Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698751208556.pdf (Namibia)
Republic of Namibia MINISTRY POVERTY ERADICATION AND SOCIAL WELFARE MOTIVATION FOR VOTE 33 ON THE APPROPRIATION BILL, 2018 Presented by Bishop Emeritus Zephania Kameeta, MP Minister of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare 24 April 2018 Our vision A caring and inclusive nation which ensures access to basic social services and dignity for all Namibians.
Our mission To initiate, implement and coordinate social development programmes to promote the well-being of the poor and the vulnerable in a dignified manner.

2 Honourable Chairperson of the Whole House Committee Honourable Members: 1.

It is my honour and privilege that I rise this afternoon to introduce to this august House the budget for Vote 33 , Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare for the 2018/19 Financial Year for support, consideration and approval.

2.
2.

Vote 33 budget appropriation for 2018/19 Financial Year, amounts to Three Billion, Four Hundred Thirty Nine Million, and Thirteen Thousand, Namibia Dollars (N$3,439,013,000); And over the 2018/19- 2020/21 MTEF period, the estimated allocation for Vote 33 amounts to Ten Billion, Three Hundred Fifty Six Million, Four Hundred and Fifty Three Thousand Namibia Dollars (N$10,356,453,000).

3.

Allow me at the onset to thank the Honourable Calle Schlettwein, Minister of Finance and Hon.
Obeth Kandjoze, Minister of Economic Planning and Director General of the National Planning Commission; and your teams, for the preparation and presentation of the budget, given the dire challenging fiscal circumstances.

Honourable Chairperson of the Whole House Committee, 4.
Given the adverse global economic environment that also has a negative bearing on the local economy, I believe we can continue to "do more with less" resources and focus on the effective implementation of programmes that are essential to lift our people out of extreme poverty.

3 5.
3 5.

The budget allocations of the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare takes into consideration the national call to eradicate poverty in line with the National Development Plan 5 (NDP 5) the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) and the Implementation Plan of the Blueprint on wealth redistribution and poverty eradication.

6.
6.

The Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare remains committed to the effective execution of its mandate, which is to initiate, implement and coordinate social development programmes aimed at eradicating poverty and promoting the well-being of all Namibians".

Honourable Chairperson of the Whole House Committee Honourable Members, 7.
The Budget of the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare is clustered under three MTEF programmes, as follow: • Programme 1: Provision of Social Protection • Programme 2: Strategy Formulation and Monitoring, and • Programme 3: Policy Co-ordination and Support Services; 8.
I will now present the 2018119 budget allocation to the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, while elaborating on the activities, achievements attained during the 2017/18 financial year and the requested allocation for each of the above mentioned programmes.

4 Programme 1: Provision of Social Protection 10.

Social protection is one of the core programmes of the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare.
The main purpose of this programme is to administer social grants to eligible Namibians who have attain the age of 60 and Namibians with disabilities who are between the age of 16 and 59.

11.

The Ministry is committed to increase the coverage for the social grants in order to reach all eligible beneficiaries.

In this regard, the Ministry recorded an overall increase in the number of social grant recipients from 204,621 beneficiaries in 2016/17 to 211,447 during the 2017/18 financial year.
The Old Age Grant beneficiaries increased from 165,376 to 170,386, and the Disability Grant beneficiaries, increased from 39,245 to 41,061 during the period under review.

Furthermore, the Ministry has implemented the increment of the social grants from N$I,100 to N$I,200 per month, for the 2017/18 financial year.

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12.

As the result of the announced increase in the budgetary allocation for social assistance by the Minister of Finance, the social grants administered by the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare will be increased by N$50 per month to reach N$1,250 per month, during the 2018/19 financial year.

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13.

In order to effect the social grant payment to the eligible recipients, the Ministry utilizes three different payment modes; through the banks, Nampost and cash distributor, which is Epupa Investment Technology.

In our strive to bring services closer to our people, the number of pay-points for the cash payment mode were increased from 1,347 in 2016/2017 to 5 reach 1,388 at the present.
The Ministry has therefore allocated an amount of Seventy Seven Million Namibian Dollars, N$77 million for the 2018/19 financial year, to facilitate the provision of these services.

