The Ministry of Social Transformation, Local Government and Community Empowerment last week hosted a national consultation to disseminate the results of a Gender Aware Beneficiary Analysis of the Saint Lucia Public Assistance Program (PAP).

The PAP was established by the Public Assistance Act of 1968, and as of April 2015, provides financial support to approximately 3000 needy households on island. For the financial year 2014/2015 the approved budget for the PAP (including the grant for children with disabilities) was EC$7.9 million.

The Gender Aware Beneficiary Analysis was intended to provide data in the context of gender based concerns to guide the ongoing Social Safety Net Reform being undertaken by the Ministry of Social Transformation.

“Through this research conducted by UN Women, we are getting a determination of whether the cash transfer program meets the needs of the targeted groups, and whether there are gaps in the program that need to be improved," Permanent Secretary Ms. Juliana Alfred said.

"The findings are important to us because although we may not be able to increase our budget, it also allows us the opportunity to tailor partnerships with other government ministries and agencies to supplement what we are already doing with the Public Assistance Program.”

Some of the findings of the analysis indicated that while most female applicants request support for their children, males request support for themselves. There is also a high demand for support among working-age women. In fact, it was noted that women under 55 make up 41 percent of those on the waiting list for PAP support.

Executive Director of the National Community Foundation, Ms. Madonna Monrose said “because of the way social issues affect different groups of people it is very important to carry out gender analyses so that in the end we know that the programs and policies we put in place will be dealing directly with the impacts of certain issues on different segments of the population.”

The consultation incited discussion and recommendations facilitated by UN Women Consultant Dr. Julie Xavier on the sort of interventions needed to address the challenges experienced by beneficiaries, from a gender and child responsive perspective.

The national consultation was hosted on May 13 -14.