Ministry of finance introduces unified beneficiary registry in Nsanje
Government through the Poverty Reduction and Social Protection (PRSP) Division in the Ministry of Finance, Economic planning and Development (MOFEPD) is implementing a Social Support System Strengthening Program (SSSSP) which will also be achieved by a national data base known as the unified beneficiary registry (UBR).
The program, whose objective is to improve programme efficiency and effectiveness will be achieved through the harmonization of targeting processes and the development of the UBR for social support programmes in Malawi.
In an interview with chief economist in the ministry of finance, Susgo Luhanga Chirwa, on the sidelines of a district sensitizing meeting in Nsanje, said the unified beneficiary registry is a national data base that will contain household information from different areas.
“We have consolidated program criteria for different programs in Malawi under the Malawi national support program including public works program, social cash transfer program and the micro finance program and UBR is being used as a tool to collect information at household level in all the communities in Malawi,’’ said Chirwa.
The data collection so far has made a progress in 16 districts in the country and initially the information was being collected for only 50% of the households but now the coverage has been increased to 100% and out of the 16 districts, 100% of the data have been collected from 6 districts.
Chirwa also added that the ministry has been prompted to establish this national database which will ensure efficiency and effectiveness which has been a challenge due to improper coordination.
‘‘The challenges that we had been facing were that there was no proper coordination between the institutions in the districts as well as at national level and the ministry has been implementing SSSSP and structures that will ensure that there is no parallel structures,’’ said Chirwa.
Meanwhile, the ministry is urging community leaders and the community to play their role by working hand in hand with the ministry in order to achieve 100% of the registry process.
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