14.

During this financial year, an amount of Three billion, One Hundred and Seventy Million Namibian Dollars, (N$3,170,OOO,OOO)is allocated to social assistance transfers to old age and disability grant beneficiaries.

As a proportion of the Vote allocation, social grants make up 92 % of the Ministry's total budget allocation.
An amount of Twenty Six Million Two Hundred and Twenty Seven Namibian Dollars (N$26,227,OOO) is allocated to the administration of social grants.

15.

The Ministry pays a maximum of N$3,200 funeral cover per beneficiary, to ensure that social grant beneficiaries are accorded a dignified burial.

A total 0[7,526 funeral claims were registered during the 2017/18 financial year.

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16.

The Ministry has previously contracted a service provider to administer the payment of funeral cover claims to the undertakers.

As a cost saving measure, the Ministry will directly handle payments to the undertakers effective from the 01 August 2018, upon the expiry of the contract on the 31 July 2018.

The Ministry has allocated an amount of Fifty Six Million Namibian Dollars (N$56 million) for funeral benefits.

6 Honourable Chairperson of the Whole House Committee Honourable Members 17.
The second main activity under Programme one (l) is poverty eradication programmes, which include the food bank management programme.

18.

The Ministry continued with the provision of dry food parcels to identified beneficiaries in the Khomas region during the 2017/18 financial year.

The number of food bank beneficiaries in the Khomas region reduced from an initial 22,354 households to 15,158 to date.
The reduction was a result of the streamlining of eligibility criteria for the identification of food bank beneficiaries by the Ministry, in order to cater for the people who are most affected by hunger poverty.

The Ministry through the Multi-Disciplinary Research Centre (MRC) of the University of Namibia (UNAM) conducted an assessment of the food bank pilot programme in the Khomas region.
The results of the assessment confirmed the positive impact made by the food bank in the lives of many who could not afford food items previously.

19.

The Ministry started with the process of rolling out the food bank programme to other regions of the country during the 2017/18 financial year.

The training of street committee members and identification of eligible beneficiaries were started in the Hardap and 1lKharas regions based on the refined and streamlined criteria.
The Ministry has utilized an amount of Seventy Nine Million and Seven Hundred Thousand Namibian Dollars (N$79,7 million) for the provision of food to identified beneficiaries during the period under review.

For the 2018/19 financial year an amount of Fifty Two Million Three Hundred and Nineteen Thousand Namibian Dollars (N$S2,319,OOOmillion) is allocated to the 7 acquisition of food parcels.
An additional amount of Fifteen Million Two Hundred Forty One Thousand Namibian Dollars (N$15,241,000) IS allocated to the administration of the food bank programme.

20.

The Ministry will therefore continue with the cost cutting measures to ensure that only those in dire need of food are registered.

This process has already started in the Khomas region, where the street committee members are re-registering beneficiaries using the new stringent criteria.
Honourable Chairperson of the Whole House Committee Honourable Members 21.

The Ministry has received cash donations of Two Million Nine Hundred Fifty Seven Thousand and Five Hundred Namibia Dollars (N$2,957,500) and in- kind donations valued at One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Namibian Dollars (N$120 000.00) during the 2017/18 financial year.
The in-kind donations, mainly food items, were channeled to needy people through soup kitchens, kindergartens and other charity organizations; as we value and recognize their contribution to poverty eradication efforts in the country.

22.

During the 2017/18 Financial Year, the Ministry has donated food items to Twenty (20) Welfare Organizations and individuals valued at One Hundred Ninety Two Thousand, Five Hundred and Thirty Four Namibia Dollars (N$192,534.00).
I am determined to ensure that the cash donations will be made available to eligible beneficiaries to enable them to engage in sustainable socio-economic projects, during the current financial year.

8 23.

