Strengthening Social Protection Delivery System in Sindh

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The proposed operation is aligned with the development objectives of the GoP and the Government of Sindh (GoS) that aim at increasing investment in people, by focusing on lagging regions and populations. It builds on the understanding that accelerated improvement in human capital outcomes in Sindh require interventions to improve access to and demand for social services. Low uptake of social services is regarded as a key reason for poor human capital outcomes, especially in the lagging geographical areas and households in the bottom two income quintiles. The GoS has prepared a law establishing the Sindh Social Protection Authority (SPA) to oversee the social protection initiatives in Sindh and monitor progress. The SPA is built on the Sindh Social Protection Strategy Unit (SPSU) presently housed in and managed under the Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Secretariat and running the pilot CCT program in two districts under the recently concluded WB funded Sindh Enhanced Response to Reduce Stunting project (SERRSP), and will be further augmented by the establishment of Sindh SP Department, a first in any province of Pakistan The proposed operation has three components.Component 1: Strengthen Sindh Social Protection Service Delivery Systems this component will support the modernization of systems and processes to fully operationalize the newly established SPA and improve its institutional capacity by strengthening the administrative, operational, policy, and planning functions and capabilities, including the development of energy efficient/climate-smart IT systems and capacity building through the provision of technical assistance to: (a) enhancing the logistics and administration, procurement, financial management (FM), human resources, legal, auditing, monitoring and evaluation, and grievances redressal capacities. The component will also be supporting SPA to build a broader Integrated Information System for social protection (IIS) at the SPA to improve the flow of information across social programs and the management of social programs’ information leading to the implementation of more inclusive and responsive social protection initiatives in Sindh. Component 2 - Mother and Child Support ProgramThis component focuses on birth and early childhood (first 1,000 days)—a key point in the life cycle for human capital development—where risks and needs are high, but programmatic responses are weak. The main objective of this component is to create demand for maternal and newborn child health (MNCH) and nutrition services and promote behavioral change to increase uptake of the MNCH services focusing on the first 1,000 days of life through the provision of CCT in the selected districts. This component will build on the MCSP pilot and introduce implementation improvements for enhanced efficacy, based on the administrative assessment of the pilot. Component 3: Contingent Emergence Response Component (CERC) (Total US$ 0 allocation).This component, with zero allocation, will be available to the Borrower to gain quick access to Bank financing to respond to a crisis or emergency. As part of a comprehensive disaster risk management strategy, the CERC typically provides support for immediate rehabilitation and reconstruction needs.