The Implementation of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme's Gender Provisions: What Works, How, and Why?

Editor's Notes

• #2: Mathilde
• #7: To examine the implementation of the gender provisions of Ethiopia’s PSNP in order to provide timely evidence to inform policy discussion in Ethiopia and assist policymakers, development practitioners, and programme implementers in making the necessary adjustments to improve the implementation and performance of the gender provisions of the PSNP.
• #8: The PSNP comprises of a variety of different components And all of these components have some gender-design elements in order to respond to the unique needs, interests and capabilities of men and women” Given the variety of different components and gender provisions, our study focuses particularly on Public Works
• #9: The public works component of the PSNP includes a variety of different gender provisions and we have focused particularly on those ones that provide direct benefits to female public workers. These are Preferential targeting Improved working conditions Childcare facilities Temporary Direct Support for pregnant and lactating women Participation in community-level decision-making structures Joint access to payments Women in supervisory roles ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Background info for Nyasha: Preferential targeting: Staff are expected to apply affirmative targeting to prioritise specific groups of vulnerable women in PSNP enrolment. The PIM states that female-headed households should be given preference among households in similar economic conditions. In other words, if two households are assessed to be equally poor, the one with a female head would be given preference in programme enrolment. The targeting guidelines also refer to polygamous households, where each wife and her children are considered as separate households, with the husband included in one of those households. Working conditions: Working conditions at public works are adapted for women in order to assist women in balancing their productive and care responsibilities. This includes three provisions: shorter working hours (50 per cent reduction of the time spent working by female clients, either as late arrival and early departure), or as a reduction in the number of working days), lighter tasks, and short distances to public work sites. By reducing the opportunity cost of women’s public works participation, these working conditions may influence the intra-household sharing of required labour contributions (described in Box 1). Women in supervisory roles: Programme manuals state that female leadership should be promoted in public works. Specifically, it is required that either the team leader or the co-team leader of each public works team should be a woman. Childcare: The PIM stipulates that childcare facilities should be built at all public work sites (or villages). This is to “ensure that people are able to adequately participate in public works, but also to ensure that the burden of childcare responsibilities do not fall on girls or boys of school-going age” (MoA, 2014, p. 140). At the heart of this provision lies the acknowledgement of the childcare work that is carried out mainly by women and girls. Temporary Direct Support: Public workers are temporarily relieved from the programme’s labour requirements under three conditions: they are (i) pregnant, (ii) mothers of children under 2 years of age, (iii) the primary caregivers of a child under 5 years of age who has been identified as malnourished. Pregnant public workers are relieved from their labour contributions as soon as their pregnancy is known (and confirmed by the Health Extension Worker). During this time, they transition from the public works component to an unconditional cash transfer called the Temporary Direct Support (TDS). They remain eligible for the TDS until the child’s second birthday, after which they can re-enter public works. Recipients of the TDS are expected to participate in a range of activities, referred to as co-responsibilities. This means that the conditionality of participating in public works is replaced with soft conditionalities that encourage (not oblige) women to use offered social services related to the health, nutrition, and development of mother and child. Since the focus of this report is female clients’ perspectives as public workers, it analyses the transition from public works to the TDS during pregnancy, but not the experiences of women during their TDS receipt. Joint access to payments: The client cards needed to access PSNP payments have become joint cards with the signatures and photographs of both spouses. In practice, this means that husband or wife can each access the transfers, which implies shared ownership of the payment and enables women to independently access and control resources. Payments are also gradually handed over to official payment providers with the requirement that payment sites should be easily accessible (within a 3-hour distance from recipients’ homes). Participation in community-level decision-making structures: A 50 per cent female quota should be used to attract women’s participation in PSNP governance structures and decision-making, e.g., in food security task forces, community care coalitions, kebele appeals committees (KACs) and annual PW planning meetings to ensure priority is given to gender-responsive projects First, households are ranked based on a proxy means-test. When deciding among households that would qualify for enrollment based on the proxy means-test, households with certain categories of vulnerability, including being a female-headed household, are given priority.
• #10: The research poses a two-fold overall research question:  How are the gender provisions of the PSNP implemented & how does their implementation influence the achievement of intended outcomes? This question is operationalized through four sub-questions: 1. To what extent are the gender provisions of the PSNP implemented as intended? This question is geared towards assessing the fidelity of the implementation of the gender provisions of the PSNP and examining what works and what does not in terms of the implementation of different gender provisions. 2. How does the institutional and operational environment of the PSNP influence the implementation of the gender provisions? This question aims to shed light on the reasons of potential implementation gaps by looking at the institutional and operational challenges for implementing the gender provisions of the PSNP. 3. How do contextual factors, and in particular gender norms, affect and mediate the implementation of the gender provisions? This question seeks to understand and reflect on how social and gender norms shape the policy perceptions of policy managers, implementers and community members and by extension affect the implementation of them. 4. What perceived gender outcomes are generated by the implementation processes? This question explores the intended results and perceived outcomes of the gender provisions of the PSNP and the way they are implemented in local communities. It draws on the previous chapters analysis of how the provisions are implemented and considers the perceived outcomes by implementers and community members.
