Government gets injection of funds for social services

Government’s social protection thrust has received a major shot in the arm from one of its chief development partners, as it comes to terms with having to spend more than 10 times the usual amount, during the COVID-19 pandemic, to assist the most vulnerable.

Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey on Wednesday revealed that instead of spending roughly $900 000 per year on social services through the Welfare Department alone, that amount was spent monthly to adequately meet increased welfare demands.

He was speaking at a press conference where officials of the European Union (EU) made a donation of €3.65 million (BDS$8.3 million) as budgetary support towards the Government’s planned Social Protection Policy and Strategy programme.

Thanking the EU for the support, Humphrey said it would allow the administration to do things “on behalf of the poor, vulnerable and marginalised in Barbados”, and better respond to emerging threats and challenges, while alleviating poverty and reducing vulnerability.

“It is clear to me, given the pressures that came to bear on the system, that this is necessary support. You may appreciate that in the last year, the support that the Welfare Department has had to offer persons in terms of the need to be able to respond to them, we were averaging, in terms of national assistance, around $900,000 to $1 million a year, and now we are averaging around $900,000 a month in support. So you would see that our capacity to respond has been under some pressure,” Humphrey told the press conference, which followed a closed door meeting with EU officials during a courtesy call on his ministry.

He was unable to say what the current rates of poverty and vulnerability were in Barbados, but indicated that during the course of the last two years, as the island grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people seeking assistance from the Welfare Department had nearly doubled.

“We have moved from about 3 500 persons to about 6 500 persons. There has also been an increase in the frequency with which they would want help. It is no longer a one-off. People are going to keep coming back. So there is that additional pressure on the system,” said Humphrey.

Pointing to some areas that will be impacted under the Social Protection Policy and Strategy programme, Humphrey singled out education and training, disaster risk mitigation and climate change issues, people with disabilities, youth development, single women households and the elderly.

Opting not to give too many details, he noted that three programmes have already been discussed and would be rolled out in “the very near future”.

The People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Minister noted that a Barbados Country Assessment of Living Conditions would be conducted in the near future, which will provide data on the island’s poverty rate and help authorities identify what areas should be tackled.

Government is also expected to strengthen its research efforts to make informed decisions.

An initial amount of €2.55 million (BDS$5.8 million) of the EU funding has been disbursed.

Noting that it came at a very crucial time for the country, EU Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Malgorzata Wasilewska said it demonstrated the EU’s confidence in the Mia Mottley administration’s fiscal management.

“I wish we could have had more funds. I want to stress that this is budget support… but it is also a huge sign of confidence in the public finance management and the ability of the Government to deliver those key programmes to the people, because we do not measure expenditure. We don’t follow the penny, we look at the results and if the results are achieved it is up to you, the Government, exactly how you manage the fund,” explained Wasilewska.

She pledged continued support to the island’s social protection efforts, as she invited Humphrey and his team to Brussels to learn best practices from EU member states and better engage the EU.

Miriam Ferran, the EU Commission Deputy Director General of International Partnerships, said the donation was “extremely important now that we are at the beginning of the aftermath of the COVID crisis, knowing how much the sector of social protection is crucial to supporting people that have been affected”.

Stating that the Social Protection Policy and Strategy project was a multi-dimensional one, Ferran said she was confident it would increase social protection coverage with the overall objective of reducing extreme poverty and unemployment through a comprehensive policy framework.

“This is what in the European Union we want to do – support the policy of a government, not just intervene with small projects,” Ferran added.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb