Social Protection Project

closed

The development objectives of the Social Protection Project of Panama are to: (1) improve the management and operation of the conditional cash transfer program to enhance its effectiveness in reaching the poorest and indigenous groups, (2) provide beneficiaries with an incentive framework to increase their participation in the conditional cash transfers (CCT) program, which would boost their demand for education and maternal and infant health services, (3) strengthen the supply of nutrition and child growth promotion interventions in the indigenous areas of the Red de Oportunidades Program (RO); and (4) enhance government capacity to develop coherent and efficient social sector policies and interventions on the basis of evidence. There are 4 components to the project. Component 1, management, monitoring and evaluation of the RO program is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the RO program operations and to guarantee its good governance - in a general sense - and transparency. Component 2, strategies to increase beneficiary families' participation in CCT program and therefore boost their demand for health and education, aims at supporting government to define and provide a package of services to encourage beneficiary families' participation in the program. Component 3, strengthening the supply of growth promotion interventions and securing access to health services for the RO program beneficiaries in indigenous areas (comarcas), seeks to assist the Government of Panama (GOP) in strengthening and expanding an existing package of preventative health and nutritional services to close coverage gaps in indigenous areas (comarcas) already partially covered by the package. Component 4, improving social sector performance: enhancing government capacity to design, implement and monitor coherent social policies and interventions, will help GOP increase the effectiveness of its social spending by helping increase its capacity to (1) plan program and policies, (2) inform budgetary allocation, (3) coordinate program design and implementation, (4) monitor program implementation and progress, and (5) evaluate the impact of specific interventions.