Developing Management Information Systems for Social Protection

Transcription

1 In cooperation with: Ministry of Social Development Of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan Technical Workshop: Developing Management Information Systems for Social Protection Workshop Proceedings Bishkek, 6 November

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3 Published by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Registered offices Bonn and Eschborn, Germany Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 40 Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg Bonn, Germany Eschborn, Germany T T F F Regional Programme Health in Central Asia Coordination Office Bishkek Bokonbaeva str.220 T F health.centralasia@giz.de In cooperation with Ministry of Social Development of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan Writer Barbara Rohregger Consultant barbararohregger@yahoo.com Cormac Ebken Planning Officer, GIZ cormac.ebken@giz.de Design and layout Barbara Rohegger, Cormac Ebken Photographs GIZ As at: Venice, 4 February 2013 Barbara Rohregger and Cormac Ebken are responsible for the content of this publication. On behalf of Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) 3

4 Content EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... 5 BACKGROUND WELCOMING AND INTRODUCTION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION I: THEIR ROLE FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION DISCUSSION KYRGYZSTAN: THE SOCIAL PASSPORT FOR POOR FAMILIES MONITORING THE POOR DISCUSSION IDENTIFICATION OF THE POOR: THE SINGLE REGISTRY IN BRAZIL DISCUSSION CAMBODIA: IDENTIFICATION OF THE POOR: CREATING AN INTEGRATED MIS WITH SCARCE RESOURCES DISCUSSION TAJIKISTAN: INFORMATION SYSTEM OF TARGETED SOCIAL ASSISTANCE IN TAJIKISTAN DISCUSSION INTEGRATING MIS THE EXAMPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA: SASSA MIS SOLUTIONS DISCUSSION THE POTENTIAL OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR MIS FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION: DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS AND WAY FORWARD INTERACTIVE SESSIONS WITH THE EXPERTS Group Group Group Group KEY LEARNINGS OF THE DAY CLOSING ANNEX 1 WORKSHOP PROGRAMME ANNEX 2 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

5 Executive Summary In the context of the second regional policy dialogue on social protection hosted by the Ministry of Social Development of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the German International Cooperation (GIZ), a one-day technical workshop on Developing Management Information Systems for Social Protection took place. The learning event which targeted civil servants and senior policy officers from within the region and other social service providers involved in the management and administration of social protection programmes, focused on an intense exchange of different experiences in implementing and delivering social transfer programmes around the globe, including Brazil, South Africa and Cambodia. Richard Chirchir introduced the topic to the audience giving an overview of the role of management information systems (MIS) for social protection. MIS are the backbone of social protection programmes, providing a broad range of functions, including among others the identification of applicants and beneficiaries, managing grievance processes and the notification of delivery processes. Three types of programmes can be distinguished: 1) MIS s which run individual social protection programmes operations, 2) Integrated Social Protection Scheme: MIS s, which consolidate operations of a number of social benefits e.g. retirement pension, widows pension, disability grant, child grant and, 3) Unified Single Registry MIS s which provide a common registration and targeting tool developed for one programme and used as basis for targeting by other programmes. The choice depends on various factors, including programme requirements, but also financial and political considerations. A crucial issue in developing MIS is the amount of information that needs to be collected. Here essential information needs to be distinguished from monitoring information. Mrs. Jamilya Ismailova and Mr. Kabul Jusupov presented the MIS for social programmes in Kyrgyzstan, the social passport for Poor Families (SPPF). It represents an inquiry tool about the structure of a family, its socio-economic conditions and access to social services, on the basis of which measures of social support are developed. SPPF is currently filled in by families. Its main objectives are 1) targeting and 2) monitoring and policy planning. A major problem of the social passport is that processing and analysis of SPPF data are performed manually creating major information distortions, which in turn influences the targeting process, creating large exclusion and inclusion errors. Currently, a corporate information system of social support (CISSS) is being developed which shall help to increase the automation of processes. The architecture of the system is highly centralized in order to allow for national data storage, 5

6 management and administration, as well as control and monitoring by the Ministry of Social Development and its departments. Fernando Gaiger provided an overview of the the single registry (known as Cadastro Único) in Brazil which is considered a well-functioning model for efficient and effective MIS for social programmes. It has been created with the purpose to provide a single registry for all social protection programmes existing for poor families, including amongst others the cash transfer programme Bolsa Familia, Literate Brazil, a child labor eradication programme, a housing scheme, subsidized tariffs for electric energies, a non-contributory pension scheme and a series of other programs on municipal and state level. By 2010, the number of families registered was more than 20 million or 64 Million people, representing a coverage rate of 85.3% of low income families in Brazil. The scheme is highly formalized being based on a strong legislation that clearly defines poverty indicators and the management of the scheme, including processes, tools and operations. A key for the success and the quality assurance of the single registry is the financial incentives provided to municipalities for updating the data base and ensuring good quality. Sa Chivan provided evidence from the IDPoor scheme in Cambodia that has been developed with the aim to develop a standardized tool and procedures to identify poor households throughout the country. The use of a common data base for vulnerable population groups shall facilitate the access to social services for poor people provided by different stakeholders, including government, donors and NGOs. The extension of IDPoor makes the data management and data storing a growing challenge. Currently data is provided off-line which makes the maintenance of the MIS very costly, in particular data storage. Putting the data online will substantially reduce costs and will make access to information easier. It will also reduce administrative costs of the scheme, as data could already be collected in an online modus. The process has been initiated. However, a key challenge is how to control the access to data and protect the data. Furthermore, putting data online does not mean that everybody has access to it. This concerns in particular the local and regional level. Valiev Davron emphasized in his presentation on the MIS of the Targeted Assistance Programme in Tajikistan the importance for developing different poverty indicators for urban and rural areas in order to avoid major inclusion and exclusion errors. The MIS provides systematic storage and access to personal data of beneficiaries, does the calculation of scores for applicants and for awarding payments. In addition it schedules payments and period of repeated applications and supports the accountability on payments. The management of the scheme is highly centralized with the State Agency as the chief administrator of funds and major decision taker, while 6

