Toward a Somali Led Transition to National Social Protection Systems

Somalia is at a critical juncture, where a strong social protection system is particularly important, since (i) it constitutes a key aspect of the social contract in Somali society and in developing the trust between people and the state; (ii) it will serve as a way to bridge the humanitarian and development divide and create longer-term gains that reduce overall vulnerability; and (iii) it will shift the focus to the root causes of poverty and vulnerability, moving away from cyclical reactive short-term support. While government has made clear its intention to shift from short-term humanitarian response to a longer-term focus on social protection, this transition will happen only when government has the capacity to identify the most vulnerable and to design appropriate social protection schemes to address the root causes of their vulnerabilities. Following the human rights-based approach, the UNJP seeks to build the capacity of Government as duty bearer to meet the obligations of Somali citizens who are entitled to adequate social protection. The joint Programme intends to strengthen the capacity of capacity of the Government of Somalia to focus on prioritizing support to the most vulnerable populations, with a view of transitioning from short-term emergency response, to long-term predictable social protection mechanism – with linkages to education, health and justice systems. More specifically, it aims to strengthen the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) leadership on social protection through a targeted institutional support and capacity development. This will allow FGS to be better positioned to leverage three upcoming opportunities: (i) the unprecedented fiscal space that will be created by debt relief (decision point is expected in second quarter 2020) that is by definition conditioned to be prioritized on social sectors; (ii) NDP 9 (2020-2024) which clearly identifies Social protection among the priorities of its fourth pillar: Improved Social Development; and (iii) Government prospects to create an independent contributory social security scheme. This support will be done both at federal government and at federal member state (FMS) levels and will focus on three areas: (i) Supporting MoLSA institutional capacity for policy analysis and coordination of partners activities in order to ensure national ownership and leadership of the social protection reform agenda; (ii) Support MoLSA role to create an adaptive approach to reform through capturing the potential for scale of past and present social protection and link them with human capital (nutrition, health and education); and (iii) Strengthen MoLSA capacity on International Standards for Social Protection.

Project symbol

SOM/19/50/UND

Admin unit

CO-Addis Ababa

Start date

01/01/2020

End date

01/05/2022

Total allocation

575300

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

565620

Development Partners

Multi Partner Trust Fund Office, UNDP

Country/Countries

Somalia

Outcomes

Outcome 8: Comprehensive and sustainable social protection for all