Date: 07/12/2004
Source: Ministry of Social Development
Title: Skweyiya: Media Briefing on launch of Social Policy Analysis Programme
Opening Remarks by Dr Zola Skweyiya, Minister of Social Development, at the Media Briefing on the launch of the DSD Social Policy Analysis Programme, Pretoria
High Commissioner,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen
In keeping with the government’s mandate to eradicate poverty and enhance social cohesion, there are three defining features of the current poverty alleviation and reductions initiatives of the Department of Social Development. First, a focus on obtaining better empirical information on the impact of our social programmes on poverty and social exclusion; second, a determination to ensure greater efficiency in the implementation of social policy programmes, and third, a commitment to establishing partnerships with local academic and research institutions.
The purpose of the Department of Social Development’s Social Policy Analysis Programme is to enable higher quality evidence-based decision-making in policies and programmes focused on poverty reduction and social inclusion. In order to achieve this, a major component of the programme focuses on building social policy analysis capacity within both academic institutions and within government. By the end of the programme we plan to have provided specialized graduate-level training for about 150 social policy analysts and researchers.
In summary, our purpose is to dramatically upscale the capacity for and quality of evidence-based decision-making in government policies focused on poverty reduction and social inclusion. The programme will run over five-years and the Department for International Development of the government of the United Kingdom, is making available approximately R42 million to fund the programme. We appreciate this support and the long-standing collaboration between the two governments in the area of public policy.
The five-year poverty and social exclusion programme that we are launching includes the following elements:
* The establishment of a policy analysis and training infrastructure;
* The development of a research programme to inform policy development;
* The development of an evidence base for policy monitoring; and
* The dissemination of research findings and on-going dialogue with civil society stakeholders.
As part of this programme on poverty and social exclusion, the following specific projects will be undertaken:
1. A review of the social policy analysis capacity within national and provincial governments;
2. A training programme on social policy analysis, research and monitoring for national and provincial departments in the social cluster;
3. Research on the factors that inhibit the utilization of research findings in policy development and programme implementation.
4. Establishment of a specialised policy analysis unit within Department of Social Development;
5. Strengthening of the social policy research and training capacity in academia, with a focus on historical disadvantaged institutions;
6. Utilisation of the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study to assess the impact of the Child Support Grant and HIV and AIDS on households over a ten year period;
7. Assessing the role of social security grants in influencing the health status of poor communities;
8. Tracking the mobility of the people who receive social assistance, both in terms of geographic migration and in terms of the transition between various grants;
9. Studying the “take-up” of social grants to identify areas where there are concentrations of eligible non-recipients, establish why eligible non-recipients are not claiming social grants, and identify anomalies in the take-up of grants that point to possible fraudulent activities;
10. Examining the utilization of means testing and age limits in the targeting of social policy; and
11. Developing indicators of social exclusion and its measurement.
In order to implement this comprehensive program, the Department of Social Development has established a partnership with the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at Oxford University in the UK, and the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Given the scope and size of the programme, a number of other local academic institutions are collaborating in various projects. The Fort Hare Institute of Government at the University of Fort Hare is doing work on indicators of social exclusion; the Human Science Research Council and the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town are doing work on the take up of social grants and the extent of beneficiary mobility; and the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape is doing work on the impact of social grants on health status. Some of these research projects have been underway for some time and we expect to begin making the findings of these projects available to the public within the next few months.
The DSD Social Policy Analysis Programme will dramatically supplement other research that the department has been undertaking on the social and economic impact of our social security system. Research conducted for the Department by the Economic Research Policy Institute, which we will soon be making public, show that:
1. Social grants provide potential labour market participants with the resources and economic security necessary to invest in high-risk/high-reward job searches,
2. Living in a household receiving social grants is correlated with a higher success rate in finding employment, and
3. Workers in households receiving social grants are better able to improve their productivity and as a result earn higher wage increases.
A proposed feature of the DSDS Social Policy Analysis Programme is the utilization of forums, representative of civil society in particular regions or localities, that will be presented pertinent research findings and used to inform the medium term research agenda on issues of poverty and social exclusion. The composition and topical focus of these forums will reflect the needs of different excluded groups such as the unemployed, older people, children, woman and people with disabilities.
In addition to this research work, a key outcome of the DSD Social Policy Analysis Programme will be a pool of experienced social policy analysts within academia and government who can inform and enhance the implementation of programmes that reduce poverty and social exclusion. We hope the DSD Social Policy Analysis Programme will be a vehicle that strengthens a partnership between academia and government focused on the national agenda of creating work and fighting poverty.
