Community-based social protection delivery mechanisms in Mon State, Myanmar

Social protection dialogue at the regional level 

Government-led social protection in Myanmar remains extremely limited in large parts of the country, and more so in ethnic areas. It is especially limited in cease-fire areas where the central government may not be the main authority in control. In that context, communities have developed their own self-help resilience mechanisms to face shocks and life contingencies. The limited evidence available on this shows that community-based social protection mechanisms have a limited scope of coverage but are established and, importantly, are trusted by communities who pool and invest their own limited resources into them.

Those mechanisms, because they are already in place and trusted by communities, could have the potential to be the basis for inclusive social protection delivery. Their potential to be scaled-up and linked with benefits provided by regional and national public agencies needs to be assessed. Additionally, community based mechanisms can improve delivery of benefits to the population who are most in need, as they are able to identify and benefit the most vulnerable in communities.  

Undertaking research in Mon State 

Traditionally, most villages in Mon State have religious, youth, literacy, and cultural committees, some of which have become organised over the years, and receive support from Mon national civil society organisations. Additionally, communities have developed community-based social protection mechanisms and have become reliant on these mechanisms for support. The New Mon State Party (NMSP) is also linked with organizations providing community services in the areas of education, health, skills, youth empowerment, community affairs, water and sanitation, relief, etc. 

In this context, there is an opportunity to assess the community-based social protection services in Mon State, their challenges and the opportunity to integrate their delivery to wider frameworks. The exploratory report contributes to bring further evidence on how community-based social protection mechanisms operate, their sustainability and their potential for social protection delivery at scale. 

The process

To undertake the exploratory study, the current delivery mechanisms of community-based social protection schemes in Mon State were identified. This occured through a first workshop to map the current schemes, their challenges, successes and recommendations for improvement and a second workshop to present the findings. Additional interviews were held at the community-level with the CSOs and community groups. 

The first workshop was held on October 13th-14th, 2015 and the second workshop on December 15th, 2015. In-depth interviews were held in October and November, 2015.

The final exploratory report is available here

For more information on the social protection assessment at the national level.

Myanmar Country Profile