john rook regional hunger & vulnerability programme (rhvp) working with parliamentarians to get...
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John RookJohn RookRegional Hunger & Vulnerability Programme Regional Hunger & Vulnerability Programme
(RHVP)(RHVP)
Working with Working with Parliamentarians to get Parliamentarians to get Social Protection on the Social Protection on the Political AgendaPolitical Agenda
1
International Policy Centre for Inclusive GrowthLong-Term Social Protection for Inclusive Growth:Policy Dialogue & South-South Learning EventJohannesburg, 11-14 October, 2010
Social protection – where we are in southern Africa
• Not the whole solution but . . .• Receiving more and more attention– Mainstreamed into MDG dialogue
• We know they work and can make a meaningful difference– “Overwhelming evidence”
• We know how to do it– Scaled up experience in a number of countries
• So, why haven’t scaled up social protection been adopted more widely as part of an inclusive poverty reduction strategy?
Slide 2
What’s needed now?
Plenty of talk about the need to: Moving from research to building political will
How much added value from more research: Time to get off the fence Learning through implementation, not just experimentation
Build national ownership & drive Foster broad based national debate and engagement Capacitate potential drivers of change
But there’s another aspect of promoting social transfers, whose potential has so far been less explored/exploited . . . .
Slide 3
Political potential of social protection
Slide 4
Parliamentarians: Opportunities
• Political potential of social protection– already happening -Lesotho 2006 general election
• Growing democratisation – increasing importance
• Roles – representation, legislation & oversight
• Vested interest to deliver – re-election
slide 5
Parliamentarians: Challenges
• Still immature democracies
• Vote buying v election pledging
• Often more concerned about maintaining status quo than taking the initiative
• Confusing functioning democracy with politicking
• Not assertive - sidelined/undermined by executive
• Limited understanding of wide range of policy issues
• Reluctance to engage with parliaments, let alone political parties!
slide 6
SADC-PF/RHVP policy dialogueinitiative on poverty & social
transfers• Objectives• Build awareness & understanding• Foster national debate & dialogue• Nurture drivers of change (awareness & understanding
before commitment)• Activities• Awareness building workshops for new parliaments
• Budgetary process / Gender / HIV-AIDS / Social transfers• Botswana / DRC / Lesotho / Swaziland
• In-depth national/regional policy dialogues on social transfers for parliamentary committies• Angola / Botswana / Lesotho / Malawi / Mozambique / Namibia / Swaziland /
Tanzania / Zambia / Zimbabwe
• Parliamentary handbook (in prep) slide 7
Impact
• In summary• Limited but needs to be put into perspective in terms of
resources and duration
Nevertheless . . .• Increased awareness
• Over 550 parliamentarians and parliamentary staff exposed to the social transfers debate, of which over 200 engaged in more detailed policy dialogue
• Pre /post workshop perceptions exercises indicate significant positive swing in opinions regarding social transfers
• Individual initiatives• Private Members Bills in support of scaled up social transfers in
Malawi & Zambia• Direct intervention of MPs in social transfers delivery system
impasse in Swazilandslide 8
Lessons
• Legislatives generally under-valued, under-equipped & under-utilised
• Significant unmet demand for knowledge & skill development – not just social transfers
• Support needs to be both intensive & sustained• From parliamentarians to political parties; the real
prize!
Where next? • SADC-PF proposal to continue and expand policy
dialogue work . . . but no donor interest!slide 9
For more informationFor more information
[email protected]@[email protected]@rhvp.org
Slide 10 of 12
And finally . . .And finally . . .
RHVP ends in November, and with it RHVP ends in November, and with it funding for funding for wahenga.netwahenga.net . . . unless we . . . unless we can find other sources of financial can find other sources of financial support . . . between support . . . between US$4,000 to US$4,000 to US$7,500 / month US$7,500 / month depending on depending on scope . . . any ideas?scope . . . any ideas?
[email protected]@rhvp.org
Slide 13 of 12