1. Social Risk Management and Social Inclusion Hermann von Gersdorff, European Center for Minority Issues Flensburg, Germany September 17, 2004

2. Overview Social Risk Management – A conceptual tool Social exclusion in the ECA region Social inclusion strategies World Bank programs and social inclusion The World Bank and Roma Issues

3. What is Social Protection? Old Definition: Public measures to provide income security to the population. Defined by interventions: Labor Markets Social Insurance Social Assistance New Approach: Social Risk Management Rethinking triggered by the East Asia crisis: recognition that growth is insufficient; need to address risks and vulnerability.

4. Rethinking SP: Vulnerability and Risk Addressing the poor is not enough; need to recognize the dynamic nature of welfare. Households move in and out of poverty; many live close to the poverty line. Households are exposed to many different shocks and risks over time. Risks affect poor and minority households differently than others and influence their level of vulnerability.

5. Social Risk Management: Central Elements Accounts for the multiple sources of risk and their characteristics. Operates with multiple strategies (prevention, mitigation, coping) and arrangements (informal, market-based, public) to deal with risk. Attempts to match the multiple suppliers of risk management instruments (such as households, communities, NGOs, and governments) with key demand groups (formal, minorities, informal-urban and informal-rural workers).

6. Types and Characteristics of Risks

7. Risk Management Strategies Prevention Strategies - to reduce the probability of negative risks. Mitigation Strategies - to decrease the impact of a future negative risk; Coping Strategies - to relieve the impact once the risk has occurred.

8. Risk Management Arrangements Informal, e.g. community support, real assets, marriage Market-based, e.g. cash, bank deposits, insurance Publicly provided or mandated, e.g. social insurance, transfers in cash and kind, subsidies and public works

9. Summary A New Approach From static poverty to dynamic vulnerability From safety nets to “ springboards ” From a reactive to a proactive approach. A New Definition: The set of public policies aiming at, Helping individuals, households, and communities to better manage risk Supporting the extremely poor

10. Poverty and Exclusion in the ECA Region The challenge: deepening “ pockets of poverty ” among excluded groups. Roma are the poorest minority group; in Bulgaria Roma are 10 times poorer than the majority; Turks are 3 times poorer; in Serbia Roma are 8 times poorer; Children are overrepresented among the poor;

11. Poverty and Exclusion in the ECA Region The disabled make up a disproportionate share of the poor. 10 percent of population in developing countries is disabled according to WHO. Estimated to make up 15-20 percent of the poor. Within ECA, 7.5 percent of the population in 17 countries is disabled (official data), from a high of 14 percent in Poland to a low of 0.6 percent in Bosnia and Herzegovina (questionable in a post- conflict country). Roma children are disproportionately designated as disabled/mentally retarded and put in residential institutions.

12. Exclusion is Multidimensional Economic: high unemployment; lack of labor market opportunities; Geographic: marginalized rural settlements and urban ghettos are frequently the poorest (qualitative analysis of Roma in Slovakia); Social/cultural: lack of access to services; language barriers for children attending school/parents interacting with service providers.

13. Addressing Exclusion: Instruments Social Funds: support demand driven community development (risk prevention); Microcredit: (risk mitigation); Conditional cash transfers: support positive behavior, e.g. school attendance (risk prevention and coping); Deinstitutionalization: support community based care (risk prevention and coping).

14. World Bank Programming to Address Exclusion Social funds in 29 countries; 32 projects (US$934 mn.) out of 312 projects have a disability component. 26% of the future lending projects. Child welfare loans to support deinstitutionalization (Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Russia); Grants for policy making for ethnic integration (Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary); Analysis and policy dialogue (quantitative and qualitative surveys).

15. Roma Issues: The Role of the World Bank Framing the Roma issue as a poverty issue, complementing human rights approaches; Supporting analysis and acting as an objective information broker in countries; Capacity building and policy development; Supplementing and coordinating the work of partners (Open Society Institute; EU; UNDP).

16. Roma Issues: Main Activities Knowledge generation and dissemination: analysis of poverty and exclusion of Roma. Coordination and policy dialogue: 2003 high level regional conference; Capacity building of Roma leaders and NGOs: training and support for involvement in the Decade of Roma inclusion ; Operational support: through grants, project components (SIFs, education).

17. 2003 Budapest Conference Outcomes Decade of Roma Inclusion: A political commitment by 8 governments to achieve progress on inclusion between 2005-2015. Goals address employment, education, health and housing. Monitoring progress against agreed indicators is key to the Decade. Roma Education Fund: Establishment of a Fund in 2005 to improve education outcomes for Roma. Technical preparations are underway.