SOCIAL BUDGETING Violet Speek-Warnery Deputy Representative, UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area 18 March, st Meeting of the OESC Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Human and Social Development

Outline of Presentation Introduction Social Budgeting: Definitions Public Policy and Budgets UNICEF Proposed Analytical Approach in the OECS Countries Understanding Budget: Evidence Focus on Four Sectors in OECS Countries: Education, Health, Child Protection and Social Protection Fiscal Space Analysis for Social Protection Floor Way Forward Knowledge Management: UNICEF Links on Social Budgeting Experience from different countries around the globe 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Introduction Good progress on social and human development However ongoing risks and vulnerabilities that could potentially slow the progress towards MDGs: Economic crisis- fiscal consolidation, dealing with the fiscal deficit, managing the debt, and for some the introduction or changing of VAT to achieve its development plans Reduced public spending – 1/3 in social expenditure Income poverty has declined through the years but remains stable- the majority of income poor are children- working poor, single headed households, unemployed; Domestic violence and child abuse Crime, drugs and gangs Discrimination and equality 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Progressive Realization of Rights States are at different levels of development and facing different economic circumstances. Able to ensure different levels of implementation of policies that help fulfill the rights of all women, men, boys and girls according to the principle of “progressive realization of rights”. 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

5 The goal: a sound economic goal Our goal is to produce sustainable improvement in lives of the most disadvantaged men, women, girls and boys; That is, realizing their rights as defined in the CRC and CEDAW Taking into account all rights within the given context- (Universality, Non-Discrimination) From charity to human development From hand-out to extending a hands-up One-dimensional(monetary) to multidimensional risks and vulnerabilities From offending to achieving From being reactive to prevention and response

Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 4: States Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties shall undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation. CRC guides towards active engagement in the budgeting process central Child and gender responsive social and economic policy decisions results in promoting EQUITY, GENDER EQUALITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND POVERTY REDUCTION 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Some Definitions In social sciences – there is dearth of universally recognized definitions. Same is the case for child and gender responsive budgeting/social budgeting/public finance for children (PF4C) Having said this let me share some definitions – to seek clarity of understanding and being on the same page for this presentation 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Social Budgeting “the process by which society‘s goals and priorities as well as the rights of all of the population—including those that could be facing social exclusion and discrimination—are better reflected throughout the budgeting process. Often, those with least voice include poor households and children, women, and socially excluded groups and communities (e.g. indigenous people).” Paola Deles, Ronald U. Mendoza and Gabriel Vergara in Social Budgeting Initiatives and Innovations: Insights using a Public Finance Lens (August 2010) 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

child-centered definition for social budgeting “Social budgeting activities seek to ensure that adequate resources are devoted in government budgets to programmes benefiting children, and that these funds are decided upon and spent in an efficient, effective, and transparent manner” Gore, Radhika A Review of UNICEF‘s Social Budgeting Initiatives. ‖ Working Paper. New York. 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Gender responsive budgeting UN Women ― gender responsive budgeting which might help cover ―social budgeting more broadly: Gender responsive budgeting (GRB) is government planning, programming and budgeting that contributes to the advancement of gender equality and the fulfilment of women’s rights. It entails identifying and reflecting needed interventions to address gender gaps in sector local government policies, plans and budgets. GRB also aims to analyse the gender- differentiated impact of revenue-raising policies and the allocation of domestic resources and Official Development Assistance (See 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Priorities, Budgets and Politics Public budgets is a way to express public policy priorities If the allocation of fiscal resources to children and women is minimal then it means children and women are not a priority. If the allocation of fiscal resources to most disadvantaged children and women is minimal then it means most disadvantaged children and women are not a priority At the end of the day, you can always find money in the budget. The question is which are the financial priorities (and in a world of scarce resources, those things that are not a priority will not be funded)……. POLITICS Define Priorities! Conclusion: You cannot say the disadvantaged are a priority in public policy if there is no adequate funding to finance their demands. 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Proposed Analytical Budget Approach in the OECS Countries Building evidence Focus on Four Sectors in OECS Countries: Education, Health, Child Protection and Social Protection Fiscal Space Analysis for Social Protection Floor Key partner- Ministries of Finance 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Joint UN Programme The UNICEF and UN Women, in collaboration with FAO, UNDP, and ILO, have come together under a Joint Programme ( ) for enhanced coordination and a comprehensive level of support to the countries of the Eastern Caribbean. Seeks to enhance equity, income equality and reduce poverty by rolling out social protection floor initiative and child and gender responsive social protection reform in Barbados and the OECS 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Part I: Analyze national budget policies, social expenditures and investments for girls and boys in national social and public policies and programmes Analysis of the existing national legal framework and macro level policies, budget planning, formulation, execution, reporting, audit and monitoring. Social sector expenditure analysis focusing on areas of expenditure relevant for children. The proposed four priority areas are education, health, child protection and social protection. 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Benefit incidence analysis of public allocations to explain whether existing expenditure is progressive (include analysis of benefit distribution from poorest quintiles to the richest, among different regions and perishes, rural-urban, and if possible beneficiaries) and also distribution of resources to ministries, administrative units and service delivery level; Analysis of needs and outcomes for the children in social sector expenditures by beneficiary wealth quintiles, administrative and geographical regions, disaggregated (age, sex), gender, and disability. Benefit Incidence Analysis will be subject to the availability of data from the government counterparts. 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Part II: Analyze existing ‘allocation and operational’ effectiveness and efficiency of direct/indirect public allocations for girls and boys, and the degree to which gender responsive budgeting and policy development has impacted this efficiency and effectiveness; and Prepare recommendations in the context of linking national development priorities for girls and boys to expenditure allocation in planning, policy making and budgeting processes. RM1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Child and Gender-responsive Fiscal Space Analysis for Social Protection Floor Let’s divide in two sections: Social Protection Floor Fiscal Space Analysis 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Social Protection Floor 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development, The Social Protection Floor promotes a two-dimensional strategy for the extension of social security, comprising a basic set of social guarantees:

