Season II - Case Studies and Working on Missions

(Season II) Working on the missions (Case Studies and Programme Policy designing input)

I think Season II of Evoke - Social Innovation must include a part which would be encouraging the policy and programme designing. I am giving an example of Social Protection but these type of case studies can be developed for Energy Sector,Poverty, Health, Education, Population and all development cross cutting issues/areas.

It is morning of year 2012 and my phone rang………..

Hellow, Soomro

This Alechemy, How are you doing,

Soomro: I am fine and doing very well … working with different governments in South Asia to provide social protection.

Alchemy: I know it, I want you to work on a same thing effectively

Soomro: What………. I didn’t get it…

Alchemy: Soomro, Look you have seen the situation of countries in South Asia, there are problems with women, they are very vulnerable and poor and they have no window of opportunity available to them for meet basic subsistence level. They need your help…

Soomro: My help ???

Alchemy : Yes your help…….. We have lots of donors and funding is no issue, we just want you to analyze a situation and make a case for effective social safety nets in South Asia.

Soomro: Ok Alchemy, it would be with you in couple of weeks.

And the case based on random thoughts is ready : (All the agents are required to go through and provide their feedback on based on their experience and their country settings)

I analysed different social policies of the countries in South Asia, All are very ambitious and promise to redistribute the income, reduce short term and long term poverty and inequality, investment in human resources specially human capital, manage individual and collective risk through macro economic reforms. Some of the policies and programmes already there are well thought out but not well designed and implemented, some are not better tailored to local settings and facing problems of inadequacy, in efficiency and ineffectiveness.

There are women who are elderly, disable and orphan with no outside support and have dependents and the families are in very vulnerable condition. The few problems with women are significantly obvious;

1. They are not generating any money, they have no means nor the capacity to do it.
2. They are illiterate, poor socialization, no assets etc
3. There is wide spread gender discrimination in labor market
4. They have health problems, facing physical and social obstacles
5. Income support is not only their need but till the time other complementing programmes are in place they have to rely on regular safety net window.

When we analyze the responses at policy level in this situation, the picture is blurt. The selection of mix of programmes and policies is very faulty. There is no link of the different policies and programmes, the programmes are not addressing the needs of deserving and most vulnerable. The programmes are in adequate, expensive, temporary setups and fixed/non flexible in terms of responses. Besides this these policies and programs are being adversely affected due to financial fix, lack of political commitment and poor administrative arrangements to carry out the implementation.

Mission:

Based on the case presented. Agents are required to design a policy and programme helping vulnerable women (who can not earn on her own) through income support by the Government. Each programme and policy should have following features;

• It should be appropriate for the country you select to implement.
• The programme should be adequate, meeting at least basic needs of the women
• The programme should be efficient and cost effective.
• It should not create work disincentive in women
• It should have features leading to the sustainability of the programme and policy.
• It should be flexible enough to run in every settings, complementing other social protection initiatives and at the end achieving goal of women betterment.

A well thought out and well designed proposal would get 10000 creativity and vision powers.