July 2008 · Number 132 46980 A regular series of notes highlighting recent lessons emerging from the operational and analytical program of the World Bank`s Latin America and Caribbean Region. Building on Experience: Improving Social Protection in Uruguay and the Plan for Social Equity William Reubena, Marisa Miodoskyb and Eri Watanabec Uruguay's National Plan to Address the Social Emer- tably Rutas de Salida and Trabajo por Uruguay (TxU), gency (Plan de Atención Nacional a la Emergencia a socioeconomic profile of PANES beneficiaries, and Social [PANES]) came to a close at the end of 2007. a quantitative analysis of income transfer programs in Building on PANES, the Government of Uruguay has Uruguay. The note was the result of a collective effort developed a Plan for Social Equity (Plan de Equidad by the Bank and MIDES' National Office for Monitor- [PE]), which introduces a number of reforms in the ing and Evaluation (Dirección Nacional de Evaluación structures and instruments of social protection and im- y Monitoreo [DINEM]). proves the delivery and monitoring of social services. The new plan also includes medium- and long-term The note was focused on measures in areas such as tax reforms, health, edu- providing analytical ele- cational, and employment policy, as well as short- ments for the implementa- term measures aimed at forming an assistance and tion of the PE. This new social promotion network for the population that plan is composed of a lives below the poverty line. series of projects aimed Based on the findings of the at protecting Uruguay- poverty and social impact evalu- ans from different risks ation and on lessons learned from throughout their life cycle. PANES, the World Bank assisted One of its main compo- MIDES (Uruguay's Ministry of nents is designed to operate Social Development) by provid- as a reformed family allow- ing recommendations to better ance scheme. As suggested implement the PE. by the PANES evaluation, the transfer amount will be Technical Note: from PANES to Plan higher and it will increase for Social Equity with children's educational On May 19, 2008 a technical note1 based on the level. The transfer will be findings of several PANES qualitative and quantita- even higher for those fami- tive evaluations was officially presented to key MIDES lies with children attending secondary school. authorities. The evaluations used in the note included an analysis of the first and second round of PANES 1. Ingreso Ciudadano: the role and impact of income transfers surveys, a qualitative assessment of other programs, no- The first part of the note focuses on the poverty impact of Ingreso Ciudadano (IC). IC was the main component 1 Del PANES al Plan de Equidad, Nota Técnica, May 2008. Available from of PANES. It consisted of an income transfer program http://www.bancomundial.org/uy, in the section "Publicaciones e informes" The work described in this note was supported by the UK Government's Department of International Development (DFID) through the Markets and Governance for Poverty Reduction Fund (MGPR) Trust Fund. The views expressed in this document are not nec- essarily those of the UK Department for International Development' that provided supplementary income to extremely poor problem and the high administrative costs of IC will households. If the program had not been implemented, be avoided. The note draws attention to keeping and the extreme poverty rate would likely have increased improving the linkage between the family allowance by 50% in 2006, from 2.87% to 4.27%. In addition, the transfer and other social programs and services, which poverty rate would have been slightly higher: 27.8% was done well by IC and other PANES programs. compared to the actual 27.4% in 2006. Inequality would also have increased, while the annual transfer costs would have decreased by 0.31% of GDP. Figure 2 Coverage "Ingreso Ciudadano" A study carried out by the World Bank (Roffman 100 Applied 90 85.9 14.1 2007)2 concludes that IC has been one of the most suc- 80 Received 70 30.2 cessful income transfer programs in terms of targeting 55.7 % 60 53.7 effectiveness, if compared with the experience in other 50 40 countries. More than 75% of IC beneficiary households 30 20 18.1 belong to the poorest quintile of the population (see 10 5.8 0.7 0 Figure 1). The IC was also more efficient than other Extreme Poor Moderately Poor Non Poor income transfer programs in UY. Source: Rofman et al (2007), World Bank, based on Household Survey Data Figure 1 2. Improving reintegration into the labor market and self esteem Targetting under the Ingreso Ciudadano (IC) Program by Quintile The second part of the note focuses on the qualitative 80 75.4 Percentage impact evaluation of the Trabajo por Uruguay Program 70 (TxU). TxU was one of the most visible components of 60 50 PANES. It provided remuneration (twice the IC allow- 40 ance) for a limited period of time to participants who 30 19.5 agreed to work in social/community activities and to 20 10 4.3 acquire new skills to assist in their reintegration into 0.7 0.1 0 the labor market. TxU was administered by NGOs. I II III IV V Source: Rofman et al (2007), World Bank, based on Household Survey Data The evaluation of TxU faced a series of limitations. Nevertheless, IC coverage has been limited, only cov- First, the program had a series of objectives that were ering slightly more than 50% of the extreme poor (see difficult to evaluate. Second, training modules lacked Figure 2). In addition, because 14% of the extreme clear operational objectives. Third, the objectives of poor population did not apply to the program, there TxU did not differentiate between the temporarily poor may have been outreach limitations. Finally, about (e.g., those linked to an economic downturn or crisis) 30% of the extreme poor who did apply were not ac- and the structurally poor. cepted. DINEM evaluations conclude that a large share of those who did not receive PANES benefits were Nevertheless, the