Inclusion and Resilience

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The Current State of SSNs in the Middle East and North Africa Despite the needs described above, the Middle East and North Africa lags behind other regions in the efficient use of SSN resources. Most countries in the region adopt one of two approaches to SSNs: (a) relying primarily on inefficient and pro-rich universal subsidies or ration programs, effectively crowding out more effective interventions; or (b) offering a multitude of small and fragmented programs that do not have a significant impact on poverty and inequality because of their low coverage, high leakage, and limited benefit levels. Universal Subsidies at the Expense of More Effective Programs Subsidy spending in the Middle East and North Africa is much higher in both absolute and relative terms than it is in other regions. In particular, the region’s countries spend, on average, 5.7 percent of GDP on subsidies, as opposed to 1.3 percent of GDP in the average benchmark developing country, as figure 13 shows. With the notable exception of Iraq, the region’s countries spend much more on the more distortionary and pro-rich fuel subsidies (4.5 percent of GDP on average) than on food subsidies and ration cards (1.1 percent of GDP on average), as shown in figure 14. Subsidies capture substantial financial resources that could be spent on more efficient and effective SSN programs, as noted in figure 15. Subsidies aside, SSNs in the Middle East and North Africa are fragmented among many small programs. Administrative data collected as part of this study (Middle East and North Africa SSN Inventory, see Annex A.1 for the description of the methodology) show that nonsubsidy SSNs in the region are fragmented among many small programs (see figure 16); for example, in Morocco, 12 different programs all aim at increasing school enrollment. 3 19
20 Figure 13 SSN Spending with and without Subsidies, Middle East and North Africa Relative to Other Developing Countries, c. 2008–11 % of GDP 15 12 9 6 3 0 Middle East and North Africa Comparator sample of developing countries Lebanon 2008 Djibouti 2011 Food and fuel subsidies Nonsubsidy SSNs The Way Forward for Social Safety Nets in the Middle East and North Africa Bahrain 2010/11 Sources: Authors’ calculations based on Government of Jordan 2011b; World Bank 2009, 2010a, 2010c, 2011a, 2011b; World Bank, FAO, and IFAD 2009; IMF Fiscal Affairs Department database. Note: SSN = social safety net. Tunisia 2011 Figure 14 Food and Fuel Subsidies as Percentage of GDP in the Middle East and North Africa, Selected Countries, c. 2008–11 % of GDP 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Lebanon 2008 Djibouti 2011 Bahrain 2010/11 Tunisia 2011 Jordan 2011 Morocco 2008/09 Jordan 2011 Morocco 2008/09 Kuwait 2010 Egypt, Arab Rep. 2009 Egypt, Arab Rep. 2009 Iraq 2009 Fuel subsidies Food subsidies and ration cards Sources: Authors’ calculations based on Government of Jordan 2011b; World Bank 2009, 2010a, 2010c, 2011a, 2011b; World Bank, FAO, and IFAD 2009; IMF Fiscal Affairs Department database. Kuwait 2010 Iraq 2009 Saudi Arabia 2010 Saudi Arabia 2010 Yemen, Rep. 2008 Yemen, Rep. 2008
Page 1 and 2: Public Disclosure Authorized Public
Page 3 and 4: This booklet contains the overview
Page 6 and 7: Acknowledgments This report is the
Page 8 and 9: Abbreviations CCT conditional cash
Page 10 and 11: Executive Summary Transitions are d
Page 12 and 13: not only about the technical aspect
Page 14 and 15: Prioritizing interventions that pro
Page 16 and 17: alances and free up resources for o
Page 18 and 19: Overview There is currently an unpa
Page 20: livelihood, and resilience) and ill
Page 23 and 24: 6 Livelihood, by protecting agains
Page 26 and 27: Key Challenges that Call for Renewe
Page 28 and 29: Figure 4 Prevalence of Wasting Rela
Page 30 and 31: shows that poor young men are more
Page 32 and 33: Figure 10 Share of Population Livin
Page 34: and Sana’a, Republic of Yemen, sh
Page 39 and 40: 22 Figure 17 Coverage by Nonsubsidy
Page 41 and 42: 24 Figure 19 Beneficiary Incidence
Page 43 and 44: 26 Figure 21 Poverty and Inequality
Page 45 and 46: Egypt and Iraq, food ration cards r
Page 47 and 48: 30 Figure 23 Self-Reported Poverty
Page 49 and 50: 32 Figure 25 Opinions about Respons
Page 51 and 52: 34 GDP). Raising awareness of the c
Page 53 and 54: 36 Figure 29 Support for Conditiona
Page 55 and 56: upper-middle income, or rich were l
Page 58 and 59: The Way Forward Making Safety Nets
Page 60 and 61: Improve the Impact of SSN Programs
Page 62 and 63: tive, eligibility criteria, and ben
Page 64 and 65: Annex A.1 Description of the Data S
Page 66: Country Survey Year Description Mul
Page 69 and 70: 52 Pro-Poor? From Static to Dynamic

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