1 Social Assistance in Central Asia Countries: Government Reform Priorities Elena Glinskaya World Bank April 15, 2011

2 Five Social Assistance Programs (2 categorical and 3 targeted) Targeted social assistance: Cash payment to individuals (families) with average per capita monthly income below 40 percent of subsistence minimum set for each oblast. Housing assistance: Compensation for low income and vulnerable groups to cover expenses on housing maintenance, utilities. Assistance to families with children: Birth allowance, care allowances for under children under 12 mos, and monthly allowance for children under 18. Available to families with per-capita income below 60 percent of subsistence minimum set for each oblast. State Social allowances: Disability allowance, survivor allowance, and old age allowance. State Special allowances: Monetized privileges (for 17 categories ). Kazakhstan

3 Kazakhstan

4 Kazakhstan

5 Kazakhstan A well-targeted program has no political support. Why? There is no activation or graduation elements built in. Welfare dependency is suspected and feared “….All those who can work, should work…..”

6 Kazakhstan Reform Priorities: weaving in activation and graduation elements Policy instruments for promotion of safety net beneficiaries Design features of activation-compatible SSN eligibility criteria and the target groups; the amounts of the benefits, the terms of their receipt (i.e. time limits, conditions such as work requirements, mutual responsibilities, requirements to participate in job search and activation activities); and enforcement provisions. Institutional arrangements to support activation the relationships between the central ministries and local governments; outsourcing arrangements; enrolment processes and information management (such as registries and MIS); particulars of case management (involvement of social workers in monitoring); payments processes; provision of complementary services.

7 Tajikistan

8 Tajikistan

9 Tajikistan Reform priorities:  consolidation of the present programs into a single social assistance program;  adoption of a system of targeting of social assistance;  improving management of social assistance systems

10 Kyrgyzstan

11 Kyrgyzstan Trends:  decline in coverage (from 10 to 6-7 percent of the population);  diverting major funds for rights-based transfers (post-Osh) Reform priorities : preserving gains made earlier; strengthening means-testing and outreach; improving administration and delivery in a decentralized setting

12 Trends: growth in GDP and in real SSN outlays; Mahalla leaders voicing their discontent for lack of clarity for defining who is “poor” need to use SSN for other socially-relevant objectives Reform priorities: impending fiscal cuts; improvements in targeting – introducing objective criteria into Mahalla community targeting technology adoption (MIS, registry, etc.) Uzbekistan