Foundations of Social Protection for Targeted and Effective Poverty Reduction (FOSTER)
Zimbabwe’s social protection system is characterised by low coverage, poor targeting, weak coordination and high fragmentation, making it inadequate to assist the growing number of poor and vulnerable people. These contributions to the World Bank and UNICEF, two expert organisations on social protection, aim to strengthen the foundational architecture to improve, expand and manage access to social assistance, livelihood support, and resilience services for vulnerable groups.
| Country/region | Topic | Period | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Zimbabwe |
Inclusive economic Development Governance Disaster Risk Reduction
Social protection
Public sector policy |
01.12.2024
- 30.11.2028 |
CHF 7’300’000
|
- An estimated 2-7 million vulnerable individuals that are seasonally food insecure and could be better targeted with shockresponsive social protection
- An estimated 95’000 households under the government-run Harmonized Social Cash Transfer (HSCT), that would benefit from better targeting and grievance and redress mechanisms
- Government officers, policymakers and implementing authorities
- Development partners currently operating with non-harmonised beneficiary lists and targeting approaches
- Improved targeting and coordination of social protection programmes through an established Social Registry
- Conducive social protection policy environment, budget allocations, and improved stakeholder coordination
- More shock-responsive and accountable national social assistance programmes
- Stronger Civil registry system, feeding into the Social Registry
- Social registry populated with 20% of the population, based on a harmonised data collection questionnaire
- Updated National Social Protection Policy Framework; Strategy and Action Plan developed
- Social Protection Act enunciated
- Updated Proxy Means Test (PMT) formula for urban and rural areas
- Grievance and Redress Mechanism for government-operated social protection programmes
- Manual on shock-responsive social protection documented
- Interoperability of health system and civil registry ensured
- Digitized civil registry sub-offices in remote areas and capacitated traditional leaders to notify births and deaths
- 2016 Social Protection Policy Framework
- Advanced work on a Integrated Social Protection Management Information System (ISPMIS) to serve as a basis for a social registry
- Establishment of National Social Protection Steering Committee
- Operational Harmonised Social Cash Transfer (HSCT) programme currently covering 90’000 households
- Manual handling of grievance and redress cases
- Foreign private sector South/East
- United Nations Children’s Fund
- World Bank - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
-
Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation OTHER SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES
GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY
DISASTER PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS
Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation Social and welfare services
Public sector policy and administrative management
Disaster prevention and preparedness
Aid Type Mandate without fiduciary fund
Project and programme contribution
Project number 7F10715
| Background | Zimbabwe faces severe socio-economic challenges, with extreme poverty affecting over 50% of the rural population and approximately 15% of urban dwellers. In the past two decades, the country has endured repeated economic downturns, climate-related shocks and health crises, leading to an increase of the extreme poverty rate from 23% in 2011 to 43% in 2021, and significant multidimensional poverty including deprivations related to health, education and access to basic social services. In this context, effective and shock-responsive social protection is essential for poverty alleviation, and enhancing the resilience and access to services of vulnerable households. Despite a broad consensus on its importance, Zimbabwe’s social protection system remains inadequate, characterised by weak sector coordination, fragmentation, and limited coverage. Establishing a well-functioning social registry, a supportive policy framework, and links to other support systems are critical opportunities to address these challenges and support efficient programme delivery across sectors. |
| Objectives | Provide enhanced access to quality shockresponsive social protection services for poor and vulnerable households. This will ultimately contribute to poverty reduction, climate resilience, and inclusion. |
| Target groups |
|
| Medium-term outcomes |
|
| Results |
Expected results: Results from previous phases: |
| Directorate/federal office responsible |
SDC |
| Project partners |
Contract partner International Financial Institution (IFI) Private sector United Nations Organization (UNO) |
| Coordination with other projects and actors | Strengthening Social Protection in Zambia (2022-2026); African Risk Capacity ARC (2021-2026); future emergency response projects such as the 2024 drought response |
| Budget | Current phase Swiss budget CHF 7’300’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF 3’644’946 Total project since first phase Swiss budget CHF 0 Budget inclusive project partner CHF 7’300’000 |
| Project phases | Phase 1 01.12.2024 - 30.11.2028 (Current phase) |
