Harmonised Social Cash Transfer programme (HSCT)

Introduction

• Based on data collected at household level, households are classified as categorically eligible if they are labour-constrained and are food-poor if their poverty score based on Proxy Means Testing (PMT) is above a certain threshold.

• The Ministry of Public Services, Labour and Social Welfare (MoPSLSW), Department of Social Welfare (DSW), has designed a social cash transfer program for labour constrained extremely poor households

• A key programme pillar of the NAP II and its accompanying second phase of the Child Protection Fund were cash transfers to the poorest and (legal, welfare, judicial) to child survivors of violence, exploitation and abuse

Rational and Objectives

• Response to observations regarding child protection issues (Form 2)

  The Team Leaders will submit the filled in Forms 2 as soon as possible to the DSWO

• DSWO will list the Forms 2 received in Form 2.1 and will follow up within statutory protocols

• DSWO uses Form 2.1 for systematic follow up and referrals and for reporting on action taken to PSWO (with copy to National Programme Manager)

Rational and Objectives

Response to observations regarding child protection issues (Form 2) ... cont'd

• PSWO supervises and verifies response by DSWO with regard to child protection issues observed by enumerators

• National Program Manager has the overall responsibility for the follow up of child protection issues observed by enumerators

Response to observations regarding child protection issues (Form 2)

Rationale and Objectives

• The first pillar - social cash transfers - will focus on labour-constrained households that live below the food poverty line

• The food poverty of labour constrained households is ‘structural’ in that they have few or no able-bodied household members in the working age

• Labour constrained households are not able to lift themselves out of poverty by taking part in self-help or labour-based projects or programmes like public works or livelihood programmes

Response to observations regarding child protection issues (Form 2)

Rationale and Objectives... cont'd

• Single mothers with a large number of children, households headed by disabled people and child-headed households typically belong to this category

• Labour constrained food poor household contain all the vulnerable groups that urgently require social protection and are the target groups of the Enhanced Social Protection Programme of DSW

In order to qualify for the program, households have to meet two criteria:

• Food poor: This means that the household members are living below the food poverty line and are unable to meet their most urgent basic needs

• TA household is labour constrained when: It has no able-bodied household member in the age group 18 to 59, who is fit for productive work, or when one household member in the age group 18 to 59 years, who is fit for work, has to care for more than 3 dependents (household members that: are under 18 years of age or over 59 or are unfit for work because they are chronically sick, or disabled or handicapped or are still schooling), or

• When a household has a dependency ratio between 2 and 3 but has a severely disabled or chronically sick household member who requires intensive care

Allocations per household:

In order to harmonize with ongoing Government programs (welfare programs as well as public works) the average volume of transfers is set as USD 20 per household per month. For individual households the transfers vary in accordance with the size of the household

• 1 person household USD 10

• 2 person household USD 15

• 3 person household USD 20

• 4 and more persons USD 25

Program Monitoring Considerations:

In order to harmonize with ongoing Government programs (welfare programs as well as public works) the average volume of transfers is set as USD 20 per household per month. For individual households the transfers vary in accordance with the size of the household

• at outcome level the cash transfers seeks to empower the beneficiary households to increase their consumption to a level which exceeds the food poverty line

• At output level the national programme seeks to strengthen the purchasing power through unconditional cash transfers to 200,000 ultra-poor households which are at the same time labour-constrained

• at impact level, the increase in consumption of goods and services (basic needs) will lead to improved nutrition status, health and education and to the reduction of mortality, especially for the children living in the beneficiary households. HIV prevalence amongst females/ males aged 15-24 years living in social cash transfer beneficiary household will be reduced