7 awareness raising and data entry is done at local level with the methodological support from the regional level. The MIS is currently piloted in two districts but will be shortly expanded to ten districts. Virginia Petersen and Clifford Appel gave an example of an integrated MIS (SASSA) covering around 9.5 Mio people and being responsible for six different types of grants. The scheme was developed in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the management and administration of the different schemes, reduce administrative costs, enhance financial accountability and fraud prevention, as well as ensure better monitoring and evaluation of the schemes. Core of SASSA operations is SOCPEN, a MIS developed for the administration, application and delivery of social grants. It has interfaces with a series of other MIS in order to cross-check information and prevents fraud including unemployment insurance, home affairs and others. Using data of other departments is a big challenge because departments are usually reluctant to do so. However, often it is a question of creating win-win-situations. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of SASSA further a digital beneficiary services platform is planned which will include both services for beneficiaries as well as support services. Richard Chirchir argued in this presentation to be cautious in the use of new technologies for MIS. There is a misconception of ICT being the silver bullet that will organize and deliver all solutions to social protection programmes. However, ICT is only a tool that ensures that the broader social protection system is working efficiently and effectively. These broader social protection system requirements and specifications should actually be the focus of any ICT solution. They clearly differ from one system to another, from one country to another. Different systems require different MIS architecture and technological solutions. Using the newest technology is not always the best and cost-effective solution. Modern technology needs to adapt to the local context in order to produce an added-value. 7

8 Background Reliable information management is of crucial importance for successfully implementing social protection programmes. All core processes of social protection programmes, starting from registration, targeting, enrolment and payment or delivery of cash transfers, require information that needs to be captured, stored, analysed and made accessible: apart from the identification of applicants and beneficiaries through registration and targeting, MIS have an important role for programme administration, rights and grievance management and monitoring and evaluation purposes. The information captured for one programme may provide the basis for the selection of beneficiaries for other social programmes. Last but not least, MIS provide an important evidence base for policy making processes. Their crucial role has also been recognized as a key area of reform in social protection in Central Asia, in particular in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Together with measures for improved targeting, the development of new poverty indicators and efforts towards a consolidation of individual programmes in order to increase poverty impacts, existing management information systems are re-organised. Questions as to whether creating a single national registry or rather, integrating different MIS into one, what and how much data to capture, as well as what role technology may play in all this, are at the core of these reform efforts. This workshop on management information systems for social protection builds on and ties in with the technical support activities of international donors and development partners, including the European Commission, World Bank and German International Cooperation (GIZ) to the reform of the social assistance and social services systems in the Central Asian region. The specific focus of this workshop lies on current reform challenges. Being built around an intense exchange of different experiences in implementing and delivering social transfer programmes around the globe, the workshop contributes to the on-going social protection reform processes in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Aim and Expected Outcomes This workshop is part of the activities of the Regional Programme Health in Central Asia by the German International Cooperation (GIZ). The programme aims at improving the access to gender sensitive, human-rights based and integrated services in the areas of sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), HIV and drug demand reduction (DDR). Apart from supply- 8

9 side measures aiming at improving the quality of services in the area of SRHR, the programme works on 2) health promotion measures among young people and 3) improving the conditions for accessing SRHR services through basic social protection measures. Promoting a systemic approach to policy making that tries to better coordinate and align different sector policies in order to improve sexual and reproductive health, is a major goal of the programme. This also includes measures towards strengthening the dialogue between different sectors and countries in order to exchange experiences and strengthen mutual learning. Following up on the First Regional Conference for Social Protection in 2009 held in Bishkek, during which implementation of social protection programmes has been identified as a key area for learning, this event for policy makers aims at discussing different experiences from countries around the globe, in particular a) the role of Management Information Systems for delivering social protection, b) challenges in the design and development of MIS, c) the role of technology in managing information systems and d) the wider use of MIS (M&E, decision making, integration of additional programmes, links to the taxing system, etc.). It is expected that the outcome will support and strengthen a Better understanding of MIS for the delivery of social protection to be able to make informed policy choices in regard the design, implementation and reform of social transfer programmes Identification of promising practices from across-countries to support the development of innovative solutions for current reform challenges in the region Identify priority areas for policy action and research and explore options for implementation Because the sharing of knowledge and exchange of experiences across countries and regions is key for creating a better understanding of policy processes in relation to social protection and making informed policy choices, the workshop will be primarily based on presentations of case studies. Experiences will be presented from countries within the region, as well as countries around the globe that are of particular interest for management information systems in Central Asian countries. These countries include Brazil, South Africa and Cambodia. The workshops targets in particular civil servants and senior policy officers from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan involved in the development, design and delivery of social cash transfer schemes and other social service providers involved in the management and administration of social 9

