Pacific island countries need to expand social protection systems to reduce poverty, strengthen resilience to climate and economic shocks and improve social cohesion, according to a new UN policy brief.
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) says significant gaps in social protection coverage leave people in several Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) highly vulnerable to shocks, including climate-related disasters and volatility in food, fuel and energy prices.
“Social protection is both a human right and a key driver of sustainable development,” the policy brief says.
It says social protection can help households avoid falling into poverty, protect income and spending on food, health and education, and strengthen people’s ability to cope with shocks.
Coverage varies widely across Pacific SIDS.
The Cook Islands and Palau have social protection coverage of more than 90 percent, while Nauru and Fiji cover around two-thirds of their populations.
However, coverage is below 30 percent in Tonga, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
The UN says Pacific SIDS face common challenges despite differences between countries, including exposure to climate and disaster risks, commodity price volatility and the high cost of delivering services to small and dispersed populations.
The policy brief says countries do not need to build comprehensive social protection systems all at once.
It recommends starting with a limited number of affordable and well-designed guarantees while investing in delivery systems that can support gradual expansion.
“Universal social protection systems that provide adequate, predictable benefits across the life course are not built overnight,” the brief says.
For countries with low coverage and limited administrative capacity, the UN says a social protection floor with simple eligibility rules could provide a practical starting point.
The brief says age- or location-based eligibility can be easier to administer than income-based poverty targeting, which requires stronger administrative systems and can result in people being wrongly included or excluded.
It identifies tax-financed old-age pensions as one possible starting point.
The brief also highlights child grants, particularly in countries facing high child poverty, malnutrition and disrupted access to basic services.
A universal grant for children aged zero to two or zero to five could provide an initial step while allowing governments to expand coverage as systems mature, it says.
The UN says social protection is not only a welfare measure but can also support economic activity.
Predictable payments can help households maintain spending on food, health and education while protecting productive assets during economic downturns and crises.
Transfers to poorer households can also generate wider economic activity because recipients spend money on food, transport, farm inputs, services and small businesses.
The brief cites World Bank estimates of a local multiplier of about US$2.50 for every US$1 transferred to households living in poverty.
The UN also says established social protection systems can be expanded rapidly during disasters, food and fuel price shocks and other crises instead of governments having to create emergency assistance mechanisms from scratch.
The brief stresses that expanding coverage will depend on investment in the systems needed to identify beneficiaries, make payments and resolve complaints.
These include registration and enrolment systems, payment mechanisms, management information systems, links to civil registration and complaints and appeals processes.
Digital registries and electronic payments can improve accuracy and transparency, but the UN warns they must not create new barriers for people without bank accounts, reliable connectivity or easy access to government services.
Manual and offline systems may still be necessary in remote communities.
The brief also recommends designing programmes so they can provide temporary cash top-ups or expand coverage when countries face climate, food, fuel or disaster-related shocks.
The UN acknowledges that financing remains a major constraint but says gradual expansion is achievable.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that low- and middle-income countries require an average of 3.3 percent of GDP to finance universal social protection floors.
The brief says narrower programmes can cost considerably less and points to examples including Timor-Leste and Fiji, where social pensions and disability allowances have been expanded using categorical eligibility criteria.
The UN says financing should be integrated into national budgets with reliable revenue sources and programmes should be designed to remain affordable when commodity revenues decline.
It also says social protection can strengthen the relationship between taxation, public revenue and government services by making the benefits of public spending more visible to citizens.
The policy brief calls for greater peer learning among Pacific SIDS, particularly on practical challenges such as reaching remote communities, making reliable payments, updating beneficiary records, handling complaints and building administrative capacity.
International partners can assist governments with management information systems, digital payment infrastructure, programme costing and forecasting and financing mechanisms that respond to shocks.
Regional organisations, including the Pacific Community, can also support peer exchanges, shared tools and regional technical capacity.
The UN concludes that for Pacific SIDS, expanding social protection is both a development priority and a resilience strategy.
It recommends that countries select one or two simple guarantees linked to national priorities, cost them and include their financing in national budgets.
It also calls for accessible registration, payment, information and grievance systems, followed by progressive expansion as administrative and fiscal capacity grows.
“Social protection” can become durable national infrastructure for social progress and crisis response, the brief says.
