Bid to improve value of social protection programmes

NTEBOHELENG SEKHUKHUNI

MASERU – The World Bank, in collaboration with the government of Lesotho, yesterday released a new report assessing the performance of Lesotho’s social protection policies and programmes.

This, according to a report by the World Bank, is a step towards protecting vulnerable people and helping them in meeting their basic needs after being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which has weakened economic growth and limited fiscal resources in Lesotho.

“This report will help inform the design and implementation of our social protection programmes and policies to ensure that they are efficient and equitable. It will also help us improve the efficiency gains of existing programmes to allow us to fund more programmes such as the disability and infant grant,” said Matebaso Doti, Minister of Social Development.

Lesotho has made significant strides in developing social protection programmes over the past 20 years. The country’s social protection programmes tackle vulnerabilities throughout the life cycle from children to the elderly. However, current programmes are costly with social protection spending representing about 6.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) making Lesotho the highest spender among any African country.

The report further suggests that the government should review the allocation of spending across social protection programmes to improve value for money while enhancing benefits for recipients.