In response to the limited formal social protection mechanisms currently available in Myanmar, our partner HelpAge is piloting a social pension to help elderly people improve their lives.
The project was approved for piloting at a Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement (MoSWRR) workshop in May last year. A pilot cash transfer scheme has since been rolled out in Moe Gaung Township in Kachin State and in Pyapon Township in the Ayeyarwady Region, with HelpAge’s technical expertise and financial support from LIFT.
In Pyapon, cash grants of 10,000 MMK are being tested over a 12 month period for 154 older people, paid on a quarterly basis. U Khin Nyein (left), aged 82, explains that the grants are used to purchase better food and to help support his grandchildren. They help him and his wife to live a more dignified life.
“It is not a very big amount – only about a tenth of my monthly needs – but it is the first pension I have received in my life," he says. "I value it and use it well on good things like donations to the temple and for my health. This regular allowance means I am well-thought of and not forgotten. I am so happy about that.”
In Moe Gaung in Kachin, 733 older people receive the social pension.
Results and lessons from implementing the pilot programme will be used to inform future social protection policy, and to guide government-funded cash transfer schemes.