Fiscal Space Analysis Analyze the overall economic and financial situation of St. Lucia to identify the scope of available or potential fiscal space to spend for social protection floor on sustainable manner. The analysis will consider four core components: (1) Is fiscal space available or the potential to be created, (2) Sustainability of such space in the long run, (3) Efficiency and effectiveness of increase in spending if such fiscal space is made available, and (4) Macroeconomic and fiscal feasibility. 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

What entails fiscal space analysis? Step One: Once we understand budgets than 1.How much fiscal space is required in order to finance existing as well as newly identified national priorities for social protection; 2.Overall costing of national social protection priorities and especially progressive realization of social protection floor in the country. Also simulate the potential impacts of the nationally defined social protection floor and cost effectiveness of such a floor; 3.Analysis of the overall macroeconomic, fiscal environment and fiscal management including key balances and related budget aggregates (revenues, expenditure, aid, debt). UNICEF Tuesday, October 30th 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Opportunities of potential fiscal space through analysis of but not limited to: Domestic revenues (tax policy, tax administration, performance of tax system, investment incentives etc.), Reallocation (discretionary and non-discretionary expenditure, reprioritization in public spending and efficiency of expenditures), Deficit financing (external debt, domestic debt, debt sustainability, debt projections etc.), Borrowing, and Aid Provide policy proposal for minimum package of social protection floor for each country with clear estimate of the short – medium and the long term cost that introduction of such a package entail. 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Way Forward On-going Currently: UNICEF, UN Women and OECS Conducting Budget Analysis for Investments in Children and Fiscal Space Analysis for Social Protection Floor in Saint Lucia Toolkit development - Budget Analysis for Investments in Children and Fiscal Space Analysis for Social Protection Floor in OECS Sub-region OECS Countries: Grenada, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and other countries 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

Knowledge Management: UNICEF Links on Social Budgeting Experience from different countries around the globe. This link gives a good on UNICEF work on social budgeting. Also this should be helpful: 1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development,

1 st OECS TAC on Human and Social Development, More specific country experiences: India - and Colombia Morocco- Jordan - CEE/CIS- content/uploads/2011/04/UNICEF_Challenges_Fiscal_Policy_int4.pdfhttp:// content/uploads/2011/04/UNICEF_Challenges_Fiscal_Policy_int4.pdf Mozambique - South Africa - Some handbooks that might be useful for learning budgetingGTZ.pdf

More Information Violet Speek-Warnery, Deputy Representative, UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean- Jawad Aslam, Social and Economic Policy Specialist, UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area - Isiuwa Iyahen, Programme Coordinator, UN Women Multi Country Office – Caribbean - UNICEF Tuesday, October 30th RMT CEE-CIS Montreux 25

Thank you!