The Gambia Social Safety Nets Diagnostic

World Bank

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: SOCIAL PROTECTION;    SOCIAL INSURANCE;    PENSIONS;    HEALTH CARE ACCESS;    POVERTY;   

RP-ID  :  AUS0000071

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Almost half the population remain poor,but the proportion has increased in rural areas anddecreased in urban areas. Poverty stands at 48.6 percentnationally and almost 70 percent in rural areas; 21.3percent are extreme poor, rising to 32.2 percent in ruralareas5. The poverty rate hasn’t changed much in five years.The poor rely heavily on subsistence agriculture for incomegeneration, while informal jobs are predominant in urbanareas. The population is growing quickly, moving from ruralto urban areas, and an increasing share of young people aresuffering from unemployment or underemployment. Emigrationrates are also exceptionally high, providing remittances butdraining the country's future economic potential. TheGovernment has recognized the importance of coupling growthwith social protection to reduce poverty. The Government’sNational Development Plan (NDP) recognizes that economicstabilization and growth must be accompanied by aninvestment in the Gambian people in order to reach itsdevelopment goals: to build the requisite human capital,improve living standards and power the economy. Socialprotection can support the poorest to participate ininclusive growth and economic development. A strong set ofsocial protection guiding documents have been prepared. ANational Social Protection Policy (NSPP) (2015-25) wasdeveloped by the Government of the Gambia with the supportof development partners through a participatory process. Itdefines the Government’s SP vision and agenda, and proposesa set of priority actions to guide the gradual establishmentof an integrated and inclusive social protection system inThe Gambia. The NSPP is supported by a Social ProtectionImplementation Plan (SPIP) (2015-20), which defines a set ofactivities to implement the policy over the medium-term.However, the Implementation Plan is not accompanied by afinancing plan to show how various activities will be fundednor does it articulate who is responsible for implementingthe various activities. A minimum SP intervention package6was defined in 2015, identifying several social protectionfocus areas, aligned with the life-cycle approach. Thesecover the life stages with the most at-risk vulnerabilities:cash transfers for pregnant women and infants; school meals;youth empowerment; and social pension for the elderly.