10 protection programmes. The direct exchange between policy makers and individual experts in order to increase the learning opportunities will be given particular attention. 1 Welcoming and Introduction Muqaddam Shohzodaeva, National Coordinator on Social Protection of the Regional Health Programme in Tajikistan and Rasul Momunaliev, Social Protection Coordinator of the Regional Health Programme in Kyrgyzstan welcomed the guests to this Technical Workshop and provided an overview of the programme. They emphasized the importance of cross-country learning with such a diverse and international audience and underlined the great interest on part of the representatives from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the topic of the workshop. They wished the participants a fruitful and interesting exchange and lively discussions. 2 Management Information Systems for Social Protection I: Their Role for Social Protection Speaker: Richard Chirchir, MIS expert, Development Pathways The development of MISs for social protection is a key aspect in all social protection programmes though insufficient attention is usually paid to them. They provide a range of core functions that underpin social protection programmes, including a) identification of applicants, using either a census 1 or on-demand method for targeting and registration b) identification of beneficiaries and level of payment they should be given 1 A census method means that the programme attempts to visit all households to undertake targeting; an on-demand method means that applicants are expected to visit specific registration points to apply for the programme. 10

11 c) managing and monitoring grievance processes d) identifying those who should be removed from a programme when no longer eligible or because they have died; e) production of lists of those beneficiaries who have been paid and those who have not; f) notification of managers about different processes e.g. payment or when beneficiaries are due to exit g) additional functions required by programme types, for example conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes that requires the MIS to monitor beneficiary compliance with conditions and for payments to be adjusted accordingly, public works programmes that require the MIS to be able to record and monitor the number of days that people have been employed and calculate payments or social insurance that needs to track related details h) MIS as a programme tracking tool that produces statistics about the programme (how many beneficiaries, how many where paid for how much, grievances, etc.?) However, MIS for social protection cannot do the following: a) Provide a source for impact evaluations: The data in the MIS provides only information on the functions of the programmes, but does not say anything about the poverty impact. b) It is not a policy decision making tool: MIS cannot be used as a policy decision making tool despite the fact that reports can be produced that analyse data and provide useful information to policy makers. c) MIS cannot make sense of garbage or inaccurate information: This is especially the case where control mechanisms are weak or not implemented i.e. Garbage in garbage out. d) Having a MIS does not mean that it automatically helps to improve processes if reengineering was not part of the agenda for developing the MIS. Three types of MIS programmes can be distinguished: Individual social protection programme MIS s: They operate to automate individual programme functions e.g. Registration, targeting, enrolment, payments, complaints and grievances. Integrated Social Protection Scheme MIS s: They consolidate operations of a number of social benefits e.g. Retirement pension, widows pension, disability grant, child grant. Example is South Africa s SOCPEN, Mauritius MIS, Seychelles ASP MIS (see presentation on SOPCEN and Cambodia) 11

12 Unified Single Registry MIS: This is a common registration and targeting tool which has been developed for one programme and is used as basis for targeting by other programmes e.g. Brazil s Cadastro Unico for Bolsa Familia which is used by ten programmes in multiple sectors such as energy, education, social protection and housing (see also presentation on Brazil) Which programme type is chosen depends on various factors (internal and external). Major determinants are clearly programme demands and requirements, the complexity of the programme to be implemented, i.e. pilot or scale up. Financial considerations are another important aspect. They can range from basic MIS programmes of around $50,000 to $250,000 for a complex integrated MIS. Finally, it also makes a difference what political role programmes play. Their political importance may also influence the size of a MIS, for example when programmes are started by Presidential decrees e.g. Bolsa Familia in Brazil or Opportunidades in Mexico. Figure 1: Drivers for Different Types of MIS Source: Chirchir, R Introduction to Management Information Systems for Social Protection and their Role. PPP Technical Workshop on MIS for Social Protection, Bishkek The choice is also much influenced by the context in which such a MIS is conceived, for example do already social protection programmes with their own MIS exist or can one MIS be expanded to be used by various programmes, etc. One key aspect of establishing a MIS is the amount of information that needs to be collected. A key determinant is the complexity of a programme. Complex programmes, such as those 12

13 undertaking poverty targeting or monitoring compliance with conditions will clearly require more information and more frequent transmission of that information. The size of a programme for which a MIS shall be developed is another important aspect. Is it a small pilot of e.g households that may need baseline monitoring information or is it a national scheme of 1 million? One important distinction that needs to be made refers also to the function the information will be used for. Is essential information needed for managing the scheme or is more information needed, for example for monitoring recipient households or so called monitoring information. Figure 2: Essential Information for MIS Source: Chirchir, R Introduction to Management Information Systems for Social Protection and their Role. PPP Technical Workshop on MIS for Social Protection, Bishkek A higher accuracy of data requires however, also robust quality checks along the data processing chain from enumeration, data capture, data storage and reporting. This also includes frequent updates in order to certify that information collected on beneficiaries and claims are still valid. 2.1 Discussion The role of grievance systems: a grievance system is important for social protection systems to function well. It needs to be established. But there needs to be demand for it. A good grievance system would be one that builds on demand. 13

