Beneficiary and Community Perspectives on the Palestinian National Cash Transfer Programme
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Transforming Cash Transfers: Beneficiary and community perspectives on the Palestinian National Cash Transfer Programme Part 2: The case of the West Bank Nicola Jones (ODI) and Mohammed Shaheen (Al-Quds University, Ramallah) December 2012 Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank all the community respondents who participated in this study for sharing their experiences and insights with us so generously. Sincere thanks and appreciation are also due to the Minister of Social Affairs, Majida Al-Masri, the Assistant Deputy Minister for Planning and Administrative Development, Mr Daoud Aldeek, and the Executive Manager of the SSNRP (Social Safety Net Reform Program) funded by the World Bank, Tahani Madhoun, for their unlimited support in facilitating all aspects of the research process. Our appreciation similarly extends to all heads of departments, Hebron and Jenin heads of directorates, social workers and staff for their cooperation throughout the fieldwork. Very helpful comments on the report were provided by Daoud Aldeek, Meriem El-Harouchi, Bassam Hamad, Heather Kindness, Maxine Molyneux, Charlotte Morris, Sara Pavanello, Ayman Salwahah and Strahan Spencer, for which we are most grateful. Last but certainly not least, the authors would like to thank the West Bank research team for their dedication during the fieldwork process (see Annex 2 for details of those involved), Josiah Kaplan and Tom Aston for detailed secondary research support and Kathryn O’Neill for editorial support. This document is an output of a project funded by UK Aid from the UK Department for International Development (DFID). However, the views expressed and information contained within are not necessarily those of or endorsed by DFID, which accepts no responsibility for such views or information or for any reliance placed on them. Overseas Development Institute Disclaimer: The views presented in this paper are 203 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of ODI or our partners. Tel: +44 (0)20 7922 0300 Fax: +44 (0)20 7922 0399 www.odi.org.uk ii Contents Tables, figures & boxes iii Abbreviations v 1 Introduction 7 2 Conceptual framework overview 8 2.1 Multidimensional nature of risk and vulnerability 8 2.2 Structural parameters 10 2.3 Political economy influences 10 2.4 Local-level impact and outcomes 12 3 Context and historical emergence of social protection in the West Bank 14 3.1 Political and historical background 14 4 Methodology 21 4.1 Research objectives, themes and questions 21 4.2 Research tools and sample 22 4.3 Capacity-building 26 4.4 Ethical considerations 26 5 Description of study sites and respondents 27 5.1 Jenin 28 5.2 Hebron 30 6 Overview of programme mechanics and programme governance 33 6.1 Mechanics of the MoSA cash transfer 33 6.2 Programme governance 37 7 Community understandings and experiences of vulnerability, and related coping strategies 42 7.1 Definitions and experiences of vulnerability 42 7.2 Coping strategies 47 8 Community and beneficiary perceptions of programme design and implementation 52 9 Use and effects of the cash transfer 58 9.1 Use of the cash 58 9.2 Perceptions of positive effects on beneficiary and community life 59 9.3 Perceptions of negative effects on beneficiary and community life 62 10 Programme accountability: citizens’ rights and responsibilities 65 10.1 Mechanisms to promote citizens’ rights 65 10.2 Citizens’ responsibilities 67 11 Policy and programme recommendations 68 References Annexes 90 Annex 1 Complete Conceptual Framework Diagram 90 Annex 2: Further details on methodology, fieldwork and analysis process 91 Annex 3: Demographics and human development data 95 Annex 4: Examples of international good practice to complement policy and programme recommendations 100 Annex 5: Key differences emerging from beneficiary and community perceptions of the PNCTP in the West Bank and Gaza Strip 104 iii Tables, figures & boxes Tables Table 1: Examples of sources of risk and levels of vulnerability 9 Table 2: Summary of qualitative research tools used 23 Table 3: Total number of people who participated in all types of interviews by site and citizenship (residence) 26 Table 4: Distribution of female-headed households among total PNCTP beneficiary households in Jenin Governate 30 Table 5: Distribution of female-headed households among total PNCTP beneficiary households in Hebron Governorate 32 Table 6: List of PNCTP beneficiary households in the West Bank and Gaza (September 2012) 35 Table 7: Estimates of external assistance to the recurrent budget (2008-11) in $ millions 37 Table 8: Summary of perceived effects of the Palestinian National