On Wednesday, February 27th, the Ministry of Social Development, in collaboration with UNICEF, launched its Social Protection Policy and Action Plan which will benefit Anguilla’s most vulnerable citizens. This formation began in May 2018 with a public consultation to set the stage for its framework.
The facilitator for that meeting was UNICEF’s Mr. David Cownie, Social Protection Consultant. He was accompanied by Ms. Lyanna Harracksingh, a UNICEF Social Policy Officer for the Eastern Caribbean. In July of last year, they both returned to facilitate a follow-up forum and to solidify ongoing work on the draft policy. Ms. Harracksingh returned with other officials of UNICEF to participate in Wednesday’s launch.
Ms. Muriel Mafico, Deputy Representative of UNICEF’s Office for the Eastern Caribbean spoke of the swiftness by which the National Social Protection Policy was produced. She attributed high praise to Anguilla for leading the way in expediting such an important policy in a timely fashion.
Ms. Mafico remarked: “Today we are here to mark a first. This is the presentation of the National Social Protection Policy which already has an action plan and a monitoring and evaluation plan. At this junction I wish to pause and sincerely congratulate the Ministry of Social Services and the Department of Social Development and their teams for a job well done. In all my policy work, I have never seen policy development with consultation that started in May of the previous year and launched in February the following year. This is a first.”
“This is a remarkable achievement, not only for Anguilla, but you are also setting a pace and a challenge for the region in terms of speedy policy development — and in terms of a consultative process that has involved multiple stake holders.”
Ms. Mafico went on to stress that the lessons learned by the development of this policy are critical lessons that will benefit not only Anguilla, but other jurisdictions beyond the shores of the island as well.
She continued: “Globally, UNICEF is involved in working with various countries. We support the development of social protection policies across the globe. We advocate for child and gender sensitive policies.
“The global research is very evident in demonstrating that children are disproportionately affected, especially when it comes to poverty. So, it is fitting that we have a policy that recognizes the importance of investing in young people, in people generally, and the importance of building resilience.
“The National Social Protection policy that is being launched today will bring even greater momentum to the social development agenda for this country. As we acknowledge the good strides that you have made — and we can’t underestimate them — we also need to be very cognizant that the challenges are still real.”
She highlighted three challenges in particular namely: economic deficiencies, the frequency and severity of natural disasters, and poverty and inequality. She related all three of these contextual challenges with the adverse conditions that our vulnerable citizens may face.
The Minister of Social Services, Hon. Evan McNiel Rogers, spoke about his delight and gratefulness for the policy. He noted: “I am very proud to be launching the National Social Protection policy after many months of hard work. The development of the policy along with its action plan and monitoring and evaluation framework have been a collaborative effort where we have taken into account the broad landscape of social protection in Anguilla.”
He stated, “Social protection can be defined in a general sense as policies and programmes designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting efficient labour markets, diminishing people’s exposure to risk, and enhancing their capacity to manage economic and social risks such as unemployment, exclusion, sickness, disability, and old age.”
He said that the broader vision of the policy is helping Anguilla advance towards its 2030 sustainable goals — in particular, those goals that are focused on social development. The Minster said it requires the efforts of all stakeholders in the community to make the policy impactful.
The Minister thanked UNICEF for its diligence and hard work in funding the policy’s development and guiding its production. He particularly made mention of, and gave thanks to, Mr. David Cownie for his insight in drafting the policy. In addition, he thanked Ms. Harracksingh for her invaluable contribution. He also gave special thanks to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs. Bonnie Richardson-Lake, and the Social Development Planner, Mrs. Kiesha Gumbs-Bibby, as well as the Commissioner of Social Development, Mr. Sanford Richardson.
Other officials who spoke at the policy launch were: Mr. Timothy Hodge, Director of Social Security; Dr. Wycliffe Fahie, Principal Asst. Secretary in The Ministry of Finance; Mr. Sanford Richardson, Commissioner of Social Develoment; Mrs. Kiesha Gumbs-Bibby, Social Development Planner; and Ms. Lyanna Harracksingh, UNICEF’s Social Policy Officer, who spoke concerning the financial aspect of the policy’s production.
Brining an air of sentiment to the launch, a song, “Lean on Me” was rendered by Anguilla’s reigning Miss Teenage, Ms. Charisma Jones-Chin. In addition, two poems, “When In the Shadows” and “To a Golden Citizen” were recited by local poet, Mrs. Patricia Adams.
