SVG govt phasing out temporary support programmes for the most vulnerable
In 2023, the St. Vincent government will be winding down most of the more far-reaching temporary support programmes that were instituted over the last two years and replacing them with more narrowly targeted, individualized assistance to the most vulnerable.
Finance Minister Camilo Gonsalves, in presenting the 2023 fiscal package, said the government is under no illusions whatsoever that the most vulnerable people have returned to a state of normalcy or even that their normalcy is an acceptable state of affairs.
“Even as support is phased out, the broader support initiatives in Budget 2023 allocate $3.7 million more to social assistance in cash and in kind than were approved in the 2019 budget. This is a 23% increase over the 2019 allocations and will be applied to continue social protections for those who are still disproportionately affected by the recent shared challenge,” the minister said.
Gonsalves said the ministries of housing and social development were combined in 2020, before the full impact of the pandemic was known and before the reconstruction of volcano-damaged houses became a full-time job in and of itself.
“The combined ministry’s staff has been stretched beyond capacity, necessitating true heroism from Minister Brewster and his senior personnel. Budget 2023 partially addresses this issue by creating posts for an additional permanent secretary to focus on housing and a Deputy Director for Beneficiary Management to concentrate on social assistance clients. A similar and specific focus of our social development personnel will be to continue the modernization of the way in which assistance is delivered to beneficiaries,” he stated.
According to Gonsalves, Ministry of Social Development clients have grown accustomed to receiving income support and other cash assistance via reloadable debit cards.
“We intend to transition as much of our public assistance programmes to the reloadable card disbursement model as possible in 2023 to improve the safety, efficiency, accountability, and dignity of the program. This transition will be twinned with an initiative under the Human Development Service Delivery Project to install software to streamline the application for and disbursement of social protection benefits. Similarly, in 2023, the Human Development Service and the Human Development Service Delivery Project will produce a draft social protection bill that is intended to modernize the legislative underpinnings of our social protection efforts,” Gonsalves said.
Gonsalves said Budget 2023 will also feature a special focus on the needs of children and persons with disabilities, and an increased focus on counseling will benefit children who have been affected by the volcanic eruptions and subsequent life in shelters.
“The ministry plans to double its outreach and information dissemination on children, children’s welfare, and child abuse. A rather modest 16% increase in our contribution to the National Society of Persons with Disabilities belies a far greater focus on specific aspirations of the disabled community,” Gonsalves said.