Cash Transfer Programme (PNCTP) 64 Table 9: Evidence-informed policy and programming recommendations for the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), development partners and NGOs 69 Figures Figure 1: Multidimensional risk and vulnerability context 9 Figure 2: Structural and political economy influences mediating the achievement of human capabilities 12 Figure 3: Local-level influences, sites of impact and social justice outcomes 13 Figure 4: Geographical distribution of poverty headcount in the West Bank (as of 2009) 28 Boxes Box 1: Refugee vulnerability in the West Bank 16 Box 2: Research questions 21 Box 3: Complementary forms of social assistance 48 Box 4: Social and economic exclusion experienced by Bedouin communities 54 Box 5: The evolution of Zakat committees in the West Bank 55 iv Abbreviations DFID Department for International Development DGC Demand generation consultation EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GDP Gross domestic product IDP Internally displaced person ILO International Labour Organization M&E Monitoring and evaluation MENA Middle East and North Africa MoH Ministry of Health MoSA Ministry of Social Affairs ODI Overseas Development Institute OPT Occupied Palestinian Territories PA Palestinian Authority PCBS Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics PLO Palestinian Liberation Organization PMTF Proxy means test formula PNCTP Palestinian National Cash Transfer Programme PNPSP Palestinian National Programme for Social Protection PRCS Palestine Red Crescent Society PRDP Palestinian Reform and Development Plan PRDP-TF Multi-donor Palestinian Reform and Development Plan Trust Fund SHC Social Hardship Case SPSS Social Protection Sector Strategy SSNRP Social Safety Net Reform Project UN OCHA UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East WFP World Food Programme WHO World Health Organization v 1 Introduction Social protection has become an important policy response to high levels of poverty and vulnerability in developing countries since the late 1990s, gaining significant momentum among governments and donors as a result of a growing evidence base demonstrating positive effects on reducing poverty and vulnerability (Arnold et al., 2011). Social protection interventions have emerged in developing countries as a buffer against severe economic shocks or continued chronic poverty, especially among vulnerable population groups. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, many countries have a long history of social protection, deriving largely from Islamic charitable provisions, in tandem with kin-based informal forms of social protection (Marcus et al., 2011). Post-independence governments instituted social insurance provisions, food subsidies and, subsequently, social assistance programmes. As the poorer countries of the region implemented adjustment programmes in the 1980s and 1990s, social funds and, in some cases, cash transfer programmes were set up to alleviate poverty, especially as informal forms of social protection were increasingly eroded in the context of widespread economic and social disintegration. In parallel, assistance to refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and poor people facing hunger and food insecurity led to food- and nutrition-based assistance programmes. Accordingly then, and particularly following the global ‘triple F’ (food, fuel and financial) crisis of the late 2000s, social protection has come to constitute an important component in poverty reduction approaches in many countries (Jones et al., 2010). However, most policy and programming attention has focused on a shorter-term safety net approach, designed to enable households to smooth income and consumption. While this is important, more recently there have been calls for social protection to go beyond this and to address the longer-term and structural causes of poverty. There has, however, been only limited attention to the importance of social inequalities that perpetuate poverty, such as gender inequality, unequal citizenship status, and displacement as a result of conflict (Devereux et al., 2011), and the role that social protection can play in tackling broader socio-political vulnerabilities and strengthening social cohesion (DFID, 2011). This study attempts to contribute to these discussions by focusing on community perceptions of a major unconditional cash transfer programme in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and the broader programme experiences of programme beneficiaries, encompassing economic, psychosocial and political dimensions. Cash transfer programmes in the OPT have a history that dates back to the 1990s, but the programme in its current form is the result of a merger in 2010 of two major programmes