John Rook Regional Hunger & Vulnerability Programme (RHVP) Working with Parliamentarians to get Social Protection on the Political Agenda 1 International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth Long-Term Social Protection for Inclusive Growth: Policy Dialogue & South-South Learning Event Johannesburg, October, 2010

Social protection – where we are in southern Africa Not the whole solution but... Receiving more and more attention – Mainstreamed into MDG dialogue We know they work and can make a meaningful difference – “Overwhelming evidence” We know how to do it – Scaled up experience in a number of countries So, why haven’t scaled up social protection been adopted more widely as part of an inclusive poverty reduction strategy? Slide 2

What’s needed now?  Plenty of talk about the need to:  Moving from research to building political will  How much added value from more research:  Time to get off the fence  Learning through implementation, not just experimentation  Build national ownership & drive  Foster broad based national debate and engagement  Capacitate potential drivers of change  But there’s another aspect of promoting social transfers, whose potential has so far been less explored/exploited.... Slide 3

Political potential of social protection Slide 4

Parliamentarians: Opportunities Political potential of social protection– already happening -Lesotho 2006 general election Growing democratisation – increasing importance Roles – representation, legislation & oversight Vested interest to deliver – re-election slide 5

Parliamentarians: Challenges Still immature democracies Vote buying v election pledging Often more concerned about maintaining status quo than taking the initiative Confusing functioning democracy with politicking Not assertive - sidelined/undermined by executive Limited understanding of wide range of policy issues Reluctance to engage with parliaments, let alone political parties! slide 6

SADC-PF/RHVP policy dialogue initiative on poverty & social transfers Objectives Build awareness & understanding Foster national debate & dialogue Nurture drivers of change (awareness & understanding before commitment) Activities Awareness building workshops for new parliaments Budgetary process / Gender / HIV-AIDS / Social transfers Botswana / DRC / Lesotho / Swaziland In-depth national/regional policy dialogues on social transfers for parliamentary committies Angola / Botswana / Lesotho / Malawi / Mozambique / Namibia / Swaziland / Tanzania / Zambia / Zimbabwe Parliamentary handbook (in prep) slide 7

Impact In summary Limited but needs to be put into perspective in terms of resources and duration Nevertheless... Increased awareness Over 550 parliamentarians and parliamentary staff exposed to the social transfers debate, of which over 200 engaged in more detailed policy dialogue Pre /post workshop perceptions exercises indicate significant positive swing in opinions regarding social transfers Individual initiatives Private Members Bills in support of scaled up social transfers in Malawi & Zambia Direct intervention of MPs in social transfers delivery system impasse in Swaziland slide 8

Lessons Legislatives generally under-valued, under- equipped & under-utilised Significant unmet demand for knowledge & skill development – not just social transfers Support needs to be both intensive & sustained From parliamentarians to political parties; the real prize! Where next? SADC-PF proposal to continue and expand policy dialogue work... but no donor interest! slide 9

For more information Slide 10 of 12

And finally... RHVP ends in November, and with it funding for wahenga.net... unless we can find other sources of financial support... between US$4,000 to US$7,500 / month depending on scope... any ideas?

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