Kosovo Human Development Report 2010 - UNDP Kosovo - United ...

dium sized enterprises (SMEs): a
good job is the best possible “social
safety net.” SMEs generate more jobs
per dollar of investment than any
other branch of business - because
relatively little capital is required to
create each job. Creative support to
SMEs could include self-employment
schemes and micro-enterprise development
programmes to target the
better-qualified unemployed.
(iv) Gear social protection towards social
inclusion and improve targeting
• Re-direct social assistance resources
to the poorest families:
legislation ensures that all citizens
of Kosovo have equal access to
social and family services, irrespective
of differences in race, ethnicity,
gender, mother tongue, religion,
political affiliation, national or social
origin, birth statute or any other
difference. While this is laudable in
principle, it has grave implications
for Kosovo’s most vulnerable. There
is a clear need to enhance meanstesting
so that family benefits
are linked to concrete needs. Improved
targeting should be a top
priority of the Ministry of Labour
and Social Welfare (MLSW) and
should be supported by strengthening
the administrative structure
and capacity of the Ministry which
can be achieved through greater
clarification of the roles of local
service providers and better use of
information technology.
• Establish minimum standards for
basic social services and support
their implementation among highly
excluded groups: where illiteracy,
remote locations, lack of access
to transport or other barriers stand
between individuals and services,
the MLSW should take remedial
50 | KOSOVO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2010
action. Local social service providers
may help beneficiaries bear the
costs of housing, education, care or
legal assistance, or else find alternative
means to ensure services can
be provided in their location.
• Dedicate a higher percentage
of GDP to social spending and
social inclusion strategies: this
will allow an increase in targeted
transfers to municipal authorities
currently without sufficient financial
resources to implement social
inclusion strategies. Competencies
of municipal authorities and local
service providers could also be enhanced.
• Reform the family allowances system:
flexible family benefit schemes
are critical to alleviate poverty and
increase inclusion. Policy options
in this area include back-dating indexation
of benefit levels to cover
increased costs of the household
basket, increasing the benefit paid
to children of school age provided
they attend school (thereby linking
poverty alleviation with increased
enrolment) and abolishing the upper
limits of household benefits. A
child benefit scheme would also
have a dramatic impact on child
poverty, potentially reducing it
by eight base percentage points;
however, Kosovo’s authorities must
consider the potential administrative
cost of means testing against
the high actual cost and reduced
targeting of universal benefits. 64
• Account for the impact of the informal
economy in social assistance
– particularly for pensions:
often exploitative conditions associated
with poor health and safety
conditions, instability of employment
and lack of pension coverage