STATEMENT MADE BY S.B.E. SCOTT, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING IN
THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AT
THE REGIONAL EXPERTS GROUP MEETINGS ON SOCIAL
PROTECTION, DAKAR, SENEGAL 9-11 JUNE 2008
HPNOURABLE MINISTERS
MEMBERS OF THE DIPLOMATIC CORP
DISTINGUISHED PARTICIPANTS
ALL PROTOCOL FULLY OBSERVED
Let me start by thanking the Government and people of Senegal for hosting
such an important meeting, precedent to the AU Meeting.
On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone and on behalf of
myself, I feel honoured to make a statement at this historic meeting. Let me
use this forum to applaud, Current Evangelism Ministries (CEM), Help Age
International and other sponsoring bodies for making this meeting a reality. I
believe at the end of our three days deliberations we would have come out
with pertinent recommendations that will improve and impact on the issue of
Social Protection.
Introduction
Sierra Leone became an independent state in April 1961, and subsequently a
republic on 19th April 1971. Since independence, the country has suffered
dramatic economic deterioration and political instability through five military
coups and a brutal armed conflict that lasted 11 years (1991-2001).
The Country Context
Sierra Leone is a post-war country located on the west coast of Africa. With a
population of 4.8m, the country appears small relative to her vast natural
resources. However, long years of mismanagement of the country's resources
exacerbated by the 11year rebel war left the bulk (about 70%) of the country's
population below the poverty line with about two-thirds of the poor described
as living in conditions of extreme poverty. GDP is extremely low at US$
116.43.
The long period of civil strife intensified the decline in social indicators
putting Sierra Leone at the bottom of the UNDP's Human Development Index about 57% of the population live below US$ 1 a day and about 74.5 % live
below US$ 2 a day.
In terms of demography, about 50% of the population are under the age
of18years and 3.2% over 64years. These represent the vulnerable sector of
the population - youthful and aged - the majority of whom do not have some
form of social protection.
Poverty Situation
In the Sierra Leonean context poverty is defined in terms of the capacity of the
household to meet its food and other basic needs such as health and
education. The national poverty line corresponds to the full poverty line of Le
770,678 per year or Le 2,111 per day per capita (SLPRSP, 2004). Within this
context, the Integrated Household Survey (SIHS, 2004) suggests that 70% of
the population is poor. Food/core poverty translates to Le 377,045 per year or
Le 1,033 per day per capita - this represents the extreme poor segment of the
population (26%).
The statistics imply that the overwhelming majority of Sierra Leoneans do not
have adequate access to food, safe-water and sanitation, shelter, good health,
basic education, and easy access, both in terms of affordability and distance,
to various economic and social infrastructures such as schools, health
facilities, markets and public transportation.
Geographic Dynamics
Geographically, the rural areas contribute about 73 percent of all poverty in
Sierra Leone, while other urban areas account for 25 percent, leaving
Freetown with 2.2 percent (SLPRSP, 2004). The poorest urban areas occur in
Tonkolili, Bonthe, Kailahun, Koinadugu, and Bombali districts whilst the
poorest rural communities are found in Kenema, Kailahun, Bombali, Port Loko
and Tonkolili districts.
Health Dimension
In Sierra Leone, ill health is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. Poor
people lack the resources to pay for health services, food, clean water, good
sanitation and other key inputs for producing good health. As a result, life
expectancy at birth has declined from 42 years in 1990 to 34.3 in 2002
(SLPRSP, 2004). Malaria and tuberculosis are prevalent and widespread with
the former particularly hazardous to children of school-going age. Evidence
in the Literature on Sierra Leone abounds to suggest that the bulk of the
people with limited access to health services both in terms of access and
quality are the poor. This has a direct effect on the general welfare of the
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population and a long-term effect on the country’s human capacity
development.
Educational Outlook
The SLIHS draws a relationship between educational level of households and
poverty status dimensions. On the whole, the results of the survey suggest
that the higher the incidence of poverty, the lower the propensity of
households to accord their children access. Also, school attendance across
households improves with income .Since the incidence of poverty is high in
Sierra Leone, it stands to reason that the ability of Ids to provide quality
education for their children is limited.
