Public Finance and Value for Money for Child-Sensitive Social Protection in Guyana and Suriname

By bringing together the worlds of public finance, value for money and of social protection, this e-learning programme aimed to equip technical experts and practitioners from government and non-governmental entities, as well as from the UN, with the practical skills to assess financing options for child-sensitive social protection in Guyana and Suriname, developing tailored country financing plans. OBJECTIVES Through this training participants were be able to: 1. Identify the main ways in which governments collect revenue and describe key considerations and trade-offs. 2. Describe the key features and stages of the Public Financial Management cycle and where social protection financing can be located within this. 3. Interpret national budget documents and data, particularly in relation to child-sensitive social protection expenditure. 4. Assess the scale of social protection gaps in a given national context, and calculate the cost of filling them. 5. Identify key options for creating fiscal space for child-sensitive social protection, keeping in mind the broader context of public finance. 6. Appraise the value for money and equity of child-sensitive social protection schemes and systems. 7. Assess the cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness of interventions. 8. Conduct cost-efficiency, cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit analyses and the social return on investment of specific social protection programmes. 9. Design and advocate for medium term costed plans for financing child-sensitive social protection. CONTENT 1. Why focus on public finance for child-responsive social protection 2. Why finance social protection? 3. The fundamentals of Public Financial Management 4. Understanding national budgets 5. Analysing national budgets 6. Reforming public finance management 7. Closing social protection gaps and leveraging fiscal space 8. Costing social protection gaps 9. Public expenditure analysis and value for money 10. Equity in financing services for children 11. Developing medium to longer term financing strategies ACHIEVEMENT The course consisted of 60 learning hours divided in six learning modules. The assessment for this course, based on a total of 100 points, consisted of: 1. Introduce yourself 2. Pre-course survey 3. Wall of commitment 4. Evaluation 5. Monthly learning modules 6. Discussion Forum 7. Monthly Assignments 8. Technical Note NUMBER OF HOURS: The course on Public Finance and Value for Money for Child-Sensitive Social Protection in Guyana and Suriname consisted of 60 learning hours over a period of 5 months.