14 Costs of establishing a M&E scheme or targeting mechanisms: This is a question that needs to be carefully considered and will generate different answers depending on the specific context one looks at. However, monitoring and evaluation are important instruments to see how programs develop and what outcomes they generate. They are important tools for continuously improving programs and measure outcomes. In regard to targeting, there are a lot of pros and cons. Usually it is argued that targeting is a useful instrument in order to increase the poverty impact of programs, as transfers or services only go to those who really need them. This is especially the case if the budget for social protection measures is small. The establishment of targeting mechanisms, as well as monitoring and evaluation schemes is very costly in the short term, especially in regard their set-up. However, over the long term costs are decreasing, one reason being that they may also be used by other social programs. 3 Kyrgyzstan: The Social Passport for Poor Families Monitoring the Poor Speakers: Jamilya Ismailova, Head of Social Assistance Methodology Unit in the Ministry of Social Development of Kyrgyzstan and Kabul Jusupov, IT expert. The reforms in social protection in Kyrgyzstan have also included the development of a MIS for social programmes, the social passport for Poor Families (SPPF). It represents an inquiry tool about the structure of a family, its socio-economic conditions and access to social services, on the basis of which measures of social support are developed. Nowadays, SPPF is filled in by families. The main objectives of the SPPF are: a) Targeting: Investigation of the prosperity and well-being level among families, which require social support on the part of governmental authorities and local authorities for the purpose of social support provision to poor families; b) Monitoring and Policy Planning Results used for decision making with regard to improvement of the social support system by 14

15 means of change of the acting legislation and provision of recommendations to relevant structures (ministries, departments, rayon state administrations, oblast state administrations, local authorities and other bodies); Management, tools and operations of the social passport are divided among the different government levels. The local level is responsible for identifying the poor families and inputting the data, maintenance of SPPF, development of reports, cooperation with rayon departments of social protection. The district level (rayon department of social protection) is responsible for the coordination and training of representatives of local authorities, the collection and generalization of reports, cooperation with the Ministry of Social Development and local authorities. The Ministry of Social Protection at central level has on the one hand an oversight function, being in charge of developing the draft regulatory legal acts as well as adopting them. It also implements the decisions of the superior bodies and coordinates the work and training of specialists of rayon departments of social protection. On the other hand, it has also an important managerial responsibility being in charge of the methodological maintenance of rayon departments of social protection and local authorities. The Ministry collects the reports from rayon departments of social protection, analyses them and based on these results develops proposals and recommendations. A major problem of the social passport is that it exists only on paper. The processing and analysis of SPPF data are performed manually, which creates the risk of information distortion and as a consequence, has influence on the targeting process, creating large exclusion and inclusion errors, as well as biasing policy decisions on the further development of social protection. Currently, a corporate information system of social support (CISSS) with the support of GIZ is being developed which shall help to increase the automation of processes of the Ministry of Social Protection with regard to provision of services and cash benefits to the population, strengthening planning and accounting of the budgetary funds utilization, as well as providing objective information to the Ministry of Social Development in order to increase acceptance of decisions in state social policy. In this way, it is hoped that the operational efficiency, accuracy and quality of the decision-making process will be improved. This also encompasses the transparency and efficiency of social policy implementation, in particular the provision of social support, state services and utilization of public funds. Such a system will also allow to for sharing information between the Ministry of Social Development and other governmental agencies for the purpose of improvement of the state administration. The architecture of the system is highly centralized in order to allow for national data storage, system management, administration of 15

16 activity of the Ministry of Social Development departments as well as centralized control and monitoring of activity of the Ministry of Social Development departments. 3.1 Discussion Identification and Targeting of unregistered Poor and Vulnerable: Kyrgyzstan has high rates of internal migration. 80% of built residential houses are not registered. This poses a huge problem to the delivery of cash transfers and other social services. Being registered in the place of residence is a key condition for receiving social support. In Kyrgyzstan, ideas exist to relax this rule in order to make it easier for people to gain access to services. However, this would require additional control mechanisms so that people do not apply for social services twice, in their original and in their actual place of residence. Currently this topic has not been tackled yet, but an automated centralized SPPF will allow local government units to verify in the central database whether people have already registered in other places. Identification of Property: A single registry or social passport also allows for better monitoring and for verifying the information that applicants give. Often people have land, but do not declare it in order to gain access to social support. In the future the social passport scheme shall also be linked to the single land registry. In this way information can be verified and shared by different mechanisms. Where information systems are developed, mechanisms of registration might be dropped altogether, as people can be automatically identified as being eligible to different social support programs. The sharing of knowledge does not only function from local to central level but implies a two-ways relationship: you can for example, see whether a person is already registered in a social programme at the local level. This will help to prevent fraud. Definition and classification of poor categories: Currently the main criteria for the identification and classification of the poor is the income level: a person is identified as poorest if the family income is lower than 580 Som (US$ 12), poorer if the family income is not higher than 1000 Som (US$ 20) and poor if the family income is lower than 2140 Som (US$ 44). Usually people do have to apply themselves. However, if social workers see that families who would be entitled do not apply for various reasons (no information, no reading and writing skills, stigmatization, etc.), they may become active and support them in their application process. 16

17 4 Identification of the Poor: The single registry in Brazil Speaker: Fernando Gaiger, Brazil, University of Austin, Texas 2 In the debate of MIS for social protection, the single registry of the conditional cash transfer programme Bolsa Familia (known as Cadastro Único) is considered a well-functioning model of an efficient and effective MIS for social programmes. It has been created in 2001 with the purpose of having a single data base for all social programmes that target poor population groups. The Cadastro Único is an instrument of identification and socio economic characterization of low income families. At the same time it is used for the selection of beneficiaries and integration of social programs of the Federal Government aimed at the attendance of this population groups at federal, state and municipal level. It provides a representative map of the poorest and vulnerable families of Brazil containing information on 1) the families and their home in general (family composition, address and characteristic of their home, access to public services, monthly expenses, enrollment in social programs) and 2) each member of the family (civil documentation, educational qualification, situation at the labor market, income and others). Since its start in 2001, the registry has been further developed in terms of its content and management functions. What is striking is the high degree of formalization of the scheme which is based on a strong legislation that clearly defines not only poverty indicators, but also the management of the scheme, including processes, tools and operations. A key for the success and the quality assurance of the single registry is the financial incentive provided to municipalities for updating the data base and ensuring good quality, the Decentralized Management Index. Based on its results municipalities receive monthly allowances to invest in activities related to the management of the Bolsa Familia, including Creation of indicators which reflect the various dimensions of poverty and vulnerability Identification and characterization of the socially more vulnerable segments of the population 2 Former coordinator of the Single Registry at the Ministry of Social Development of Brazil 17