• #11: The research combines two main theoretical approaches: the top-down and the bottom-up approach: The top-down approach is useful because it focuses on the extent and fidelity of implementation and assesses the factors influencing implementation The bottom-up approach was useful because it unveiled how the existing gender norms interact with and may impede on the implementation of the gender provisions The different perspectives led to different analytical approaches
• #14: The analysis revealed that there are implementation gaps and inconsistencies regarding most gender provisions, with the exception of preferential targeting and temporary direct support (left) (middle) work conditions and joint access to payments – were implemented with variations from the intended design or with gaps (e;.g. no uniform implementation, the application of the provisions tended to lie at the discretion of the PW supervisor). Definition of lighter work varied, women not always working less than 50% of men’s worktime, shorter distances a challenge in remote areas e.g. SNNPR, joint client cards delays. (Right) childcare facilities were rarely implemented across research sites. Similarly, there are implementation gaps related to the provision around women’s participation as team leaders and supervisors in public work; and women are still largely underrepresented in PSNP committees.
• #15: Various operational and institutional factors are inhibiting and hindering the precise and intended implementation of the provisions as required
• #16: Two important findings were generated through the bottom-up perspective and looking at the interplay between the implementation of the gender provisions and prevailing gender norms If the values and beliefs underpinning the formal gender provisions align with wider societal norms and values, the policy narratives are more likely to be adopted – at times with smaller adaptations in forms of simplification and venularization of policy rationales. - This was the case regarding preferential targeting, lighter work, reduced working time, and TDS largely align with prevailing gender norms If there is a disparity between the values and beliefs that underpin the formal policy rationale and existing norms, then the policy narratives tend to be modified substantially. ------------------------------------------------ Note for Nyasha: See additional table for further illustration of this – perhaps useful for Q&A
• #17: Two important findings were generated through the bottom-up perspective and looking at the interplay between the implementation of the gender provisions and prevailing gender norms If the values and beliefs underpinning the formal gender provisions align with wider societal norms and values, the policy narratives are more likely to be adopted – at times with smaller adaptations in forms of simplification and venularization of policy rationales. - This was the case regarding preferential targeting, lighter work, reduced working time, and TDS largely align with prevailing gender norms If there is a disparity between the values and beliefs that underpin the formal policy rationale and existing norms, then the policy narratives tend to be modified substantially. ------------------------------------------------ Note for Nyasha: See additional table for further illustration of this – perhaps useful for Q&A
• #18: Preferential targeting provisions enhance the access to resources for female headed households and women from polygamous households. However, gaps and variations in the implementations of other gender provisions had at times severe adverse implications for women Adverse implications included … Time poverty, stress, and exhaustion for women even in the cases where the provisions were implemented as they continued being responsible for both, domestic and public works Lack of childcare facilities adversely affected both female public workers and their older children (often older daughters) who had to step in to help their mothers shoulder the double burden of productive and care work. Superficial implementation of gender provisions is associated with women’s limited engagement in leadership positions and community decisions.
• #20: Additional info for Nyasha 1. .Strengthen the implementation strategy by undertaking and drawing on assessments that assess the gender provisions against gender norms in PSNP communities, and ensuring the participation of multi-level stakeholders. 1.1 Undertake gender analyses that assess the gender provisions against the socio-economic and normative context 1.2 Make sure that the implementation strategy explicitly addresses potential implementation challenges and offers adequate solutions to overcome them. 1.3 Engage multi-level stakeholders in the development of the implementation strategy 2. Ensure adequate and timely gender sensitization and training for staff and implementers at all levels. 2.1 Invest in awareness raising and sensitization of implementers at all levels 2.2 Ensure adequate and timely training for staff on the gender provisions 3. Improve monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) by increasing resources and designing a gender-responsive M&E framework and learning plan 3.1 Design an M&E framework that is suitable to assess gender-responsiveness in the PSNP. 3.2 Invest in monitoring infrastructure to reduce costs and improve quality: 3.3 Create a learning plan to ensure that information feeds back into the programme 4. Create accountability and incentive structures for the implementation of the gender provisions 4.1 Define roles and responsibilities for the implementation of the gender provisions 4.2 Strengthen gender-responsive grievance mechanisms 4.3 Create a system of sanctions and rewards for the gender provisions 4.4 Resolve conflicts of interest  5. Ensure adequate, timely and sustainable gender responsive financing 5.1 Provide earmarked budgets for the implementation of costly gender provisions 5.2 Ensure adequate financing for MEL and accountability frameworks and staff capacity 5.3 Ensure financial sustainability and long-term funding 6. Invest in strengthening an enabling community environment for the implementation of gender provisions by providing continuous awareness-raising and trainings 6.2 Ensure that clients are aware of the gender provisions 6.1 Continue providing regular social- and behaviour-change activities 7. Address barriers to the uptake of specific gender provisions 7.1 Remunerate (women’s) participation in community decision-making structures 7.2 Create a pathway for women towards leadership positions