Social Protection in Mozambique is defined by the Law Number 3/2007. The Social Protection System can be divided in three levels, namely: Basic Social Security, Compulsory Social Security and Additional Social Security.
The Basic Social Security System benefits national citizens who are incapable of work and without capacity to satisfy their basic needs. Therefore, this category includes people in situation of absolute poverty; children, the elderly, persons with disabilities in difficult conditions and people with chronic and degenerative diseases. This system is managed by the Ministry for Women and Social Action through the National Institute of Social Action of Mozambique (INAS), a public institution created in 1997. The institution aims to implement social assistance and development programmes to fight poverty in Mozambique.
Under the Basic Social Protection, there are a few programmes, namely: the Food Subsidy Programme, the Direct Social Support Programme, the Income Generation Programme, the Social Benefit for Work and the Community Development Programme.
The Direct Social Support Programme provides emergency support in situations demanding direct intervention by the Government to people who are in an absolute state of poverty. The Social Benefit for Work aims to create opportunities for social-economic reinsertion in productive activities for human development. The Income Generation targets individuals that possess work ability and are assisted with agricultural inputs, production instruments or cash for developing certain activities according to the local conditions. In the Community Development Programme, the objective is the building of social infrastructure for the communities to access basic services.
At the second level, the Compulsory Social Security encompasses employees from the public and the private sectors. It is managed by the Ministry of Finance and by the Ministry of Work, respectively, and includes pensions, sickness and invalidity benefits.
Formal sector employees are also covered by legislation on minimum standards providing for a minimum wage, maternity leave and breast-feeding rights for women, and the prohibition of discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.
At the third level, there is the Additional Social Security, which reinforces the provision of compulsory social security. It is managed by private or public entities and is designed for self-employed workers.
Furthermore, in-kind transfers (food, school materials etc.), cash for work programmes, loans, community development programmes, health and education fee waivers and drug subsidies are part of Mozambique’s Social Protection Strategy.
Mozambique also has concerns about the promotion of Food and Nutritional Security. In December 1998, the Food and Nutritional Security Strategy was approved and the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security under the Ministry of Agriculture of Mozambique (SETSAN) was created to coordinate the formulation of policies, planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of actions for improving the living conditions of the populations in situation of food insecurity.
In 2007, the Second Food and Nutritional Security Strategy (ESAN II - Estratégia de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional II) was launched, aimed at increasing the purchasing power of the Mozambican families, reducing the incidence of acute malnutrition and guaranteeing the food self-sufficiency of the country. ESAN II is underpinned by five pillars: production and availability of the food; access to food; use of food; adequacy of food; and stability over the year.
Social security arrangements have been covered almost exclusively through two parallel government systems. Pensions, sickness and invalidity benefits for private formal sector employees are covered by the Ministry of Labour; while the Ministry of Finance administers a similar scheme for civil servants.
Formal sector employees are also covered by minimum standards legislation providing for a minimum wage, maternity and breast-feeding rights for women and prohibiting discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. As well, in kind transfers (food, school materials etc.), cash for work programmes, loans, community development programmes, health and education fee waivers and drug subsidies are part of Mozambique’s Social Protection Strategy.
Mozambique’s social protection strategy focuses primarily on subsidised education and basic health, with diffused activities geared to address food insecurity.
Under the National Programme against HIV/AIDS cash transfers of +/- USD100 per year and home-based care are provided for affected individuals. This programme reaches 5,500 people.
The Minimum Income for School Attendance cash transfer programme is a pilot programme that provides minimum income for school attendance. It is managed by the Ministry of Education, supported by ILO and UNCTAD. It focuses on rural poor households with children of school age (especially targeting girls). The pilot reaches approximately 5,000 families with USD2 per month per child. This programme prioritises girls, in order to increase school enrolment ratios for girls.
The Food Subsidy Programme (PSA, or Programa de Segurança Alimentar) began in 1990 and provides a monthly cash transfer to people who are destitute and have no capacity to work, including the elderly, disabled, chronically ill (but not including those living with HIV/AIDS and TB), and pregnant women who are malnourished. The PSA is implemented by the National Institute of Social Action (INAS), a semiautonomous agency of the Ministry for Women and Social Action .
LEARN MORE:
Relatório sobre a Situação de Proteção Social em Moçambique
República de Moçambique
Briefing Paper: Coordination and Coverage of Social Protection Initiatives in Mozambique
Rachel Waterhouse
The Political and Institutional Context for Social Protection in Mozambique – A Brief Overview
Rachel Waterhouse
Mozambique Briefing Paper - Vulnerability
Waterhouse, R.,REBA
Perfil dos Beneficiários do Programa Subsídio de Alimentos
UNICEF
Perspectiva do Governo Moçambicano, o Secretariado Técnico de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SETSAN)
Edgar Cossa, Secretariado Técnico de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SETSAN)
REBA Case-Study of the Food Subsidy Programme of the National Institute for Social Action (INAS)
REBA
Proteção Social em Moçambique
Lucia Mairosse, Ministério da Mulher e Acção Social
Making Cash Count: lessons from cash transfer schemes in east and southern Africa for supporting the most vulnerable children and households.
Save the Children, Help Age International and Institute of Development Studies
