Officials from Ministries conclude "Diploma Course on Social Protection for the Americas"
Experience shows that in order to generate
development that is truly lasting; the institutional capacities of
countries to design and implement policies and programs for the
benefit of its citizens must be strengthened. The
“Diploma
Course on Social Protection for the Americas” that concluded
July 6, 2014, is an example of how a technical training program for
public officials, combining theory with practice and facilitating
exchanges between peers, can help reinforce national programs to
overcome poverty, vulnerability and inequality.
The Diploma course, coordinated by the OAS
Inter-American Social Protection Network (IASPN),
offered an opportunity to representatives of the Ministries and
Agencies responsible for Social Development and other government
agencies involved in social protection systems, to exchange
information on recent developments in this area.
During a 5-month period, a
total of 28 practitioners from 11 Latin American countries
participated in the course. The course followed a mixed
online-onsite methodology, including distance learning - through the
Educational Portal of the Americas - and an onsite working session
held in Chile from May 26 to June 6, 2014.
At the launch of the onsite working session, Maryse Robert,
Director of the OAS-SEDI Department of Economic and Social
Development noted, "In recent
years, many countries in the Americas have developed new ways to
tackle the complex problems of poverty and inequality, with results
that are making a real difference. The OAS, through the
Inter-American Social Protection Network (IASPN), provides a forum
to consolidate these efforts through increased cooperation. We are
convinced that countries can learn from their peers and build on
each other’s experiences."
The onsite working session in Chile was a combination of
classroom lectures, conferences by invited experts, and field visits
organized in collaboration with the Solidarity and Social Investment
Fund (FOSIS) from the Ministry of Social Development of Chile, which
provided participants with an opportunity to learn about initiatives
and social programs, and share experiences with the institution’s
implementers and users.
"The site visits were of great interest to the
international delegation" said Alexandra Barrantes, Coordinator of
the OAS-IASPN. "Representatives from the Ministries and Agencies of
social development of many countries in the Americas witnessed firsthand an
example of inter-sectorial coordination in the implementation of a
social program" she added, highlighting the support of the
Government of Chile.
The IASPN - through its knowledge-sharing platform and with the
support of various partner institutions - has become a strategic
tool to promote cooperation and training in the field of social
protection. The Diploma Course on Social Protection, which completed
its second edition, is one of many training and institutional
capacity building activities undertaken by IASPN.
In addition, the course showcases the collaborative work
undertaken by the OAS-SEDI. With financial support from the U.S.
Department of State, the course was developed with the Centre for
Public Policy at the
Pontificia Universidad Católica of
Chile. Contributions from guest
experts were provided by the Center for the Implementation of Public
Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC) of Argentina, the Oxford Poverty and Human
Development Initiative (OPHI), and the
Regional
Centers for Learning on Evaluation and
Results (CLEAR) for Latin America and the Caribbean, located in the
Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico.
Testimonies:
“Diploma Course on Social
Protection for the Americas"
Participants of the Diploma course shared their experiences with the
OAS.
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 Jaime
Gabriel Castilla Barraza
- Head of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ministry of
Labor and Employment Promotion (Peru)
"In
Peru
we implement management by results. Generally, the Ministries
implementing this methodology also work on budgetary programs.
Year after year, they have to report to the MEF (Ministry of
Economy and Finance). Elements related to the eradication of
poverty and to the multidimensional definition of poverty are
topics that I have used in my work, specifically for this type
of documents that require technical backing."
 Andres
Gática Duhart
– Community Development Director of the City of
Cañete, National Kindergarten Board - JUNJI (Chile)
"One of the first tasks that I want to undertake is to
mainstream this concept (social protection) with all
professionals and technicians working at JUNJI, in order to have
a standardized language and to continue the efforts aimed at
strengthening social protection. In fact, we visited a field
experience from FOSIS and I am taking it as a proposal to my
region."
 María
Elena Quilodrán – Director General, Directorate of
Analysis and Evaluation of Social Policy, Ministry of State for
Development and Social Inclusion (Honduras)
"All the topics that we discussed in the
diploma course, social protection, inequality, vulnerability,
social risk, are themes related to our day to day work.
Receiving so much conceptual richness in such a reduced training
space truly gives us an enlightened vision. In particular, the
statistical topic extrapolated to other countries gave me a very
interesting background that I have used, mainly in the social
protection inter-sectorial committee that I chair, given that we
are now in the implementation stage of a social protection
policy in Honduras. Beyond the conceptual aspect, there was also
a very rich an appropriate selection of literature, which is
valuable due to its applicability in both practice and
discourse."
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