We are determined to continue making decisive impacts on reducing poverty in our country and we express our gratitude to the government of the United Kingdom, for supporting this programme.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Social Development
7 December 2004
Source: Ministry of Social Development
Title: Skweyiya: Media Briefing on launch of Social Policy Analysis Programme
Opening Remarks by Dr Zola Skweyiya, Minister of Social Development, at the Media Briefing on the launch of the DSD Social Policy Analysis Programme, Pretoria
High Commissioner,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen
In keeping with the government’s mandate to eradicate poverty and enhance social cohesion, there are three defining features of the current poverty alleviation and reductions initiatives of the Department of Social Development. First, a focus on obtaining better empirical information on the impact of our social programmes on poverty and social exclusion; second, a determination to ensure greater efficiency in the implementation of social policy programmes, and third, a commitment to establishing partnerships with local academic and research institutions.
The purpose of the Department of Social Development’s Social Policy Analysis Programme is to enable higher quality evidence-based decision-making in policies and programmes focused on poverty reduction and social inclusion. In order to achieve this, a major component of the programme focuses on building social policy analysis capacity within both academic institutions and within government. By the end of the programme we plan to have provided specialized graduate-level training for about 150 social policy analysts and researchers.
In summary, our purpose is to dramatically upscale the capacity for and quality of evidence-based decision-making in government policies focused on poverty reduction and social inclusion. The programme will run over five-years and the Department for International Development of the government of the United Kingdom, is making available approximately R42 million to fund the programme. We appreciate this support and the long-standing collaboration between the two governments in the area of public policy.
The five-year poverty and social exclusion programme that we are launching includes the following elements:
* The establishment of a policy analysis and training infrastructure;
* The development of a research programme to inform policy development;
* The development of an evidence base for policy monitoring; and
* The dissemination of research findings and on-going dialogue with civil society stakeholders.
As part of this programme on poverty and social exclusion, the following specific projects will be undertaken:
1. A review of the social policy analysis capacity within national and provincial governments;
2. A training programme on social policy analysis, research and monitoring for national and provincial departments in the social cluster;
3. Research on the factors that inhibit the utilization of research findings in policy development and programme implementation.
4. Establishment of a specialised policy analysis unit within Department of Social Development;
5. Strengthening of the social policy research and training capacity in academia, with a focus on historical disadvantaged institutions;
6. Utilisation of the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study to assess the impact of the Child Support Grant and HIV and AIDS on households over a ten year period;
7. Assessing the role of social security grants in influencing the health status of poor communities;
8. Tracking the mobility of the people who receive social assistance, both in terms of geographic migration and in terms of the transition between various grants;
9. Studying the “take-up” of social grants to identify areas where there are concentrations of eligible non-recipients, establish why eligible non-recipients are not claiming social grants, and identify anomalies in the take-up of grants that point to possible fraudulent activities;
10. Examining the utilization of means testing and age limits in the targeting of social policy; and
11. Developing indicators of social exclusion and its measurement.
In order to implement this comprehensive program, the Department of Social Development has established a partnership with the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at Oxford University in the UK, and the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Given the scope and size of the programme, a number of other local academic institutions are collaborating in various projects. The Fort Hare Institute of Government at the University of Fort Hare is doing work on indicators of social exclusion; the Human Science Research Council and the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town are doing work on the take up of social grants and the extent of beneficiary mobility; and the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape is doing work on the impact of social grants on health status. Some of these research projects have been underway for some time and we expect to begin making the findings of these projects available to the public within the next few months.
The DSD Social Policy Analysis Programme will dramatically supplement other research that the department has been undertaking on the social and economic impact of our social security system. Research conducted for the Department by the Economic Research Policy Institute, which we will soon be making public, show that:
1. Social grants provide potential labour market participants with the resources and economic security necessary to invest in high-risk/high-reward job searches,
2. Living in a household receiving social grants is correlated with a higher success rate in finding employment, and
3. Workers in households receiving social grants are better able to improve their productivity and as a result earn higher wage increases.
A proposed feature of the DSDS Social Policy Analysis Programme is the utilization of forums, representative of civil society in particular regions or localities, that will be presented pertinent research findings and used to inform the medium term research agenda on issues of poverty and social exclusion. The composition and topical focus of these forums will reflect the needs of different excluded groups such as the unemployed, older people, children, woman and people with disabilities.
In addition to this research work, a key outcome of the DSD Social Policy Analysis Programme will be a pool of experienced social policy analysts within academia and government who can inform and enhance the implementation of programmes that reduce poverty and social exclusion. We hope the DSD Social Policy Analysis Programme will be a vehicle that strengthens a partnership between academia and government focused on the national agenda of creating work and fighting poverty.
We are determined to continue making decisive impacts on reducing poverty in our country and we express our gratitude to the government of the United Kingdom, for supporting this programme.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Social Development
7 December 2004
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