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Social protection Assessment-Based National Dialogue in Myanmar

More information on ILO's work in Myanmar: Building a social protection floor in Myanmar: Time for Action!

Extending social protection has become a priority in Myanmar. In his Presidential address at the National Social Protection Conference held in June 2012, President U Thein Sein called for an inclusive and comprehensive social protection system, providing access to health care and income security for all.

The Government has requested the United Nations' and the World Bank’s support in the elaboration of a national social protection strategic plan for Myanmar. The drafting of the strategy will be conducted by a national technical working group composed of relevant line ministries and co-chaired by the Ministry of Social Welfare and UNICEF. Various development agencies are conducting activities in support to the elaboration of the plan.

In this context, an Assessment Based National Dialogue (ABND) exercise was conducted in support to the elaboration of the national strategic plan. It benefited greatly from similar exercises already conducted or being conducted in other Asian countries, in particular, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Mongolia.

STEP 0: Inventory of Social Protection Schemes (Nov. 2013 – Feb. 2014)

The World Bank conducted an inventory of the existing social protection schemes in Myanmar along the life cycle and produced an analytical note that both feed into the social protection assessment matrix.

STEP 1: Assessment matrix and consultations (March - June 2014)

The assessment matrix is developed with all stakeholders involved in social protection in Myanmar, Ministries and government agencies, social partners, civil society, academia and development partners, through consultations and a national dialogue workshop. It contains for each of the four guarantees of the SPF an inventory of existing government-led social protection programmes, identifies policy gaps and implementation issues, and provides recommendations for the design and implementation of further social protection provisions with the aim of guaranteeing at a minimum the SPF to all the population.

On the basis of those recommendations, a number of policy options and concrete scenarios for the extension of social protection in Myanmar are formulated through a national dialogue workshop.

STEP 2: Costing of the priority recommendations (July – Sept. 2014)

The cost of the proposed social protection scenarios is then estimated and projected using the ILO Rapid Assessment Protocol (RAP). A national dialogue workshop on the costing of scenarios can serve as a basis for discussions on available fiscal space, government budget reallocations, and the prioritization of different social protection policy options.

STEP 3: Endorsement of the recommendations (Oct. – Dec. 2014)

The final report is shared with government representatives, workers and employers as well as civil society organizations with a view to validate the recommendations and assumptions and prepare for the integration of some of the priority recommendations into national policy.

 

 

 

The World Bank conducted an inventory of social protection programmes in Myanmar from November 2013 to February 2014.

On 24-26 March 2014, a national dialogue on the social protection assessment matrix was organized. All workshop material can be found here.

Social Protection Assessment Matrix (draft)

On 18-20 June 2014, a national dialogue on social protection policy options and secnarios was conducted to transform recommendations into policy options and costable scenarios. All workshop material can be found here.

On 3-5 September 2014, a national dialogue on evaluating the cost of social protection policy options was conducted to share the projected cost of the proposed social protection scenarios, identified during the June workshop, using the ILO Rapid Assessment Protocol (RAP), as well as priority setting.  Three packages of social protection benefits along the life-cycle were formulated according to national priorities (low, medium, and high packages).  All workshop material can be found here.

The ABND report was drafted (click here to acccess the draft version) and circulated in September and October 2014 and received inputs from the national dialogue participants. It was officially communicated to the national Social Protection Technical Support Group (TSG) to inform the formulation of the National Social Protection Strategic Plan (NSPSP). This plan, adopted in December 2014, identifies eight social protection flagship programmes for the country that are all policy options proposed by the ABND process. The official document acknowledges the role of the ABND exercise in its formulation.

ABND Report Myanmar (English)

ABND Report Myanmar (Myanmar)

A crucial step for Myanmar: launch of social protection strategy, click here to read.

The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security is conducting seminars, click here to view.

Aung San Suu Kyi's message on World Day Against Child Labour 2014, click here to view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Consult Myanmar country profile

A useful resource package has been created for conducting ABND exercises. This includes presentations, exercises, modules, tutorials, etc. based on real country cases.
The ABND in Myanmar receives the support of all participating agencies as well as the ILO-Japan Social Safety Net Fund and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Myanmar.
 
Assessment Myanmar
26.02.2020
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