Policy Watch: Issue 1 August 2022

KEY HIGHLIGHTS: 

• Despite years of progress, around half of Basotho live in monetary poverty.
• National Information System for Social Assistance (NISSA) was created as a single social registry and currently contains data of around 90% of the households.
• Integration of the social assistance programmes is the key to realizing the life cycle approach envisioned in the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS).
• The integration and enhancement of social protection system should be done through common targeting and common operational systems, NISSA and MISSA, as well as linking with mobile and digital payment solutions.
• NISSA is also a unique platform to be linked with other sectors, such as health and education to strengthen human development results.
• NISSA is also a rich source of population data that should be readily accessible to be analysed for decision making.