Publication: Building on Experience : Improving Social Protection in Uruguay and the Plan for Social Equity
Loading...
Published
2008-07
ISSN
Date
2012-08-13
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The note highlights the need to establish an accurate monitoring and evolution (M&E) system for the Plan de Equidad (PE) that combines monitoring and evaluation with social accountability and citizens' participation mechanisms. Fortunately, MIDES (Uruguay's Ministry of Social Development) is firmly moving in this direction. The efforts undertaken by the numerous institutions associated with the PE to link different data sets is a key step in consolidating the M&E system. The World Bank helped to organize a seminar on the M&E system aimed at making available to MIDES regional best-practice experiences. The note also encourages including and disseminating information on social services standards and quality assurance. This is a key step, together with the information generated from the participatory monitoring, for citizens to demand accountability in an organized and effective manner. The note encourages exploring the chances of installing Citizens Information Centers throughout the country to support these efforts, by making information about citizens rights available to the public and by channeling citizens' opinions to decision makers.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Reuben, William; Miodosky, Marisa; Watanabe, Eri. 2008. Building on Experience : Improving Social Protection in Uruguay and the Plan for Social Equity. en breve; No. 132. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10278 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Uruguay - Strengthening Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation of Social Policy : Nonlending Technical Assistance Project, Report on Phase 2(Washington, DC, 2008-09)The objectives of the Uruguay Nonlending Technical Assistance Project (UY NLTA) were to: (i) evaluate the impact of providing a safety net program's (PANES's) social emergency programs; (ii) inform a dialogue about the future role of social programs and of MIDES as a lead authority responsible for the coordination and oversight of social policy in Uruguay; and (iii) strengthen Ministry of Social Development's (MIDES's) capacity to assess, monitor, and evaluate social policy in Uruguay, with considerable weight given to participatory approaches to monitoring and evaluation. Expected outcomes of the project included: (a) increased efficiency in the implementation of Uruguay's social programs through the consolidation of existing and dispersed databases and the strengthening of MIDES's Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system; (b) increased transparency and strengthened accountability in selected departments through the piloting of a participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) approach; (c) stronger engagement of civil society in public sector reform in Uruguay; and (d) informed decisions about the future of social programs under the Plan Nacional de Equidad, and the role of MIDES, on the basis of the evaluations of PANES. The rest of this report is organized as follows: section two presents the PSIA's main contribution by laying out the main results described in the technical note. Section three presents the Technical Assistance (TA) contribution and is divided into three subsections. Subsection one looks at the contributions to strengthen the capacity within MIDES to conduct impact analyses; subsection two analyzes activities in the TA aimed at making the M&E system operational; and subsection three describes the International Workshop on M&E. Section four describes the risks and main problems faced during the implementation of phase two and includes lessons learned, pending agenda, and next steps.Publication Uruguay : Strengthening Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation of Social Policy(Washington, DC, 2007-06-22)The Uruguay Non-lending Technical Assistance (UY NLTA) for Uruguay was undertaken at the request of the Government of Uruguay's Ministry of Social Development (MIDES). Following a devastating financial and macroeconomic crisis in 2002, MIDES was established with a view to coordinating social programs and providing a safety net program for Uruguayans affected by the crisis: the National Assistance Plan of Social Emergency (PANES), which was established in 2005. The objectives of the UY NLTA are to: (i) evaluate the impact of PANES social emergency programs; (ii) inform a dialogue about the future role of social emergency programs and of MIDES as the lead authority responsible for the coordination and oversight of social policy in Uruguay, and (iii) strengthen MIDES capacity to assess, monitor and evaluate social policy in Uruguay, with considerable weight on participatory approaches to monitoring and evaluation.Publication Results Readiness in Social Protection and Labor Operations(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-02)The main focus of the social protection and labor portfolio is on strengthening client's institutional capacity in the design and implementation of programs, but projects are not well equipped to track progress in this area. Correspondingly, there is a need to strengthen approaches to measuring and monitoring a 'missing middle' of service delivery, precisely those areas for which counterpart institutions are responsible during the course of a project. In particular, better measures of the primary functions of social protection and labor agencies are needed, such as identifying and enrolling beneficiaries, targeting, payment systems, fraud and error control, performance monitoring of service delivery providers, responsiveness to citizens, transparency, efficiency, management information systems and monitoring and evaluation systems. New World Bank initiatives particularly standard core indicators by sector and the introduction of results based investment lending call for substantial improvements in the use of monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Impact evaluations are included in about half of projects and should continue to be used selectively and strategically, particularly when the program is innovative, replicable and/ or scalable to reach a broader set of beneficiaries, addresses a knowledge gap and is likely to have a substantial policy impact. Structuring evaluations around core themes with common outcome measures is fundamental to building a global knowledge base on development effectiveness.Publication Addressing Access and Behavioral Constraints through Social Intermediation Services : A Review of Chile Solidario and Red Unidos(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-12)Social programs are often designed under the assumption that individuals make rational decisions that improve their welfare. Yet, informational and behavioral constraints limit the extreme and chronic poor's access and participation in social programs. This paper reviews the implementation and performance of two "social intermediation services" that were designed to address these constraints, improve beneficiaries' access to social programs, and help the poor surmount poverty: Chile Solidario, the first such service in Latin America, and Red Unidos, implemented later in Colombia. The analysis provides insights on key factors influencing performance, cost effectiveness, and the impacts that such services can be expected to have.Publication Improving Gender and Development Outcomes through Agency : Policy Lessons from Three Peruvian Experiences(Lima: World Bank, 2013-07)Peruvian public policy is currently focused on economic growth with social inclusion. The Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (MIDIS)-created in October 2011-leads the sector and promotes evidence-based public policy using three strategic guidelines: 1) matching criteria and mechanisms for the selection of areas and target population, 2) generation of instruments for inter-sectorial and inter-governmental result-based coordination, and 3) activation of monitoring and evaluation procedures to measure interventions' progress and results. This study is about the incredible and frequently underestimated role of agency-the ability to make choices to achieve desired outcomes-in economic development. The authors share the view that agency has inherent value for development: it is an attribute and manifestation of development, or using Sen's words, it is constituent to development. This study however, focuses on the instrumental role of agency for more tangible manifestations of development, such as, poverty reduction and economic growth. It attempts to show that expanding individual agency is a powerful catalyst for improving welfare, as measured by these concrete and widely used metrics of policy success. Moreover, it argues that in many cases, improving development outcomes through agency is highly cost-effective. This study centers on several policy initiatives in Peru, which as will be subsequently shown, have improved the agency of their beneficiaries. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it aims at bridging this information gap, providing a review of evidence that shows how the psychological components of agency, such as aspirations and self-esteem, can effectively contribute to more traditional development objectives-ranging from higher investments in human capital to increased income. Second, the study reviews and synthesizes research on several policy interventions in Peru, which have empowered their beneficiaries. In this way, the study aims to derive practical recommendations on how to incorporate psychological elements of agency into policy interventions in order to achieve better development outcomes. The study is structured as follows: the next section discusses the concept of agency, providing examples of its broad role in achieving development objectives. The following section reviews the quantitative and qualitative research that served as the basis for this study and elaborates on the methodologies used to derive the conclusions presented in the ensuing section. The last section synthesizes the conclusions of the review of different interventions in Peru into six practical 'policy lessons'.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.Publication Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03)Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.