Social Protection as a Top Priority for Government Ministry of Social Transformation hosts UNICEF and World Bank Officials Castries, Saint Lucia. February 27, 2014: Over the last two weeks, The Ministry of Social Transformation, Local Government and Community Empowerment has engaged in a sequence of consultations aimed at increasing the level of efficiency and implementation of the Ministry’s Social Protection programmes. As part of the ongoing Social Safety Net Reform (SSNR) process being undertaken by the Social Transformation ministry, UNICEF and the World Bank have partnered with the Government of Saint Lucia to provide support and build capacity to advance social protection on island. Permanent Secretary, Ms. Juliana Alfred was in high spirits as she expressed the Ministry’s satisfaction with the ongoing collaboration and interventions by the World Bank and UNICEF as she said, “it is the mandate of the Ministry of Social Transformation and by extension the Government of Saint Lucia to establish greater efficiency in the delivery of social services, and to ensure that these social services that we are providing get to the people who are most in need, particularly the vulnerable.” In the first round of consultations, donors met with agencies such as the National Insurance Cooperation (NIC) and a number of industry cooperative groups for their input on a draft National Social Protection Policy for legislative implementation. Manager of the Castries Fishermen’s Cooperative, Mr. Alva Lynch expressed interest in the ability of his members to benefit from provision of social services, such as National Insurance. He said “I am very pleased to know that government is considering the plight of our members who reach a pensionable age and are in need of the coverage provided by the NIC. We believe this consultation has created a path for better representation by us to widen the scope of benefits afforded to our members.” In the consultations with the World Bank, a team headed by Social Protection Specialist, Sarah Gonzalez has been meeting with government officials and beneficiaries of social services to streamline the implementation of the Ministry’s cash transfer programmes. Saint Lucia recently won its bid for the provision of a Rapid Social Response Trust Fund, a grant from the World Bank to finalize the island’s targeting and monitoring tools. Mrs. Gonzalez said “The objective behind this grant is to support the Ministry of Social Transformation in this Phase One of their reform that has been proposed in the National Social Protection Policy. So we are here to refine our planned activities, and to identify the consultancies that we will be supporting to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Social Transformation as they move forward in implementing this reform.” Moving into the new financial year, the Social Safety Net Reform Programme is the main priority for the Ministry of Social Transformation, Local Government, and Community Empowerment. -ENDS-
Posted on: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:14:31 +0000
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