Philippines : Support for Social Protection Reform (formerly MDG Acceleration and Poverty Reduction)

Project Name

Support for Social Protection Reform (formerly MDG Acceleration and Poverty Reduction)

Project Number

43263-012

Country / Economy

• Philippines

Project Status

Closed

Project Type / Modality of Assistance

• Technical Assistance

Source of Funding / Amount

TA 7733-PHI: Support for Social Protection Reform (formerly MDG Acceleration and Poverty Reduction)

Source	Amount
Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific	US$ 1.40 million

Strategic Agendas

• Inclusive economic growth

Drivers of Change

• Gender Equity and Mainstreaming
• Governance and capacity development
• Partnerships

Sector / Subsector

• Education / Pre-primary and primary

• Health / Health insurance and subsidized health programs - Health system development

• Public sector management / Social protection initiatives

Gender

Effective gender mainstreaming

Description

Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

To date, Government efforts to address poverty and improve human development outcomes have been compromised by low spending on social sectors, particularly social assistance programs. There is also a lack of policy and institutional coordination in the social protection sector, with several Departments undertaking uncoordinated programs that address various aspects of social protection. Benefits are further compromised by the lack of a proper targeting system to identify beneficiaries and high leakages to the non-poor coupled with under-coverage of the poor. The Government of the Philippines (GOP) has therefore requested ADB for policy advisory technical assistance (PATA) to support its ongoing social protection reform, including convergence in the social protection sector and rationalization of the overall social protection portfolio.

The PATA will be executed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and seeks to (i) provide support to GOP, through the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), DSWD and the National Social Welfare Program Cluster, to formulate and implement an action plan for rationalization and coordination of existing social protection programs; and (ii) support DSWD in establishing a "referral system" for the poorest population, linked to the newly established national household targeting system. The referral system would involve tracking 4Ps beneficiaries to facilitate their referral to existing project resources for the poorest; strengthen coordination among stand-alone programs; and facilitate graduation of households who have moved out of poverty.

The PATA is consistent with ADB's support for the Medium Term Philippines Development Plan (MTPDP) and the mutual objectives of higher levels of pro-poor sustainable growth and attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as outlined in the Country Operations Business Plan (COBP 2010-2012). The support has significant potential for further leveraging key improvements in the Philippines' social protection portfolio, including improved targeting of beneficiaries, reduced leakage, and improved rationalization and consolidation of existing programs.

Impact

The impact of the TA will be improved access to social protection and social services by the poor.

Project Outcome

Description of Outcome

The outcome of the TA will be an efficiently operating social protection system that is sustainable and adequately financed.

Progress Toward Outcome

The TA was completed on 31 January 2016. A TA completion report was prepared but is not yet available publicly awaiting financial closure of the TA.

Implementation Progress

Description of Project Outputs

The TA will have four outputs: (i) Development of national policy reforms for social protection; (ii) Formulation and implementation of an action plan for rationalization and coordination of social protection programs; (iii) Capacity development of national and local institutions to support the social protection reform agenda; and (iv) Establishment of a referral system and graduation policy for the poor population.

(i) Development of national policy reforms for social protection. This output will support a comprehensive review of the social protection sector and the policy framework for social protection, and provide recommendations for its improvement. The review will focus on assessing successful and unsuccessful current programs; and provide recommendations for consolidation and rationalization, improving budget allocation and efficiency of social protection spending, and gender mainstreaming.

(ii) Formulation and implementation of an action plan for rationalization and coordination of social protection programs. Based on the review under Output 1, an action plan for rationalization and coordination of social protection programs will be formulated and implemented. The action plan will provide concrete steps and milestones for key activities among identified actors at both national and local levels.

(iii) Capacity development of national and local institutions to support the social protection reform agenda. Capacity development will be provided to enable implementation of the milestones identified in Output 2. This will include targeted training programs, workshops, written materials, and coaching.

(iv) Establishment of a referral system and graduation policy for the poor population. This output will operationalize the rationalization agenda at the beneficiary level. The referral system would involve tracking 4Ps beneficiaries to facilitate their referral to existing project resources for the poorest; strengthen coordination among stand-alone programs; and facilitate graduation of households who have moved out of poverty.

Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues)

The TA engaged a social protection specialist/team leader who was responsible for overall coordination, complemented by resource persons and short-term individual consultants.

