This note proposes a reform agenda toaddress the challenges facing the system of socialassistance This will require: i) a progressive shift ofpublic expenditure toward pro-poor programs; ii) improvingcoherence and complementarity among social protectionprograms, and iii) making social assistance programs moreinclusive and responsive. The structure of this chapter isas follows. The next two sections provide an overview ofpoverty and the composition and trends in non-contributorysocial protection expenditure in the Kyrgyz Republic. Thefourth section looks at performance of the social assistanceexpenditure in the Kyrgyz Republic and shows that whilespending has increased significantly in recent years, itsperformance in terms of coverage and targeting of the poor,as well as in terms of its impact on poverty remains modest.Other issues, which are important to take into account inthe process of improving effectiveness of social assistanceexpenditure, are discussed in the following section. Thelast section concludes by summarizing key challenges andproposing recommendations for system reform, as well asareas requiring further research and analysis.
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