Addis Ababa holds ministerial meet to improve monitoring of Africa’s social protection

A meeting is currently going on (November 12 to 13) among over 25 experts from the ministries of economic planning, finance, social development, health, youth and gender in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. The objective of the meeting is to discuss and analyse improved monitoring of social investments and social protection systems in Africa.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), through its Gender Poverty and Social Policy Division (GPSPD) is convening the Expert Group Meeting (EGM). The EGM is being organized at the conclusion of the project on “Better Monitoring of Social Protection in Africa” that ECA has implemented 2016-2019.

The main purpose of the project is to boost the capacity of five selected member States (Chad, Kenya, Mauritania, Mozambique, and Nigeria) to monitor and report on progress on investments in social protection policies and programmes to achieve the social protection-related Sustainable Development Goals.

The meeting will discuss the experiences of the five selected Member States in financing social protection to meet the SDGs targets. The EGM will also take stock of lessons learned in the project on implementation of better monitoring of social protection in Africa and encourage exchange of country and regional experiences in the analysis and monitoring of investments in social protection.

On the other hand, it further serves as a forum for the experts to brainstorm on some of the implications of priorities and challenges of mainstreaming social protection in national development plans and national budgets as explained by Saurabh Sinha, Chief, Social Policy Section, Gender Poverty and Social Policy Division (GPSPD).

“These experts are meeting in Addis Ababa to discuss the findings of the regional report “Social protection policies and programmes in Africa: Improving investments through better monitoring.” He added that the experts will discuss targeting versus universalism in Social Protection in Africa, financing of social investments as well as innovative ways to improve and strengthen M and E frameworks on social investments. This will contribute to scaling up social protection across the continent and the role ECA could play in that regard.