Social Protection reforms in MENA and South-South Cooperation

Start Date: Close Date:

Description

This project aimed at providing technical support activities involving a detailed definition of what the best child-sensitive policy changes are in regards to national social protection that could influence policymaking, new programmes or corrective measures to existing ones. The IPC-IG team was engaged in the discussion with UNICEF Country Offices in the three countries (and the Regional Office) to advise on these different policy scenarios and has prepared short notes to detail the implications in terms of (but not limited to) capacity needs, timelines and costs.

Region/Countries

Middle East and North Africa

Tunisia , Algeria , Morocco

Main Pillar

Capacity-Strengthening and Advisory Services

Thematic Area

Social Protection

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 1 - No Poverty , SDG 2 - Zero Hunger

Project Results

Policy messages, advocacy support and proposals

• The preparation of key policy messages and options for further discussion with governments, elaborating optimal policy responses to strengthen child sensitivity in existing social protection policies and programmes;

• Advocacy support in presenting and explaining the proposed policy scenarios in interactions with counterparts;

• The write-up of two policy proposals (Tunisia and Morocco) in even greater detail (costing, proposed programme design and preliminary implementation details), including more detailed roadmaps (highlighting steps, time required, capacity needed, etc.).

In addition, through these missions, the IPC-IG experts provided coaching support to local UNICEF Country Office staff in all 3 countries in order to provide advice on their annual work plan developments and ensure quality assurance on specific activities. The coordination of the South-South Cooperation (SSC) between Algeria/Tunisia/Morocco and other regions (especially LAC) complements the efforts in making technical expertise available. The MENA countries could learn from similar cases implemented in LAC countries to draw key lessons.