evaluation showed an important de- not aware of the program's existence. Because the PE sign limitation whose use was biased toward women. is expected to progressively scale up its coverage, the As mentioned above, TxU required beneficiaries to technical note suggests thinking of an opportune dis- participate in a series of workshops and to work in semination scheme through community radio and other community tasks. These activities implied a significant local media so that the information can reach the ex- amount of time that could not be allocated to occasion- treme poor population not covered by PANES. al work or "changas". This opportunity cost was typi- cally too high for men, who preferred to opt out of the Poor households receiving IC were also recipients of program. About 72% of the participants were women. other contributory and non-contributory transfers. The PE will eliminate IC because the family allowance TxU challenged common stereotypes regarding male- system will be enlarged. In this way, the overlapping oriented jobs. Many labor tasks that were supposed to be conducted by men (i.e., infrastructure related activi- 2 Rofman et al., 2007 Income Transfer Policies in Uruguay: Closing the ties) were undertaken by women. These women not Gaps to Increase Welfare, World Bank 2 · July 2008 · Number 132 only performed very well in the assigned activities, but higher potential for future returns. The note suggests also enjoyed the tasks. This suggests the importance of that the PE should include training programs in both considering the participants' profile, occupational segre- transferable and non-transferable skills. gation by gender, and the self-selection criteria used in the design of new labor-oriented projects. Undoubtedly the most important challenge for a labor training program is its linkage with the private sector and TxU had an impact on the average income of its beneficia- labor demand. To address this challenge (which affects ries. About 77% of households increased their income, but programs all over the world), the note provides examples this increase was lower than the amount transferred. The from Mexico (Programa CIMO). Part of this experience additional amount was used primarily for current expendi- has been incorporated in the PE design. A subsidy (60% tures, as well as for investments (repair of household items of men's salaries and 80% of women's salaries with a and cancellation of debts). limit of one and a half minimum salaries) will be given to specific private firms to hire employees. The note The program had less success in increasing labor-related highlights the potential negative incentive to replace capacities or specific skills. According to the participants workers and suggests the need to empirically assess the interviewed, the activities they carried out did not represent appropriate level of this subsidy. a knowledge gain but routinely consisted of tasks that were not socially valued. Nevertheless, the program was success- The qualitative evaluation of TxU concludes that the pro- ful in developing some important behavioral skills, notably gram has had a positive impact on the protagonists'/benefi- team work. ciaries' horizontal social capital. The protagonists had more medical check-ups and gained increased knowledge of their The technical note provides some clues to discuss how rights, particularly those related to domestic violence. The the PE could overcome the difficulties associated with knowledge and empowerment to engage with other institu- these results. One important issue deals with the charac- tions or organizations (vertical social capital) were minimal, teristics of the NGOs providing the training. The tech- and these remain a challenge for the PE. nical note makes three key suggestions to improve the program's results: i) select NGOs by their training skills The program's productive component was not effective. and employment promotion experience; ii) give the The component provided information about how to es- participants the possibility of choosing the providers in tablish and manage a micro-enterprise. However, it was order to ensure quality services and alignment between limited in providing specific services or linkages to ac- training needs and delivery; and iii) make available cess capital or credit. The protagonists of this component quality control mechanisms; for example, allowing par- did not perceive any income gain in their households. ticipants to evaluate supplies through score cards. PANES is one of the few programs in the world that has Based on the evaluation results, the Plan de Equidad incorporated the concept of "exit strategies" ("rutas de addresses the development of participants' capacities salida") in its design. "Construyendo Rutas de Salida" and job skills under the framework of the design of was a PANES component aimed at providing personal specific labor-related programs: the Uruguay Works development and citizen integration opportunities as Program (Programa Uruguay Trabaja), a public em- means to overcome poverty. The qualitative evaluation ployment program with a training component, and the points out important improvements in the self-esteem of Private Sector Hiring Incentives Program (Programa the protagonists/beneficiaries and in their self-perception. Incentivo a la Contratación en el sector Privado). The These changes resulted in positive behaviors that broke note further suggests: (i) designing specific training pro- the protagonists'/beneficiaries' status of isolation and grams targeted to the extreme poor; and (ii) developing self-exclusion, which in several cases perpetuate poverty detailed mechanisms to link these programs and those for generations. implemented by other agencies within the Ministry of Labor (DINAE and JUNAE). 