The goal of REDIPPSA, the Social Protection Policy Implementer’s Network in Argentina, is to learn from others to improve the management of unemployment programs, family allowances and pensions for people who need better care.
After just one year in operation, the provinces of La Rioja, Salta, Mendoza, San Juan, Tierra del Fuego, Misiones, Neuquén and Santa Fe have all joined the network and are already sharing their experiences and the challenges they face. In the coming weeks, the province of Cordoba will join as well.
REDIPPSA is a World Bank initiative funded by the Spanish Trade Office, which seeks to help strengthen Argentina’s Social Protection System, both at the national and provincial level.
Rafael Rofman, leading Social Protection specialist at the World Bank, shared that the network promotes the exchange of experiences and sets standards for program quality between people and the agencies responsible for social protection programs in the provinces and throughout the country. "The Bank's role is to create the space for this exchange," he explained.
Real network, virtual community
An innovative element of the network is the opportunity it provides for members to participate in a virtual community hosted at www.redippsa.org, where documents and experiences can be shared and members are encouraged to debate and exchange dialogue about social protection programs.
"The goal is that experts in the area of social protection throughout the country can share their experiences in an honest way, from their expectations at the time they design policies, to their successes, mistakes and solutions," said Juan Martín Moreno, Social Protection Economist at the World Bank.
Moreno added that another objective of the network is to build a database of all of the participating provinces to facilitate the analysis, discussion and design of better policies and programs.
The Network also provides members with video-conferences in which other social protection experiences that have proved successful in Latin America are presented.
In March, officials from the Ministry of Social Development of Uruguay presented their social programs monitoring system, and in June, representatives of the Ministry of Labor of the Dominican Republic shared their experience with the program "Youth and Employment."
Learning together
The kick-off for entry into the network is a workshop, divided into four modules that provide an overview of the programs in the country and cover the theoretical aspects of social protection programs, the design and management features of the programs and the experiences of local initiatives.
Lastly, each province describes their main social protection initiatives and all workshop participants are invited to join the Network.
All REDIPPSA members participated in a seminar held on June 21 and 22 in Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, where they gathered and learned from the initiatives that were designed and implemented by their colleagues in other provinces.
Representatives from Argentina’s National Government and academics also attended and presented on the experiences of Mexico and Argentina.