Social Protection – An Essential Element For Poverty Reduction
Social protection is a broad concept, which includes the social security
systems, and more generally the non compulsory or private measures (for
instance mutual health insurance) as well as social assistance measures. There
is no such a thing as a pattern for social protection set once and for all. Social
protection can have different shapes, and the only condition is that these
measures are not anti-discriminatory and they should be based on systems of
solidarity and social justice.
For the International Labour Organization (ILO), the leading UN agency
dealing with social protection, social protection is in the first place a human
right. Indeed, social protection is listed in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (art. 23, 25) and in the International Covenant on Social and Economic
Rights of the United Nations (art. 9). Social protection is defined by the ILO as
the set of public measures that a society provides for its members to protect
them against economic and social distress that would be caused by the
absence or a substantial reduction of income from work as a result of various
contingencies (sickness, maternity, employment injury, unemployment,
invalidity, old age, death of the breadwinner), the provision of health care and
the provision of benefits for families with children (ILO, 1998; ILO, 2000). By
this definition, social protection is broader than social security since it
incorporates non-statutory or private measures for providing social security,
but still encompasses social security measures such as social assistance and
social insurance (Bonilla García and Gruat, 2003). The ILO places social
protection in the context of a Decent Work for All strategy that advocates
productive work opportunities for women and men in conditions of freedom,
equity, security and human dignity. The framework has the following four
strategic objectives (ILO, 1999):
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Promote fundamental principles and rights at work;
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Create opportunities for decent employment and income;
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Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection; and
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Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.
Social protection being basic right, universal social security coverage is for
the ILO a priority objective.
Social protection has been a topic in Sierra Leone’s Development agenda for a
long time and is continuously gaining momentum in the context of national
development policies aiming at reaching the Millennium Development Goals
by 2015.This paper analyses the reasons why social protection is important for
development and offers an outlook into possible future avenues.
It is quite true that Social Protection cuts across all categories of people, but
not much has been done for the aged. The effort is not good enough. The
present scenario for the aged, to say the least, is dismal. There is a King
George Home for the Aged which was established in 1940 in Freetown (the
Capital City) however, there is no commensurate facility for the Aged in the
provinces.
There is a current drive in government’s effort in mainstreaming concerns of
the aged through related policy initiatives such as the Poverty Reduction
Strategy Paper (PRSP), the National Social Security and Insurance Trust
(NASSIT); Social Safety Net (SSN), these efforts have been crowned by the
Government in creating a Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s
Affairs (MSWHCA).
But there is a great deal more for us to do. Our research highlights the
effectiveness of cash transfers to reduce older people’s poverty and support
multi-generational households. Promoting social pensions as part of a
package of social protection measures will be a major focus of our work in the
coming year.
A unique strength of Help Age International is its network structure,
connecting a wide range of organizations in many parts of the world. We will
continue to work to create opportunities for these organizations to engage
with governments and other organizations to develop practical solutions to the
problems of older people.
Poor people are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of disease, poverty in
old age, natural disasters and wars. Therefore, government is supporting the
establishment and further development of social protection systems in order
to strengthen or to restore self-help capacity of the poor and help prevent lifethreatening situations and cover basic needs. National social security systems
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are one way to provide partial or total support in the case of illness, failed
harvests and natural disasters. One important target group is constituted by
aged, women, children and disabled people.
The basic forms of social protection are:
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solidarity-based groups (e.g. families)
cooperative, membership-based systems of social security
private insurance
government-based or -regulated forms of social security (for instance
public welfare or social insurance)
The significance of these basic forms of social security for poor population
groups varies considerably. Traditional support systems relying on mutual
commitment within a solidarity-based group, or small, community-based
insurance systems often constitute the only, and very limited, form of
protection available. Private insurance is usually not available to poor groups
to cover their risks, as they are unable to pay more than a very limited
contribution. Government-based social security programs often have low
coverage rates because they are limited to people in formal employment or
public servants. There is no single blueprint or one-size-fits-all design for a
social protection system.
