Children, the social protection system: Building the Zim agenda

Richard Nyamanhindi Correspondent
THIS week Government and development partners are gathered in Gweru to develop a national social protection policy framework. The final outcome from this process, the Social Policy Framework, will be presented to Cabinet by the Minister of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare.

The Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) recognises social protection as a critical component of social development. In line with the 2004 Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment and Poverty Alleviation in Africa and the 2008 African Union (AU) Social Policy Framework, Zim-Asset explicitly identifies social protection as one of the core components in the development of the country.

Despite the various challenges that the country has gone through in the past decade, there currently is a heightened recognition of the need to redefine the social contract and develop a social protection system that ensures an inclusive and thriving society. There are three key arguments to support the case for developing and strengthening of social protection systems especially for children in Zimbabwe. The first is that, all children have the right to social protection, secondly, social protection contributes to poverty alleviation, and inclusive growth and social protection enhances families’ capacity to take care of their children, in the process increasing investment in human capital and ensuring a healthy transition to adulthood. The right to social protection is recognized by a number of African and international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 25) and the International Covenant on Economic and Social Cultural Rights (Article 9 and 10) to which most AU member states including Zimbabwe are signatories. In addition, the Convention on the Rights of the Children (CRC) also recognises that children have the right to social security, including social insurance. Further, the CRC (Articles 26 and 27) notes that social protection contributes to the realisation of specific social security rights, as well as to other rights such a right to education and survival.

According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2014, over the last five years Zimbabwe has been scoring important milestones in social development particularly in health and education. However, despite this progress, there are still significant barriers that prevent equitable access to basic social services, including persistent poverty, inequality and social exclusion.

Indeed poverty rates and disparities in Zimbabwe are still very high if compared to other countries in the region. A considerable percentage live just above the poverty line and are extremely vulnerable to falling in poverty, while experiencing high levels of income inequities. Moreover, current economic and social vulnerabilities are exacerbated by economic shocks, food insecurity, high HIV and AIDS prevalence, limited supply of services in remote and hard to reach areas, as well as vulnerability to disasters and disruptions as a result of climate change.

The development of social protection programmes such as the harmonised cash transfers programme, highlights the impact on chronic poverty, household resilience, risk management, economic dynamics at household and community levels, and on maximising equitable outcomes in social sectors. These impacts are generated without evident economic distortions or disincentives — without creating dependency, discouraging labour market participation or causing price inflation.

On the contrary, evidence from monitoring and evaluation shows that predictable and long-term social transfers contribute immensely to alleviating chronic poverty, addressing the social and economic factors that shape vulnerability to poverty.

Social protection has also proven to reduce and eliminate financial and social barriers to access services, particularly among the most vulnerable and excluded, and thus contributes to maximize equitable outcomes in key social sectors such as health, nutrition and education.

Children face multiple and compounding vulnerabilities. In addition to sharing many of the same sources of vulnerability as their caregivers and communities, they also face age-specific deprivations such as increased vulnerability to malnutrition, disease or abuse. Developing a strong Social Policy Protection Framework consequently represents a crucial investment for children, particularly in helping families and children to overcome financial and social barriers and exclusion. At the same time, a strong and relevant social protection framework can reduce negative coping mechanisms in times of stress such as pulling children out of school to contribute to family income generating activities, reducing their diets, among others.