The Ministry is requesting an amount of Three Billion, Three Hundred Twenty Nine Million, Two Hundred and Twenty Seven Thousand Namibia Dollars (N$3,329,227,OOO) to implement the activities under Programme one (1), during the 2018/19 Financial Year.
Honourable Chairperson of the Whole House Committee Honourable Members: Programme 2: Strategy Formulation and Monitoring 24.

Under this programme, the Ministry oversees the coordination of the implementation of activities under the Blueprint on wealth redistribution and poverty eradication and the Zero Hunger Strategy Roadmap.

25.

The Ministry conducted popularization workshops for the Blueprint and its Implementation Plan, covering all the regions.
The Ministry started with the implementation of the activities under the Blueprint as per the implementation plan.

These activities are being implemented in collaboration with the Ministries of Urban and Rural Development; Agriculture, Water and Forestry; Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation; Higher Education, Training and Innovation; and Gender Equality and Child Welfare.

9 26.
9 26.

The Ministry has started with the development of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework to fast tract and monitor the implementation of the activities under the Blueprint and the Zero Hunger Strategy Roadmap.

27.

The Ministry has embarked on a social protection reform process, to strengthen, expand and consolidate the social protection systems in the country.
Through this process, the Ministry will ensure an inclusive social protection system that will cater for those that are excluded by the current system; consolidate the fragmented systems and the development of a national social protection policy.

28.

A roadmap was developed during a social protection seminar, the Ministry hosted during the period under review.
The Ministry, with the assistance of the European Union, is in a process of recruiting a social protection expert to assist with the social protection reform.

The process of investigating the feasibility of a social single registry for an integrated social protection system was started during the 2017/18 financial year.

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29.

The Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare together with the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation has embarked on the development of an Entrepreneurship Development Programme, well known as Empretec, during the 2017/18 financial year.

The programme is designed to provide training and mentorship to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMB), to assist them with business formation and enhance employment creation and reduce poverty.
The programme targets the extremely poor, unemployed youth, unemployed women (the expected 10 majority beneficiaries), and the unemployed from the marginalized groups and communities countrywide.

30.

The Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development will be the implementing agency of this programme.

The implementation plan for the Empretec programme will be tabled in Cabinet by the end of April 2018.

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31.

The Ministry requests an allocation of Four Million, Six Hundred and Ninety Five Thousand Namibia Dollars (N$4,695,OOO)for the activities under Programme 2 for the 2018/19 financial year.

Honourable Chairperson of the Whole House Committee Honourable Members Programme 3: Policy Coordination and Support Services 32.
This programme includes activities related to policy supervtsion, administration of support services, financial and human resources management, and other auxiliary services to other functions of the Ministry.

The Ministry together with the Public Service Commission will ensure that key positions are filled during the current financial year to ensure effective service delivery.

33.
33.

For the execution of the activities under this programme, an amount of Thirty Seven Million Five Hundred and Thirty One Thousand Namibia Dollars (N$37,531,OOO)is requested during the 2018/19 financial year.

11 Honourable Chairperson of the Whole House Committee Honourable Members 34.
As I conclude, I want to agree with His Excellency the President, Dr. Hage G. Geingob, that this year should be indeed a year of reckoning, a year in which practical implementation should be the order of the day and a year in which our people should start to see tangible results.

I therefore want to call upon those tasked with the implementation of the programmes under this budget Vote, that implementation is long over-due and there is no more room for complacency, it is indeed judgement time.

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35.

Allow me to thank the Deputy Minister of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, Hon.

Aino Kapewangolo, the Food Bank Special Advisor Ambassador Angel Dalmau, The Permanent Secretary Mr. I-Ben Nashandi and the entire staff of the Ministry for making the motivation of this budget vote possible.
Honourable Chairperson of the Whole House Committee Honourable Members, 36.1t is now my distinct honour to present to this august House, the expenditure request for the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare for the 2018/19 financial year, which amounts to Three Billion, Four Hundred Thirty Nine Million, and Thirteen Thousand Namibia Dollars (N$3,439,013,OOO.OO)for its kind consideration and approval.

I thank you support.

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