The development of a national social protection strategy for Sierra Leone will
be attained with the participation of the private sector, civil society, and the
poor themselves and through integrating family- based, community-based,
public and private interventions into a comprehensive and inclusive social
protection system.
The Current Social Protection Initiatives Of Sierra Leone
Social Security, however, involves broader aspects and includes more
contingencies than are being addressed by the National Social Security and
Insurance Trust( NASSIT).Essentially, social security refers to (i) the protection
which society provides for its members through a series of public measures,
against the economic and social distress that would be caused by the
stoppage or substantial reduction of earnings resulting from sickness,
maternity, employment injury, unemployment, invalidity, old age and death;
(ii) the provision of medical care; and (iii) the provision of subsidies for
families with children. While (i) above applies mainly to workers, (hence their
prominence under the ILO’s Conventions); (ii) and (iii) apply universally to all
members of the society.
In preparation of the Sierra Leone Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper in 2004,
focus group discussions were conducted in order to learn about the priority
needs as felt by the people living in conditions of extreme poverty
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themselves. They identified inadequate education and health, as well as
inexistence of social protection in emergencies, old age, or when sickness
strikes, as some of the most important problems of poverty. Hence,
improvements in these fields could help enhance people’s well-being and
boost the self-help capacities of the poor. The Government is currently
pursuing the promotion of social protection within the framework of sectoral
priority areas such as health, education, sustainable economic development
social welfare and governance.
Last but not least – in addition to poverty, sickness, old age and death, there
are a number of other social risks for which social protection is needed, such
as maternity, accidents, unemployment and also losing one’s means of
production (e.g. caused by natural disasters). As it is impossible to protect
people against all risks, priorities have to be established based on an
assessment of the greatest risks in the poorer segments of the population.
Strategies For Social Protection In Sierra Leone
Social security as it exists in Sierra Leone can be classified into the following
broad categories: Old Age (Retirement), Invalidity, Survivors, Employment
Injury, Sickness, Medical Care, Maternity and Family subsidies. These are
covered by various legislative and institutional arrangements.
Social Insurance: NASSIT was established by an Act of Parliament, Act No. 5
of 2001. It is a social insurance scheme in which members contribute
periodically and receive benefit when a contingency occurs.
Old Age, Invalidity and Survivors: The National Social Security and Insurance
Trust (NASSIT) Act of 2001 made provisions for old age, invalidity and
survivors’ benefits (in the form of pensions or grants) to workers and their
dependants. It established a Trust with a mandate to administer the scheme,
based on social insurance principles.
Social Safety Net
It is intended to provide social transfer of funds and/or food itemsto
identifiable vulnerable groups in Sierra Leone starting with the Aged in
particularly difficult circumstances .Later on, other identifiable groups like the
disabled,widows, The separated children will be incorporated into the
programme.
The SSN is consistent with various Government policy
instrument like the PRSP the MDGs.
Employment Injury: The Workmen’s Compensation Act No.2 of 1971 makes
provision for providing compensation and other benefits for workers injured
during the course of performing job-related tasks. The key provisions of the
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act include the calculation of benefits that should be provided to workers
injured during active course of duty.
Maternity: The provision of Maternity benefits applies within the context of
Collective Bargaining Schemes negotiated by organised labour unions and
worker’s associations. Many formal sector institutions provide cash benefits
(mostly by continuing payment of salaries) during periods of maternity.
Sickness: Sickness is covered, like Maternity, mainly for formal sector
workers who earn salaries. Workers who work for daily or hourly wages
mostly do not receive pay for periods they do not work and are not usually
covered for sickness.
Medical Care: Medical care is provided for workers in the formal sector in
the context of conditions of service. The level of coverage for medical
conditions or amount of treatment varies across sectors (public/private);
across levels in the administrative echelon; and across institutions. This
benefit also applies only to salaried workers. Such medical schemes are
administered by either making periodic finite cash payments to workers to
provide for medical contingencies or through an employee insurance scheme
that is financed by the employer.
