2010年-世界发展银行全球_Albania_Social_Assistance_Policy_Note___Key_Challenges_and_Opportunities_32页_1mb

Summary of Albania Social Assistance Policy Note: Key Challenges and Opportunities

Core Content

This policy note provides an analysis of the social assistance system in Albania, focusing on the Ndihma Ekonomike (NE) program, which is the main poverty-targeted social assistance scheme. It highlights the challenges in targeting, coverage, and benefit adequacy, as well as the need for administrative and policy improvements to enhance the effectiveness of social assistance in reducing poverty.

Main Objectives

• To assess the performance of the NE program and identify ways to improve its equity, efficiency, and transparency.
• To recommend reforms that can enhance the effectiveness of the social assistance system in Albania.
• To address the challenges in the design and implementation of the NE program and its linkages with other social protection programs.

Key Challenges

1. Targeting Accuracy

• The NE program has relatively low leakages to the non-poor, with 56% of benefits going to the poorest 20% of the population.
• 82% of total benefits are received by the poorest 40% of the population.
• The targeting accuracy of NE is about average for the ECA region, performing better than programs in Latvia and Russia, but not as well as guaranteed minimum income programs in Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Romania.

2. Coverage

• NE coverage of the poor has declined significantly, from 36% in 2005 to 22% in 2008.
• This reduction is attributed to the use of "layered filters" for eligibility, which result in errors of exclusion.
• Coverage is particularly low in urban areas, with only 5.8% of the urban population covered by NE in 2008, compared to 8.8% in rural areas.

3. Benefit Adequacy

• Benefits of the NE program account for only 14% of total post-transfer consumption of the poorest beneficiaries.
• Benefit adequacy has eroded over time due to inadequate indexation to price inflation and the contraction in overall spending.
• The average disability benefit is three times the NE household benefit in 2008, highlighting the disparity in generosity between the two programs.

4. Administrative Challenges

• The NE program suffers from weak administrative capacity, outdated information systems, and limited oversight.
• Benefits are administered largely through paper-based processes, leading to inefficiencies and high transaction costs.
• There is a lack of an automated national registry of applicants and beneficiaries, which hampers monitoring and evaluation.

Key Opportunities for Reform

1. Improving Targeting

• Standardize geographic allocations based on an updated poverty map to improve transparency and equity.
• Replace the current "multi-layered" filters with a continuous scoring formula that uses objective weights and variables correlated with poverty status.
• This would reduce errors of inclusion and exclusion, and improve the efficiency and fairness of the program.

2. Enhancing Benefit Adequacy

• Introduce indexation of benefits and eligibility thresholds to price inflation to maintain the purchasing power of the NE program.
• Re-evaluate the relative balance of spending between NE and disability assistance benefits, as the latter has grown significantly at the expense of the former.

3. Strengthening Administration

• Automate information systems and create a national registry of applicants and beneficiaries.
• Simplify and standardize intake and application procedures to reduce administrative burdens.
• Improve monitoring and oversight mechanisms to reduce fraud and errors.
• Consider shifting eligibility decisions to the central government for greater consistency and transparency.

4. Clarifying Program Roles

• Clarify the roles of social insurance and social assistance programs to avoid overlap and improve efficiency.
• Ensure that social insurance focuses on contributory schemes, while social assistance targets those unable to participate in the former.
• This would help reduce pension system deficits and free up resources for more targeted poverty reduction efforts.

Conclusion

The NE program, while showing decent targeting accuracy, faces significant challenges in terms of coverage and benefit adequacy. These issues are exacerbated by fiscal constraints and the expansion of disability benefits. Reforms are needed to improve the effectiveness of the NE program, enhance transparency, and ensure that it plays a more substantial role in poverty reduction. Strengthening the links between social assistance and other social protection programs, as well as improving the administrative capacity and oversight, are essential steps towards achieving these goals.