Protection sociale

Mettre en place des socles de protection sociale
et des systèmes complets de sécurité sociale

Basic Social Security

Basic Social Security Regulation

The Basic Social Security Regulation creates four different areas of intervention, which are very similar to the guaranteed benefits framework of the social protection floor:

• Direct social action: it comprises social transfers used to address the needs of the most vulnerable (older people, people with disabilities, those who are chronically ill, and households with orphans and vulnerable children), and to respond to situations of transitory vulnerability;
• Health social action: it assures the universal access of the most vulnerable populations to primary health care;
• Education social action: promotes the participation of the most vulnerable populations in the education system; and
• Productive social action: through work programmes, it targets female heads of households, people with disabilities and other people living in absolute poverty.

The regulation also mandates the creation of a national council for basic social security, an intra-ministerial group where participation might also be extended to partners from civil society.

National Social Security Strategy

After the adoption of the regulation, the need to unify and guide the efforts of various actors in the area of basic social security was identified, and the National Social Security Strategy was created.

One of the main objectives of the strategy is to promote an integrated approach to social protection in the area of basic social security.

At the same time, the strategy is intended to be a tool for reinforcing the linkages between basic social security and the socio-economic development efforts of the country. The process of developing the strategy was highly participatory, involving many consultations with partners (including international donors, agencies and national civil society organizations). The strategy defines a set of very important principles: universality, progressivity, equity, inclusion, multisectorality, efficiency, solidarity, subsidiarity, participation and accountability. These principles should guide the implementation of the different key actions in the various areas during the strategy’s implementation period.

In short, taking into account its vision, mission and principles, it can be said that the National Strategy for Basic Social Security has three main objectives for the period 2010-2014. These are to extend the coverage and the impact of interventions; increase the efficiency of the system; and assure the coordination of different programmes and services.

In line with the regulation’ establishment, the strategy moves ahead by determining the areas of intervention.

The area of direct social action is divided into three components (regular, unconditional social cash transfers: where transfers to households with elderly or children may be included; social transfers for a fixed period; which include support in case of transitory vulnerability. The support can be either in cash or in kind. Two types of interventions are foreseen: one in which support is given once to help the beneficiary face a one-time situation, and the second type in which support is offered to help to deal with mid-term temporary situations; and social services: the strategy defines the need to map out social services (governmental or not) so as to define regulations and guidelines for their supervision.), and also includes a reference to the right of beneficiaries to receive support in accessing the Civil Registry Services.
Health social action comprises the actions aiming to improve the health of the most vulnerable populations, with a specific focus on the promotion of access to basic health care.
Education social action consists of interventions directed at promoting the participation of children from the most vulnerable households in the education system. It can include, for instance, school feeding programmes for children in primary school, direct aid for primary schools or support in the acquisition of primary-school materials for students.
Productive social action is associated with activities developed to promote the socio-economic inclusion of the most vulnerable individuals who are physically able to work. The strategy foresees the creation of a national productive social action programme that should fall under the responsibility of various ministries. This programme should be designed as part of the answer to chronic food insecurity, which has been reinforced in recent years by structural risks and shocks as well as the impact of environmental changes. Implementation should take place at the district level, a move associated with broader efforts at decentralization. In this programme, a social transfer should be associated with public works in favour of the community through tertiary road maintenance, irrigation mechanisms, water management, etc. It is also foreseen in the strategy that the transfers might have a seasonal nature, preferably coordinated with the hunger season, and that they should be designed to target the most vulnerable.

One of the main objectives of the strategy is to associate the social security policy with other major policy efforts in the country. Furthermore, another area in which the strategy exhibits progressive ideas is funding.♦