Family Subsidies: These are provided mainly through Government
programmes that aim either at reducing the economic and financial burden on
families for certain activities or at enhancing living conditions. Current
national family subsidy programmes include:
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Examination-fee subsidies for pupils taking external standardised
examinations;
Provision of Free text book ,tuition and uniforms to girl child
School feeding programme
Grant in aid to students in tertiary institutions
Subsidisation of essential drugs in public medical facilities (cost
recovery) ,
Cash benefits paid to the extremely poor elderly members of society
through a Social Safety Net Scheme.(social assistance)
Provision of input to farmers and fisher folks
Provision of micro credit facilities to women
Provision of shelter for amputees and war wounded victims
Provision of skills training for youth empowerment
Provision of social funds for multsectoral projects geared toward the
improvement of the social welfare of communities in the country.
Free waivers for the importation of health services and the importation
of educational and learning materials.
food for work programs for households with self-help potential
Vaccination of toddlers
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Policy Directions
Social protection is an aspect of decent work, and action is required at
various fronts. This has been laid down in a draft plan of action for extension of
social security, prepared by the MODEP. The plan is to be formalized and
implemented.
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In seeking solutions through social dialogue and in a participative
manner, Sierra Leone is in an excellent position to make substantial
progress towards an integrated social security framework.
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Technical solutions related to social protection need to be seen in the
wider economic, social and political context, seeking the most
appropriate balance, and reflecting the national poverty reduction
strategy. The participation of workers and employers is key
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In the public sector, the questions related to the coverage, benefits and
funding of pensions must be addressed with a sense of urgency.
Likewise, the special needs of women in relation to social security
need the attention and input of all stakeholders.
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Efforts to reach those people not currently covered by any social
security scheme, and especially those who cannot afford regular
financial contributions, must be systematized. In order to embrace the
excluded and the poor, the existing formal schemes in Sierra Leone as
well as other safety nets schemes initiatives at village level offer
opportunities but managerial and administrative capacity gaps have to
be addressed and ongoing reforms have to continue at a faster pace.
The Current Evangelism Ministries (CEM) and Help Age International (HAI),
held a multi-stakeholder Seminar at the Kimbima Hotel, Aberdeen, Freetown
in the Republic of Sierra Leone at which the following recommendations and
messages were agreed on:
1.
Recommendations:
 The formulation of a National Policy and Legal Framework on Social
Protection in Sierra Leone.
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 A three year National Strategic Plan on Social Protection with lessons learnt
from the Social Safety Net Programme in Sierra Leone and examples from
other countries in Africa, including an information dissemination strategy
 The setting up of National Task Force, Regional (West Africa) and
Continental Coordinating Committees on Social Protection.
 Support from the donors including but not limited to bilateral, multilateral
institutions, Government of Sierra Leone, African Union, International
NGOs and other interested stakeholders interested in Social Protection
Issues.
 The inclusion of Social Protection into Peace and Security and Service
Delivery Mechanisms
 An all inclusive, Rural Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Scheme set
up to oversee the Social Protection implementation
 Submit the report of the workshop for inclusion into the development of the
second generation of the implementation of the PRSP in Sierra Leone.
2.
Messages:
 The Republic of Sierra Leone wants to share information on design and
implementation of Social Protection with other countries in the West
Africa Region
 Include Social Protection in the AU Social Policy Framework
 We want a cross-country learning process especially among the war
affected and fragile countries.
Precepts
If social protection is human right as declared in the Universal Declaration of
Human Right (Art 23,25) and in the International Covenant on Social and
Economic Rights of the United Nations (Art 9) then, it is manifestly
unacceptable to deny the aged and vulnerable groups Social Protection.
If old men and women, were at one time, the human capital for development
in any country, then, it is manifestly unacceptable to abandon them when they
are old. They must have social protection.
Finally, Dear Participants, we must realize that ageing is no respecter of
sex, religion, tribe, nationality or stutus. I implore you to use this forum to
develop sound policies that will stand the challenges of tomorrow.
I THANK YOU!
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