Evaluation of the Single Parent and Foster Care Social Protection Schemes in the Maldives
June 2021
Highlights
According to the Government of Maldives’ (GoM) Strategic Action Plan (SAP) 2019-
2023, social protection comprises a broad definition consisting of social security,
social assistance, and welfare programmes. This report presents findings of an
evaluation focusing on two schemes within the social protection sector, namely the
Single Parent (SPA) Allowance and the Foster Care (FCA) Allowance. These are the
main child-focused social protection schemes provided by the Government of the
Maldives, implemented by National Social Protection Agency (NSPA). This
evaluation has been conducted by a team of Development Pathways, as part of
UNICEF’s support to the Government of the Maldives in the improvement of child-focused
social protection services.
The study has been conducted using a number of criteria that are based on a
modification of the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria. The criteria used for this
evaluation include: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, child-focused,
rights-based and gender equality. Due to limitations for evaluating these schemes in
the absence of baseline data or budget availability for further data collection, the
study did not measure impacts of the scheme. Rather, focus was placed on the
efficacy of the schemes in addressing the key vulnerabilities idenfied by
respondents through qualitative evaluation, which has been contextualised by desk-based
literature research. It analysed the overall national social protection systems
of the Maldives, specifically assessed the operations of the SPA and FCA schemes
using the above mentioned criteria, and made recommendations for a more
comprehensive child-sensitive social protection programme for the Maldives.