3) Strengthening quality and results based on M&E and Citizen Participation Another issue discussed in the note refers to the type of Based on the successful experience of PANES, the PE skills/training that should be promoted. The majority of has incorporated a series of participatory venues aimed at TxU participants were trained in non-transferable skills, building "exit strategies" for adolescents. These venues while transferable skills such as languages may hold will be managed by the Instituto Nacional de la Juventud July 2008 · Number 132 · 3 with the participation of local governments and Civil mechanisms. Fortunately, MIDES is firmly moving in Society Organizations (CSO). Although increasing the this direction. The efforts undertaken by the numerous focus on youth and providing opportunities to involve institutions associated with the PE to link different data the young population and address their needs is a posi- sets is a key step in consolidating the M&E system. This tive development, it carries the risk of dispersing and effort should have solid governmental and international overlapping efforts and making M&E more difficult. cooperation support. The World Bank helped to organize The note suggests defining these actions as pilots, guid- a seminar on the M&E system aimed at making available ed by clear and evaluable objectives before defining to MIDES regional best-practice experiences (Box 2). more consistent actions once the rigorous evaluation of The note also encourages including and disseminating the pilot has been carried out. This suggestion is based information on social services standards and quality on the participation of youth in the partici- patory M&E pilot conducted by MIDES Box 2 - Building on International Best Practice with the support of the World Bank. A workshop was held to ensure the incorporation of international best practice in the PE. Finally, the note highlights the need The first day of the workshop focused on monitoring systems aimed at the supervision and to establish an accurate M&E system accountability of social policy implementation. The monitoring systems of Chile, Colombia, for the PE (see Box 1) that combines and Mexico were presented. A total of 50 participants, composed of technical staff from the monitoring and evaluation with social Dirección Nacional de Evaluación y Monitoreo (DINEM), the Dirección Nacional de Politicas accountability and citizens' participation Sociales, and the Dirección Nacional Desarrollo Ciudadano, attended the workshop. On the second day, experiences and lessons learned from Box 1 - The Role of a Monitoring and Evaluation system with the participation of CIVIL the evaluation of PANES in Uruguay were presented, society and the users followed by a discussion on international best prac- tices (the workshop was held at the Universidad ORT, The economic effort involved in implementing the network of assistance and social promotion to facilitate the use of a GDLN multi-country video- under the PES is significant. It is essential that this effort have a proper monitoring and evalu- conference). The main objective of the second day ation (M&E) system which includes accountability mechanisms and the active participation of was to inform about MIDES' strategy with the aim of program recipients and other citizens. M&E for results requires defining a system of indicators establishing an ongoing impact evaluation system for that links intermediate results with expected impacts, and the generation of timely and reliable social policies. It provided the opportunity for experts data. These data will have to flow regularly to a central monitoring system from databases from other Latin American countries, MIDES and Bank maintained by different executing entities and sources of national statistical information. This staff to learn from each other and help MIDES to refine commonly requires agreements between the participating entities and mechanisms or inter- the design of its Monitoring and Evaluation system. faces that standardized information to facilitate interchange. This is always a big challenge. Another major challenge is how to link the monitoring system and assessment with a system of accountability that operates simultaneously in two directions: (i) flows of information that are transparent, timely, accurate and relevant to allow citizens to monitor the validity and ef- assurance. This is a key step, together fectiveness of social spending, and (ii) mechanisms that capture and integrate, within the with the information generated from the monitoring system, the voice of the citizens, notably the beneficiaries of social programs. The participatory monitoring, for citizens to joint effort undertaken by different entities linked with the implementation of PES to articulate demand accountability in an organized and existing databases is an essential step. This effort requires the strong support of government effective manner. The note encourages and international cooperation. exploring the chances of installing Citizens Information Centers throughout the In the case of social policy, where, from the standpoint of equity, quality of service delivery is country to support these efforts, by making as important as its coverage, it is essential to have clear standards of quality linked to expect- information about citizens rights available ed results. The wide dissemination of standards or basic guarantees of the quality of social to the public and by channeling citizens' programmes needs to be accompanied by structured channels to allow feedback. Information opinions to decision makers. centres located in different parts of the Country can play an important role. About the Authors a. Senior Social Scientist, Sustainable Development Department (LCSSO), Latin America and Caribbean Region, World Bank b+c. Consultant, Sustainable Development Department (LCSSO), Latin America and Caribbean Region, World Bank "en breve" is produced by the Knowledge and Learning Team of the Operations Services Department of the Latin America and the Caribbean Region of the World Bank - http://www.worldbank.org/lac · July 2008 · Number 132