Piloting the Single Window Service: the SSDM in Cambodia

The Single Window Service is one of the key recommendations of the Social Protection Assessment Based National Dialogue exercises conducted in Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand. In Cambodia the Social Service Delivery Mechanism (SSDM) provides a single entry point for households to access information and register under social protection schemes and employment services at their doorstep, in their own communes. Case managers offer assistance for application and channel a combination of services and benefits which best match the needs and constraints of the beneficiaries.They also represent the interests of the final beneficiaries through an appeals mechanism and by advocating for increased availability and quality of social services. 

At the same time, the SSDM collects information at the decentralized level on beneficiaries, existing social services, and the utilization of services by the beneficiaries and enters this information in a management information system. With sub-national bodies also being involved in the design, administration, and oversight of the SSDM, delivered social services are guaranteed to be tailored to local needs and provided locally. This, in turn, further stimulates the empowerment of sub-national institutions.

The SSDM pilot is expected to be launched in November 2013. The districts selected for the implementation of the Social Service Delivery Mechanism are Angkor Chum and Srey Snam in Siem Reap province. In 2016, if the results of the pilot phase are favourable, the mechanism will be progressively rolled out at the national level. The aims of the SSDM are to contribute overcoming the challenges faced by social protection and employment programmes in Cambodia in terms of limited outreach of existing programmes, lack of coordination between institutions that leads to duplication of services and inefficiencies, lack of empowerment of sub-national administrations, and insufficient data management, monitoring, and evaluation.

In India, the Samajik Suvidha Sangam (SSS) or Mission Convergence was conceived to help the Government of Delhi to reach its goals of poverty alleviation and inclusive growth through efficient delivery of social and employment services. At first, the SWS only served identification and registration functions since the lack of database was a main problem facing poverty alleviation programme planning. An integrated database system across offices at the district level was established in 2010 and is now a work in progress.

The single database consitsts of two components: 

•   A front-end interface 
• A dynamic database of all beneficiaries, with instant access to their socioeconomic data for appropriate targeting and avoiding fraud.

Source: Mission Covergence, India