18 Efforts towards a convergence for the priority attendance of families in situation of vulnerability Constitution of a network of social promotion and protection which corresponds to existing policies Planning tool for public policies aimed at low income families In 2002, 5,5 million families were registered in Brazilian municipalities. By 2010, the number was more than 20 million families or more than 64 Million people in all municipalities, representing a third of the Brazilian population. This provides a coverage rate of 85.3% of low income families. The average growth rate of the registry is households per month. The changes to improve the quality of the data entries had a very positive impact on the validity of the data. It improved significantly over the years with around 80% of the families having their data updated. Figure 3: Valid Data Entries Brazil Source: Gaiger, F The Single Registry for social Programs of eth Brazilian Federal Government, PPP at the Technical workshop on MIS for Social Protection, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan The single registry is used by a wide range of social programs including, Bolsa Familiar Program (PBF), Literate Brazil (for adults), Program to Eradicate Child Labor, Subsidized Tariff of Electric Energy, Cisterns Programs, Support to Teenager s Education, Brazilian Government Housing Project for Poor Population (named My home, my life ), non-contributory pension scheme and a series of other programs that exist on municipal and state level only. 18

19 The responsibility for managing the single registry is clearly divided among the different levels of government. The municipality is mainly responsible for (i) registration of the poor and extremely poor families as well as keeping information updated, and (ii) calculation and/or routing to higher instances the irregularities in the Single Registry. The states have mainly the responsibility to support the municipalities in managing the single registry through capacity building of the civil servants at municipal level, by improving the infrastructure and support the issuing of identification documents for the beneficiaries. The federal level finally, has an oversight function by coordinating, monitoring and supervising the implementation and execution of the single registry. The latter also provides the legal framework and uses the registry as a tool for planning. The single registry is operated by the Caixa Econômica Federal which is also the payment agent for the conditional cash transfer programme Bolsa Familia. The registration process of the families is done with a single form which contains standardized information. It is the same for all municipalities. Standardized rules exist as well for filling in the form in order to ensure quality of data. In addition, there are supplementary forms that are used to identify specific needs that complement the family registry according to the information required for policies directed to specific groups, such as street dwellers. These forms can be modified and new supplements can be added, according to the Ministry of Social Development orientations. The single registry system has undergone a series of evolutions and developments. Currently, application is done offline for entry and data maintenance of the single registry. There exists a local basis which consults only with the households/people in the local authorities. After this, the data are transmitted to the CAIXA through the social connectivity program, they are processed on a national basis and a National Social Security Number is allocated. Thereafter, the file is returned to the municipal level. 19

20 Figure 4: Registration Flow Cadastro Único Source: Gaiger, F The Single Registry for social Programs of eth Brazilian Federal Government, PPP for Technical workshop on MIS for Social Protection, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 4.1 Discussion Organisation and Management of the Single Registry: The coordinator of the Single Registry is the federal government with the Ministry of Social Affairs in the lead, as well as the Ministry of Finance that controls the money flows. The latter has a contract with the Federal Bank in Brazil (CAIXA) which delivers the cash to the beneficiaries. The system is based on rules which have been agreed by all municipalities and which have allowed unifying the scheme. This was not the case in the beginning, but over time, all the municipalities agreed on the process. Single Registry is not a single registry: Single registry is not the only registry for social programmes that exists in Brazil. It is however, the biggest registry that contains data of low income people. The information is used by other stakeholders for their purposes, for example the Ministry of Disease Control. The latter asked to include questions on the health status in the single registry which was accepted by the Ministry of Social Development. The Ministry of Mining and Energy also wanted to use the registry for an energy programme, but the Ministry of 20

21 Social Development did not agree, because the programme does not target low income people. There seems to be the danger that if a registry is used for too many purposes and target groups its content might suffer. Consequently for other target groups additional registries would need to be developed. Use of one Single Registry for Different Purposes: If data should be used for different purposes and by different ministries and other stakeholders, the registration form and the management information systems, i.e. the way information is stored and presented, cannot only be developed by one ministry but would need to involve a cross-sector participation of various stakeholders in order to create a multi-purpose registry. However, in the end, one ministry needs to be in charge for managing and monitoring the scheme. Incentives for Municipalities to participate and maintain single registry: for each registration the municipality receives 1.5 US$ as an incentive for 1) quality of data, 2) updating activities, 3) monitoring of child and 4) maternal health. Differentiation between families, households and Individuals: the system does not target families, but only individuals and they are identified based on the poverty line. Clearly, they also need to provide information on the household they live in and the overall income sources of each household. In order to cross-check this information, other registries are used, for example the social security registry or the tax registry. Almost 20% of those receiving Bolsa Famila have family members working in the formal labour market. However, their income is so low that they are still entitled to receive benefits. 5 Cambodia: Identification of the Poor: Creating an Integrated MIS with scarce resources Speaker: Sa Chivan, Ministry of Planning Cambodia In 2005, the Ministry of Planning of Cambodia was asked to develop a standardized tool and procedures to identify poor households throughout the country to be used for household and geographical targeting. The intention was to develop a tool and collect data that would be used by a range of stakeholders, including government institutions, non-governmental organisations, and 21

