Strengthening social protection policies in the state of Bahia

Start Date: Close Date:

Description

The IPC-IG has partnered with UNDP Brazil and the Government of the State of Bahia to support the development of a strategy for the planning and management of the SUAS (Sistema Único de Assistência Social, Unified Social Assistance System) through the production of 10 studies that will allow for the formulation of the new PEAS (Plano Estadual de Assistência Social—PEAS) and the SUAS Improvement Pact.

Partners

Government of the State of Bahia , United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Brazil

Region/Countries

Latin America and the Caribbean

Brazil

Main Pillar

Knowledge Production

Thematic Area

Social Protection

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 1 - No Poverty , SDG 16 - Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

Project Results

Between 2019 and 2020, the Centre delivered the outputs 1,2,3, and 4:

• (PEAS) Socio-territorial diagnosis—collection of secondary data, systematisation and analysis;

• (PEAS) Definition of objectives, guidelines and deliberated priorities (Conferences and Conselho Estadual de Assistência Social—CEAS);

• (PEAS) Validation of elaborated and analysed content with participatory methodology;

• (PEAS) Consolidated Proposal and PEAS Final Document.
 

The final product reports (5.6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) were delivered in 2021. All studies are based on a participatory methodology. Preliminary and final versions of reports were reviewed and validated by stakeholders, including government representatives and civil society bodies:

  • Product 5: Study of work processes of the Fundo Estadual de Assistência Social (FEAS—State Social Assistance Fund): it aims at identifying and solving current operational obstacles regarding the funding of social assistance programmes. It includes a description of the administrative procedures and workflow of FEAS regarding the transfer of resources to municipalities, as well as recommendations for a redesign of standards, procedures and operational flows.
     
  • Products 6 and 7: The study on the delivery, quality and level of connection with other institutions of basic social protection services and the study on the delivery, quality and level of connection with other institutions of special social protection services of medium and high complexity aim to develop indicators that provide a overview of the offer and quality of social assistance services and help the Social Assistance Oversight Board (Superintendência de Assistência Social—SAS) to obtain parameters that contribute to improve monitoring and evaluation of the social assistance policy in the State. In January 2021, a preliminary report was delivered, and served as the basis for discussion with the stakeholders for the preparation of the final report.
     
  • Products 8 and 9: it consists of an analysis on the forms of communication of SUAS developed by the state and municipal administrations; and on the process of social participation of users and social workers. The first study aims at identifying the weaknesses and the strengths of SUAS internal and external communications and possible strategies to improve communication with society. The second study aims at analyzing the councils of 'social control' (institutionalized participatory spaces), in order to identify beneficiaries' main barriers to the councils. In addition, alternative ways to expand their representativeness are discussed, contributing to citizens' role in improving the management of SUAS. In January 2021, a preliminary report on filed research results was delivered. It brings data from 15 phone interviews with managers, workers and beneficiaries of SUAS. After discussing the report with stakeholders, especially SAS representatives, the final report was prepared, which included more than 70 interviews with the target groups from 39 municipalities of Bahia, including consultation with government and civil society representatives.
     
  • Product 10: Proposal of a State Pact for the improvement of SUAS’ management.
     

4 One Pagers were also produced during the project: