbean subprogramme 5 (Social development
and equality)
Summary budget
(Thousands of United States dollars)
Consultants
Expert group meetings
Travel
Contractual services
Workshops/training
Total
Expected accomplishments of the Secretariat
Indicators of achievement
(EA1) Enhanced capacity of selected member
States to identify, measure and analyse
comprehensive knowledge, which includes data
as well as qualitative assessments, on
investments in social protection policies and
programmes
(IA1.1) At least 50 experts from participating
countries confirm increased knowledge to
identify, measure and analyse investments in
social protection policies and programmes
(EA2) Enhanced technical capacities of ECA
member States to develop comprehensive reports
on investments in social protection
(IA2.1) By the end of the project, 10
countries, on the basis of the project’s
guidelines, have improved their reporting on
investments in social protection policies and
programmes
Main activities
160.
163.0
70.0
122.0
35.0
160.0
550.0
The main activities of the project will include:
(A1.1)
Organize a regional expert group meeting, with the participation of experts on
social protection budgeting from Governments, United Nations entities and
research institutions from Africa, to adapt the framework that was developed
by ECLAC to the African context and to initiate coordination for project
implementation;
(A1.2)
Develop a toolkit and guidelines on how to measure and report on investments
in social protection in Africa that will help in disseminating the results of the
project;
(A1.3)
Organize a regional training workshop with five national consultants/advisers
from each country to build national expertise on investment in social
protection policies and programmes on the basis of the toolkit and guidelines
developed in activity A1.2;
(A1.4)
Organize five national workshops on identification, analysis and measurement
of investments in social protection policies and programmes, for which the 10
national consultants will act as resource persons;
(A2.1)
Organize five advisory services (one in each country) to work with at least
five national experts from the ministries of finance and social development in
each country (for a total of 50) on the national reports on investments in social
protection policies and programmes;
(A2.2)
Publish five national reports on investments in social protection, containing
analysis of the conceptual framework developed under this project, a
landscape analysis of the social protection policies and programmes currently
under implementation in member States and trends in investments in each
country;
(A2.3)
Produce a regional analytical report entitled “Social protection policies and
programmes in Africa: achieving inclusive development”, which will analyse
trends investments in social protection and develop policy recommendations
on the role of social protection policies and programmes in addressing
development challenges for specific population groups with increased
vulnerabilities on the basis of the proposed conceptual framework;
(A2.4)
Organize a regional workshop to take stock of lessons learned and exchange
experiences in the analysis and measurement of investments in social
protection policies and programmes and to share the reports generated. This
will include experts from the participating countries as wel l as from additional
countries that demonstrate interest in enhancing their capacity to monitor
investments in social protection.
U:
Better Monitoring of social protection in Africa
Duration: 2016 – 2019
Objective: To monitor investments in social protection policies and programmes (SPP), to increase the accountability of member States to
set and report on targets for social protection.
Implementing entities: ECA, in collaboration with ECLAC
Summary budget
(Thousands of United States
dollars)
Consultants
163.0
Expert Group Meetings 70.0
Travel
122.0
Contractual Services
35.0
Workshops/ training
160.0
Total
550.0
Detailed budget (US dollars)
Consultants
National / Regional consultants
 Regional consultant in support of activities: A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4,
A2.1, A2.2, A2.3, and A2.4: (7 months x $6,000) + ($3,000 travel costs
x 5 meetings) = $57,000
 5 national consultants in support of Activities: A1.3, A1.4, A2.1, and
A2.2: (5 consultants x ((3 months x $ 4,000) + ($3,500 travel costs x 2
meetings)) = $95,000
Evaluation Consultant

Consultant for project evaluation: $11,000
Expert Group Meetings
 EGM in support of A1.1: 10 national representatives from government
entities involved in data collection (2 per country), 5 national
consultants, 5 African Academic/Research Institutions - 20 participants
x $3,500 = $70,000
Travel of staff
a) Staff from implementing entity
 ECA Staff in implementation of Activities A1.3, A1.4, A2.1, and A2.4:
20 Missions x $4,500 = $90,000
b) Staff from other UN entities
 ECLAC staff missions in support of Activities: A1.1, A1.2 and A2.4: 4
Missions x $8,000 = $32,000
Contractual Services
 Translation (English/French/Arabic), Editing, Printing, Interpretation
and distribution: (5 National Reports) x ($4,000) + (1 Regional
Publication) x ($15,000)
Seminars, Workshops and Study Tours
 In support of A1.3: One 3 day training workshop on toolkits and
guidelines. (25 participants) x ($2,240) x 1 trainings = $56,000
163 000
70 000
122 000
35 000
160 000

In support of A2.1: 5 National 2.5 day workshops each for 15
Participants: $8,200 per workshop x 5 countries = $41,000.

In support of A 2.4: One Regional Workshop for 5 national
consultants/advisers, 5 African Academic/Research Institutions, 10
representatives of participating countries and the regional consultant: 21
participants x $3,000 Travel = $63,000
5