22 sector programmes and projects, as well as Commune Councils, for targeting services and assistance to poor households. The tool is managed by the Ministry of Planning of Cambodia with technical support provided by GIZ. Since 2007 there have been 7 rounds of data collection in rural areas covering almost 5000 villages in the rural areas. For the urban areas, currently a separate tool is being developed in order to take account of the different living conditions and poverty criteria. In 2011 the government declared IDPoor the national instrument for pre-identification of poor households which gave the programme an important legal basis. The programme is used by a variety of poverty reduction programmes. While in the beginning data was entered at the sub-national level by the provincial departments of Planning, since 2009 the data entry is done by a professional company. The extension of the programme and the quantity of data required professional handling of the data, also in regard to quality control and as concerns time and cost effectiveness. Quality control is done by the private company together with the Ministry of Planning. The management of data has also undergone some changes: while in the beginning only the basic data on poor households have been entered, now also specific circumstances of households which are not scored are entered. The data entry process encompasses a national server which is centralised in Phnom Penh, as well as an operational server at the private company. A special data entry software and data viewer software which allows to view the data has been developed. A special user data base allows to inform users when updated data in IDPoor becomes available. 22

23 Figure 5: Data Entry Process IDPoor Source: Chivan, Sa The Identification of Poor Households (IDPoor) Data Management in Cambodia. PPP for Technical workshop on MIS for Social Protection, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Re-targeting currently is taking place every three years. In the context of the formalisation of IDPoor access to data has also been defined: service providers, researchers, ministries and policy decision makers have free access to the data, while interested organisations can apply for access with the Ministry who may authorize access. In this way, the Ministry is in the position to monitor and control the use of IDPoor data, for example sending them updated data according to their field of interest and promote the use of IDPoor with different organisations. What data or reports are available to users? 1. Summary statistics: They provide a summary of results of identification of poor households in a province, including overall number of poor people by poverty category, etc. 2. Profile reports: They provide key data on each poor household in a village, while a poor household list provides information about all the poor households in a village. 3. Poverty comparison reports: They allow to compare numbers of poor households as well as poverty levels (poverty 1 or poverty 2) in and across villages. 4. The database also provides the basis for equity cards the ID which allows households accessing a range of social programmes and services. They contain a series of basic 23

24 information, a photograph and a barcode which allows providers to cross-check information on users and their service use. Despite its success, many challenges remain: The Ministry has only limited resources available which makes it difficult to manage the data base. In addition, many providers do not use IDPoor data because they do not understand it and or cannot access data easily. Until now it is only available on DVDs which are sent only to those who have requested access. In order to improve access, the Ministry plans to take the data base online. An IDPoor Atlas which will be available both in English and Khmer will make the data more understandable to service providers and policy planners. With this measure, the government hopes that the use of IDPoor by service providers will be strengthened and be made more attractive. Monitoring continues to remain an issue. In order to ensure quality and accuracy of date, monitoring mechanisms will need to be improved. 5.1 Discussion Main Challenges to IDPOOR: Such community based targeting schemes work easily if you only implement it on a small scale (provincial level), because it is easy to maintain the system and data transfer is not that problematic. When it was started to implement it on a large scale, problems with facilities and maintenance were faced. Data transfer from village to national level and back takes a long time. Due to limited resources, there is not much money available to buy computers and there are not sufficient human resources and capacity to operate them. It was considered more efficient and effective to contract out the digitization and administration of data to a private company at national level. However problems of data transfer from village to national level continue to exist. Putting Data Base Online: The maintenance of MIS schemes is very costly, because it requires special software and a lot of space to store the whole information. Putting the data online and making it accessible via internet may substantially reduce costs and would make the information accessible to the whole country, including stakeholders who would want to use the information for the targeting of their own social programs. It might also reduce administrative costs of the scheme, for example social workers can collect the data in an online modus without having to spend money on photocopies or similar things. This process has been initiated. However, a key challenge is how to control the access to data and protect the data. Access needs to be limited to those who really need it. Currently data is distributed via CDs. This does not allow making 24

25 changes once the data base is finalized and updated. This is the main reason why the Ministry of Planning would like to change to an online system. Online Solutions and Access to Internet: Putting the data online is a very attractive and cheap solution which would in addition increase transparency and accuracy of the system. However, often it is not so much a question of which software to use best, but of access. Online schemes presuppose that everybody has access to internet throughout the country. Clearly, this is not a problem at the central level, but at the provincial or local level this might be an issue. 6 Tajikistan: Information System of Targeted Social Assistance in Tajikistan Speaker: Valiev Davron, National Coordinator to World Bank With the Support of Worldbank and European Commission, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Tajikistan has embarked on a major reform of its social assistance programmes programme. Amongst others, a new so called Targeted Social Assistance (TSA) has been developed which aims at supporting the most vulnerable groups of the population by supporting them in coping with life difficulties. The major objective of the new system is to avoid inclusion and exclusion errors and render the cash benefits to those who really need it. In order to identify the vulnerable population a set of parameters has been identified in order to check the means of living and specific needs. They differ between rural and urban areas. This targeting system is based on a proxy means test, which assigns specific scores for each poverty condition depending on its severity and degree. Through this methodology the targeting process is supposed to become more objective, as the provision of a standardized and transparent scoring scheme would reduce subjectivity when identifying beneficiaries. This function, amongst many others is provided by a MIS which is conceptualized as a multi-user system and provides also a multilingual user interface so that also international donors may use it. The registration of application is done online. The MIS provides a systematic storage and access to personal data of beneficiaries, does the calculation of scores for applicants and for 25