Outputs 1 and 2:

The TA has supported dialogue on the development of a framework and strategies whereby DSWD, in concert with other agencies and nongovernment actors can empower CCT households and promote sustainable transition out of poverty (i.e., 'transition-promotion ). Support to date has included a draft policy paper on transition-promotion, which fed into a TA-supported Brainstorming Workshop to Develop the Transition Framework and Strategies for CCT Beneficiaries on 3-4 October 2012, which included DSWD, AusAID, World Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and UNICEF. The TA also provided inputs to a DSWD-convened Conference on the Philippine Social Protection Agenda (12 April 2013). The TA (in cooperation with AusAID and PIDS) supported the policy brief 'After Five Years of Pantawid, What Next? Presented to DSWD management on 1 July 2013 and publicly launched at a forum hosted by PIDS on 31 July, the brief proposes (i) extension of CCT beyond the 5-year limit and age 14 cut-off, in part given that high school completion is likely to play a critical role in accessing future economic opportunities; and (ii) linking a broader array of policies and programs to promote CCT beneficiary households' transition out of poverty. The TA has further supported the refinement of DSWD's social welfare and development indicators tool, and a policy paper on defining the near-poor and a policy brief that will guide DSWD int he formulation of its strategic plan for 2015-2019. The TA also supported the formulation of a policy brief along DSWD's vision and mission and its link to the challenges of the "new normal". The working paper was presented in the National Management Development Conference in Jauary 2015 and the corpplan writeshop was held in March 2015. The TA also supported DSWD in the development of modules for the youth development sessions as well as FDS modules for IPs.

As a culminating activity of the TA, ADB supported an international conference organized by DSWD (Sustaining the Gains on CCT Implementation) held in ADB on 12-13 January 2016.

Output 3:

The TA supported series of activities to support DSWD''s engagement of CSOs as partners for Family Development Sessions (FDS) and the new "FDS Plus". Following successful completion of the initial pilot (involving 9 CSOs in 3 regions), DSWD is planning to replicate/upscale the model nationwide, and the TA will provide support for technical aspects and experience-sharing. The TA also supported 2 rounds of orientation for senior officials from DSWD''s ExeComm and ManComm in November 2012, aimed at demystifying rigorous impact evaluation methodologies for use in assessing CCT and other poverty-related programs. The TA has also supported capacity development for DSWD and partners in (i) the use of the newly updated social welfare and development indicators tool (iii) national communications planning for the expansion of Pantawid Pamilya (iii) implementation of the new FDS module for high school students and (iv) impact evaluation. A capacity building seminar on regression discontinuity design was also provided to DSWD.

Output 4:

Complementing support for macro-level policy reforms and action plans (outputs 1 and 2) and related capacity building (output 3), output 4 aims at operationalizing the social protection reform agenda at the grassroots level. This includes developing operational mechanisms for transition-promotion (encompassing referral and what was formerly termed 'graduation ) and development of guidelines for Municipal Transition Planning.

Geographical Location

Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects

Environmental Aspects

Involuntary Resettlement

Indigenous Peoples

Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation

During Project Design

TA design involved dialogue with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other agencies, international development partners, and members of academia, including during the process of designing a social protection-related loan and 2 other TAs (approved earlier in 2010). Development of this package of support included field visits and discussions in selected poor communities to assess needs and gaps in existing systems.

During Project Implementation

Dialogue with such stakeholders has continued during project implementation, particularly through public forums. Development and implementation of the pilot on CSO engagement as partners in FDS has involved substantial CSO engagement, both under this TA as well as TA 7586 (which assisted DSWD in exploring partnerships with CSOs under Pantawid Pamilya's Grievance Redress System). Ongoing work to develop a "transition-promotion" (municipal transition planning) framework and strategy has involved substantial stakeholder consultation and participation.

Business Opportunities

Consulting Services

A team of international specialists (1 expert inputting 20 person-months) and national experts (12 person-months total), supported by ADB, recruited using individual consultant selection in accordance with ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2010, as amended from time to time) supports DSWD in the development of a general framework and work plan for the TA and direct implementation of outputs 1, 2 and 4. The Social Protection Specialist, who acts as the team leader for the TA, has already been mobilized.

Contact

Responsible ADB Officer

Chakravarti, Shamit

Responsible ADB Department

Southeast Asia Department

Responsible ADB Division

Human and Social Development Division, SERD

Executing Agencies

Department of Social Welfare and Development

Timetable

Concept Clearance

09 Aug 2010

Fact Finding

13 Apr 2010 to 26 Apr 2010

MRM

-

Approval

13 Dec 2010

Last Review Mission

-

PDS Creation Date

17 Apr 2010

Last PDS Update

28 Mar 2018

Funding

TA 7733-PHI