Technical assistance to improve social protection coverage in Mauritius

Strengthening the social protection system in Mauritius to better take into account of people’s needs.

The Covid-19 crisis has severely affected Mauritius, especially on the economic front with strategic sectors hard hit, such as tourism and the textile industry. There are also consequences on employment and incomes which weaken the most vulnerable populations.

In response to the global health crisis, France, through Agence Française de Développement (AFD), has signed a financing agreement for a €300 million (13.5 billion rupees) contingent loan to the Government of Mauritius. This public policy loan aims to give impetus to a sustainable and low-carbon economic recovery, resilient to the negative effects of climate change, natural disasters and potential future health crises. Its objective is to support four sectors: health, gender inequality, the economy and social protection.

Strengthening social protection for the Mauritian population

In the context of this contingent loan, Expertise France is implementing technical assistance which aims to strengthen the social protection system in Mauritius in order to help take people’s needs into account.

It is supporting the establishment of a progressive crisis recovery strategy to ensure continued support for those who need it. It involves:

• Improving the coverage of social protection and welfare systems and strengthening the capacity of these systems to respond to crises;

• Establishing an extensive dialogue on gender inequality and its impact on the Mauritian economy, by targeting employment sectors dominated by women;

• Setting up a monitoring-evaluation system in order to refine social protection policies.

An action programme divided into two phases

The technical assistance is organised in two phases.

The first phase (November 2020 – May 2021) is addressing the urgent requests of the Ministry of Social Integration, Social Security and National Solidarity (MISSSN). It is focusing on the following activities:

• Improving social transfer programmes;

• Improving the monitoring and evaluation system of social protection programmes;

• Developing an action plan for phase 2.

The second phase, which has been developed for a period of 18 months, will provide long-term support to the Ministry’s teams and develop cooperation between stakeholders in the Mauritian social protection system and their French counterparts:

• Diagnostic of the capacity of social protection systems to respond to crises;

• Analysis and strengthening of social welfare programmes;

• Extension of the coverage and financial sustainability of the social protection system;

• Integration of the measures put in place in response to the Covid-19 epidemic;

• Increase in data exchanges between stakeholders.