26 awarding payments. In addition it schedules payments and period of repeated applications and supports the accountability on payments. A function that inhibits duplication of data shall help to ensure the quality of data. Figure 6: Poverty Indicators TSA Tajikistan Source: Valiev, D Information System of Targeted Social Assistance in Tajikistan. PPP at the Technical Workshop of MIS for Social Protection, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan The responsibility for the management and operations of the scheme are distributed among the different levels of government. While the local or Jamoat level is responsible for raising public awareness, providing information and documents for applications as well as receiving and transferring them to the central agency, the district administration is receiving the documents for further consideration. It is also responsible for public awareness efforts as well as for the formation of a data base. The Oblast or regional level has the major responsibility for the methodological work and for securing the operation of the equipment and software. It is also involved in training and capacity development of the users. The State Agency finally is the chief administrator of funds and major decision taker. It prepares lists of beneficiaries and delivers them to the bank. It transfers the budget to the bank to pay assistance. Currently the TSA is under piloting in the city of Istaravshan of Sughd Province and Yovon District of Khatlon Province. 26

27 6.1 Discussion Information of MIS in English: The national registry also provides the information in English, because this is a pilot which also involves international donors who otherwise might not be able to read the information. In the future, only Russian and Kyrgyz are foreseen as official languages. Application of Foreigners to TSA: Those who have residence in Tajikistan no matter if they are citizens or not can apply. They have to be families permanently residing in the country. The applicants can apply two more times after having been rejected. Education Levels as a Poverty Identifier: The Tajik system does not include education as a priority poverty identifier. The reason is that it is not really relevant for the poverty situation, especially at the local level. One might have good education, but the conditions in the villages do not provide any working opportunities. Indeed, education is a critical criterion in order to assess poverty, but for the Tajik context, other criteria are more critical. Computerization of the MIS: The national registry is still not computerized, but the new national registry is supposed to be computerized and piloted in the near future. 7 Integrating MIS The example of South Africa: SASSA MIS Solutions Speakers: Virginia Petersen and Clifford Appel, South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA), Republic of South Africa Different social protection programmes in South Africa have different MISs, because they target different population groups and use different targeting criteria. At the same time, social protection programmes did not develop all at the same time, resulting in schemes becoming unmanageable with administration costs being high and efficiency low. Integrated schemes improve efficiency and effectiveness and are thus favourable to fragmented MIS. SASSA is one of the largest integrated social protection schemes in South Africa covering around 9.5 Mio people and being responsible for six different types of grants. The objectives that lead to 27

28 the development of an integrated scheme that takes care of a series of social protection programmes were a) an improved management and administration of social security, b) ensure an effective and cost efficient administration, c) build a customer focused institution, with special attention paid to contact points, d) ensure enhanced financial accountability through client management systems (back office function), e) better grant review and maintenance systems and f) enhancing fraud prevention strategies. Core of SASSA operations is SOCPEN, a MIS that has been developed for the administration, application and delivery of social grants. The system is very stable and able to support most grant operations. It has interfaces with a series of other MIS in order to cross-check information and prevent fraud: a) Department of Home Affairs (to determine the status of beneficiaries), b) Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), c) Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), PERSAL (Government s payroll system), PERSOL (Payroll system of the Defense force), National Treasury (to verify the banking details of beneficiaries), LURITS (The Department of Basic Education s learner database) and special investigations unit (to identify fraudulent grants). SOCPEN can however not track and locate physical files of the more than 20 Mio beneficiaries. For this purpose, a different MIS scheme exists. In addition, there are a few other MIS which supports SASSA operations, including financial and human resource management, call centres and geographic information tracking system. The fact that these components are not integrated results in inefficiencies, including duplication of data storing, etc. and makes reporting, monitoring and evaluation difficult. Furthermore, the linkages that exist with other MIS schemes are not real time, resulting in potential fraud. Moreover, the SASSA grants systems do not interface with the South African Revenue Services (SARS) Income Tax system. 28

29 Figure 7: Social Assistance Administration Process SASSA Source: Petersen, V. and Appel, C Integrating MIS The example of South Africa: SASSA MIS Solutions. PPP at the Technical Workshop of MIS for Social Protection, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan In order to improve its MIS and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its social grant programmes SASSA plans a digital beneficiary services platform that re-uses existing schemes by re-arranging them. The key feature of this platform is that it provides beneficiary functions or services (for example application, enrolment, payment functions, governance, risk) and compliance services (for example fraud detection), but also integrates back-office functions, such as support services (for example financial and resource management) or business intelligence services (for example monitoring, reporting, knowledge management). In addition, there will also be external services that provide the link to other useful stakeholders as mentioned above. The objectives of this new system are to Provide a new integrated and optimised IT platform Provide SASSA the ability to respond to economic, social, technological and legislative pressures quickly and effectively; Serve beneficiaries in a more client centric approach by having a single view of a beneficiary; Ensure an integrated audit trail for security and accountability purposes; and Provide relevant information to the right persons at the right time. 29

