Red Social para Amrica Latina y El Caribe

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Progress Report on the Puente in the Caribbean
Program 2007-2008
Caribbean Conference on Horizontal Cooperation in
Social Protection Port of Spain, September 11-12,
2008
Julie Nurse, Specialist Department of Social
Development and Employment Organization of
American States
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Outline

• Background to the program
• Pilot approach
• Design considerations
• Program implementation
• Strategies employed
• Main activities purpose, outcomes and lessons
• Results Achievements and Shortcomings
• Conclusions
• Considerations in applying the lessons
• General Lessons

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Background
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Implications of a Pilot Program

• Learning by doing
• A continual process of reflection and
  programmatic adjustment
• Ongoing documentation of the processes
• Lessons applied for future programming

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Design Considerations

• Differences between Chile and the Caribbean
  countries
• Cultural and linguistic differences
• Differences in size and scale
• Vulnerability issues crime, migration, natural
  disasters
• Differences among the Caribbean countries
• Development needs
• Institutional realities
• Distinction between the transfer and the
  application of the lessons from the transfer

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Comparative Country Profiles
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Program Implementation
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Strategies employed

• Virtual Forum
• Online space designed to serve as pool for
  sharing comments, queries, concerns, responses
  and experiences related to the transfer and
  application of lessons on the Puente. A critical
  tool in transference process which facilitates
  continuous, virtual communication and training
  particularly among FOSIS tutors and Caribbean
  officers.
• Mentoring by FOSIS Tutors
• Bridge between the Puente Program and Caribbean
  participants
• Technical advice in the transfer of lessons and
  design of local programs
• Follow-up support and monitoring
• Creating a multiplier effect through the
  selection of a small group of key individuals
  from Caribbean implementing agencies
• Country Work Plans

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Activities Planning Meetings

• Purpose
• To assess the needs and expectations of
  participating countries
• To plan for the design of the program
• Outcomes
• Needs assessment from Caribbean countries
• Systematization of country needs and design of
  program based on the specific country needs and
  expectations
• Definition of key actors and roles

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Key Lesson One size does not fit all!!!
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ActivitiesProgram Launching and Introductory
Workshop

• Primary Purpose
• To bring together for the first time, the main
  actors involved in the program to share their
  experiences, needs and expectations of the
  program.
• Outcomes
• Broad theoretical understanding of Puente
  principles, methods and tools
• Reflections on the local context how can the
  Puente fit in my world?
• Identification of most urgent needs and realistic
  plans for Pilot Countries
• First country work plans developed

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Key Lesson Puente was not built in a day!!!
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Activities Internship in Chile

• Primary Purpose
• To enhance capacity in social protection
  strategies by observing the Puente Program at
  work, through field visits, lectures and
  interaction with stakeholders.
• Outcomes
• Created a more balanced view of the theory and
  practice of Puente Program
• Increased understanding of the reality for which
  the Chile Puente Program was designed
• Systematization of lessons learned which informed
  design of new local programs

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Key Lesson Effective psychosocial support is
critical to addressing the specific needs of the
families and improving quality of life!!!
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ActivitiesCaribbean Monitoring Visits

• Purpose
• To follow-up on the activities undertaken by the
  Caribbean countries in the implementation of
  their Work Plans
• To provide technical support and advice on
  progress to date and design of local programs
• Outcomes
• Enhanced knowledge on Puente Program and support
  for local programs among institutional partners,
  social workers and staff
• Increased political and institutional support for
  local programs
• Increased capacity of country teams to implement
  improved social protection strategies

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Key Lesson A well-designed communication
strategy can promote local buy-in, inter-agency
collaboration and institutional commitment!!!
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Results and achievements

• Strengthened institutional and human capacity in
  more effective social protection strategies
• Targeting
• Inter-institutional collaboration in social
  protection
• Establishment of social networks
• Family-oriented, rights based approach
• Creation or enhancement of 3 local programs which
  have integrated lessons of Puente while
  reflecting distinct country needs
• Bridge Jamaica
• Koudemain Ste. Lucie
• STEP-UP
• Political endorsement of local programs
• Development of Opportunity Maps

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Shortcomings and Challenges

• Limited use and functioning of the Virtual Forum
• Need to explore opportunities for broadening and
  deepening involvement of UWI campuses
• Delays in production and distribution of
  educational tools and materials for family
  interventions
• Language differences
• Need to assign human resources for implementation
  of work plans multiple portfolios of local staff
  can be burdensome.

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Conclusions
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Considerations in the Application of Lessons

• What are the requirements and implications of a
  shift from demand-driven to supply-side approach
  e.g. supply and quality of public goods and
  services?
• Finding appropriate strategies to address
  specific problems of rural and urban poverty
• The adequacy of current local government
  structures to support a decentralized approach to
  social development
• Transferability and applicability of current
  Puente Pillarsneed for Caribbean-specific
  pillars
• The effectiveness of a family-based approach to
  community-based, or national problems e.g.,
  unemployment, natural disasters, squatting
  crime?
• Implementing agencies are responsible for
  identifying and allocating financial resources
  for program execution

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General Lessons of the Program

• The success of a program such as the Puente,
  requires strong political will and support.
• A pilot initiative with very real implications
  for the countries involved stakeholders, budget,
  human resources, institutional demands.
• The need to allow local programs to evolve based
  on local reality and needs
• The importance of an effective monitoring and
  evaluation system from the design stage of the
  program
• There is value added in fostering collaboration,
  support and sharing among Caribbean countries
• The Puente cannot and should not be transferred
  in its totality. It is important to identify the
  key and critical components of the Puente that
  can and should be applied to the Caribbean
  context.

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Young member of graduated family shows off her
achievements
Another satisfied Puente Family
Launching in Jamaica
FOSIS team meets St. Lucia Social Network
FOSIS tutor shares the Puente board game with
Jamaican social workers
Trinidad and Tobagos Team meets with Family
Intervention Unit and Mayor of Molina