SPaN (2019) Case Study: Iraq

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© EU/ECHO/Peter Biro

This Case Study on Iraq summarises the opportunities identified by the ECHO-funded technical assistance facility to transition the chronically poor and vulnerable from humanitarian assistance to national schemes.

Establishing an effective safety net has been a strategic priority of the Government of Iraq (GoI) and development partners since 2012. Achievements include adopting the Social Protection Law and reform of the Social Protection Network (SPN).  Since 2014, macroeconomic shocks and escalation of conflict have curtailed social protection expenditure and hampered programme implementation and efforts to reform public services.  Meanwhile, displacement has increased poverty and food insecurity among internally displaced people (IDPs), who lost access to income, livelihoods and government safety nets.

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Case Study Iraq (PDF)

An ECHO-funded technical assistance facility, managed by the World Food Programme (WFP), explored how social protection systems could be strengthened. This briefing note summarises the technical assistance in Iraq, where the team of experts mapped the major government safety net schemes and humanitarian transfer programmes operating in the country. From comparisons of design, implementation features, and complementary between schemes, analysis identified opportunities to consolidate schemes and improve coordination. 

In the absence of a well developed social protection system, the humanitarian response in Iraq has been addressing needs of households affected by the displacement, with multi-purpose grants progressively becoming the core transfer instrument to meet multiple needs, complemented by additional transfers for specific needs. The GoI’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement (MOMD) also provides periodic cash and food transfers to IDPs and returnees.

Responsibility for delivery of assistance to households should transition from humanitarian actors to government, with humanitarian action continuing to support short term needs. The National Development Plan and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2018-2022 prioritises safety net development including improving coverage of the poor and vulnerable, reforming inefficient programmes, developing common systems for data sharing, identifying chronic and temporary needs, scaling up support for those affected by disasters, and engaging with non-governmental actors on implementation. This and the Social Protection Roadmap 2015-19 are guiding reform efforts.

the findings of the technical assistance identified opportunities to improve social protection for the chronically vulnerable, IDPs/returnees and households affected by shocks, by integrating and coordinating safety nets provided by government and humanitarian actors and gradually transitioning towards a multi-layered, government-led system.

There is already a ‘core safety net’ upon which to build an integrated system of transfers. Effective safety net systems ‘layer’ programmes to address poverty and vulnerability throughout the lifecycle and many include a core cash transfer programme for basic needs, complemented by additional programmes providing supplementary benefits to different groups. The SPN registration process can also provide the foundations for a future ‘social register’.

Eligibility for the SPN could lead to automatic qualification for additional transfers for lifecycle needs (e.g. child nutrition) or humanitarian needs at times of shock. Those ineligible for the SPN would still be included in the growing ‘social register’ and assessment results could inform targeting of other programmes that aim to meet particular needs. Those eligible for the SPN but not yet benefiting due to fiscal constraints could be targeted for temporary assistance by humanitarian agencies.

Achieving this requires collective action to address blockages at strategic and programmatic levels. This study recommends the following actions to transition to an integrated national safety net system that efficiently address needs of vulnerable populations and enable humanitarian assistance to top up or to fill gaps:

• Change to an open application process on the SPN, to increase its coverage and support development of a complete social registry; 
• Transform the Public Distribution System (PDS) to an electronic smart card to improve efficiency and allow access to nutritious food; 
• Initiate a system for IDPs to re-register for PDS rations and replace PDS cards;
• Align targeting approaches with the SPN proxy means test, to generate efficiencies in identification of caseloads and eventual transfer of vulnerable caseloads to MoLSA;
• Adapt PDS benefit levels to complement the SPN and build a ‘layered’ system to fill gaps;
• Increase the number of qualified social workers;
• Engage in discussions on building a digital hub for data sharing between government programmes and between government and the humanitarian sector;
• Develop a common identification system for use across programmes;
• Humanitarian actors support collection and verification of household data for the SPN registry;
• Address data privacy issues to enable data sharing.

The Iraq case study is part of the “Guidance Package on Social Protection across the Humanitarian-Development Nexus” (SPaN). Visit the Guidance Package´s wiki page for a full list of SPaN´s studies.