30 7.1 Discussion Entitlements to Social Services for Migrant Workers and other Foreigners/Refugees: The legislation provides support whether you are employed or not. This also applies to other people who are in the country and/or who have worked in the informal sector. The same holds for refugees. Engagement of other Ministries and their linkage with the SASSA data base: Using data of other departments, for example tax data to cross-check applicants information is a big challenge because departments are usually reluctant to do so. However, often it is a question of creating win-win-situations: the Department of Home Affairs for example, did not have data on children, which SASSA however, had. In this situation a bargain was negotiated in which both departments collected specific information for the other one. However, many departments would not allow to engage with the system. Being able to link with other data sets also means that the own data set can be substantially reduced as information is collected only once, at the same time, linking its data sets allowed SASSA in cleaning their own data and substantially reducing fraud. Collaboration between government departments is a worldwide problem. You need to sell it as a win-win situation that helps the WHOLE COUNTRY moving forward. When implementation is tried comprehensively, the country realises that there are also political gains. Interface with tax authority as a means to increase the tax basis and broaden the fiscal space for social protection: Yes, indeed. While the link with the data of the tax authority helped to clean the data, the SASSA data base could be very helpful for the tax authority to identify people who do not pay taxes, but are supposed to. Means testing and the informal sector economy: It is challenging to do a means testing with people who mostly work in the informal sector economy and do not have a regular income. Many people would not get a pay slip, for example the domestic workers. Employers are compelled to supply it but they most often do not comply. Other proofs are also accepted, for example the bank account. Looking at inconsistencies in the bank statements is one of the ways to check the income. However, no matter what interfaces you have available to cross-check the information people provide, they will always try to beat the system by not stating their true status. This is a challenge every social protection scheme is facing which is based on meanstesting. 30

31 8 The Potential of New Technologies for MIS for Social Protection: Speaker: Richard Chirchir, MIS expert, Development Pathways The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) provides an enormous potential for the design and the use of MIS in the delivery of social protection programmes. Registration of applications can be accomplished in real time or near real time avoiding the costs of data entry and potential errors. Registered applicants details can be transferred quickly through existing telecommunication systems. ICT enables a fast and accurate processing of complex programme processes, for example the computation of proxies and determination of eligibility, computation of beneficiary payrolls and production of notification of reports. Monitoring is very efficient especially for the grievance process given that notification and exception reports can be produced that provide information on deviations from the service standards e.g. unresolved grievances, unpaid beneficiaries. Finally, ICT also allows for fast storage of data, including easy access to historical data regarding programme beneficiaries and payrolls. However, ICT may also produce backlogs. Too much information may be stored and processed leading to an information overload. ICT may also encourage centralisation of MIS, especially there where there is a lack of capacity at district or province level. ICT may provide inaccurate analysis if glitches are not effectively addressed, including weak controls of information systems for data capture and software programming errors or logical errors on reports, processing functions etc. What are requirements for technology-based MIS then? In order to be able to assess the requirements for an ICT based MIS the following aspects need to be carefully looked at: Is the application functionality sufficient and cost effective? Are there any deficiencies in the information provided by them? What unsatisfied demand exists in the context of programme s operations (System)? What must be done to ensure that the ICT function effectively supports the social programme scheme operations? How should the business control ICT? Is ICT aligned with the programme goals (Strategy)? How well does the organization manage its human resources in relation to ICT (skills, attitude, responsiveness, process effectiveness)? Does the programme and organisation have skilled human resources to undertake enumeration, quality assurance and supervision, ICT personnel (People)? 31

32 Are resources organised, monitored and controlled in a way that delivers ICT services in the most efficient way? How is the value of ICT services measured and monitored? How is the value of ICT perceived? What are the costs of ICT infrastructure, services and application software? (Delivery)? Are technology trends identified? Is the ICT architecture effective and is technology chosen and acquired in the most effective manner? How responsive is the technology infrastructure to the changing needs of the programme? How responsive is the ICT solution to the programme requirements and specifications and to the technological conditions (network reliability) (Technology)? Figure 8: ICT Assessment Matrix Source: Chirchir, R The Potential of New Technologies for MIS for Social Protection. PPP at the Technical workshop on MIS for Social Protection, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan There is a misconception that ICT is the silver bullet that will organize and deliver all solutions to the social protection programmes. However, ICT is only a tool that ensures that the broader social protection system is working efficiently and effectively. These broader social protection system requirements and specifications should actually be the focus of any ICT solution. Therefore, the social protection programme processes and procedures must be clearly documented in manuals of operations. 32

33 Figure 9: Social Protection System Source: Chirchir, R The Potential of New Technologies for MIS for Social Protection. PPP at the Technical workshop on MIS for Social Protection, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Different social protection programmes in different environments require different architecture and technological solutions. Regarding the hardware, four options exist: a) Centralised paper based system may be relevant in an environment with poor telecommunication systems and low capacity in local units. b) Distributed desktops: data capture is done at sub-national stations and data transmitted to central databases. c) Distributed laptops: data is captured at near real-time at community level. d) Distributed tablets. data is captured on personal digital assistants or smart phones on realtime basis Software options include the following: Desktop Application: works in a predominantly private network and not internet. It is operated in a context where the implementation of social protection programme is centralised and paper based. It s functionality over public networks can be extended using third party software that optimise Internet connection. Desktop applications are heavier and well adapted to work off the public networks. Web Application: works in both private and public networks. It works in both centralised and decentralised social protection programmes. Web applications are lighter and optimised for internet. In environments with poor connectivity the functionality could be improved by setting 33