President Hilda C. Heine promotes social safety nets for the Marshall Islands
BY GIFF JOHNSON Marshall Islands Correspondent
MAJURO, Marshall Islands — In her first 100 days in office, Marshall Islands President Hilda C. Heine announced plans for a series of unprecedented social protection programs for the Marshall Islands population.
Continuing the theme that guided her first term in office from 2016 to 2020, the president and her new government is focused on initiatives to fill gaps that currently leave segments of the population in difficult circumstances.
President Hilda C. Heine was inaugurated for a second term in January. Photo by Chewy Lin “We are getting the World Bank to look at our social protection system to see if there are any holes,” Heine said in an interview in mid-April. While the World Bank review is ongoing, she highlighted some of the social protection initiatives that are moving ahead. Many of these are based on the increased funding provided by the United States through the recently endorsed third Compact of Free Association funding package, including a $700 million injection of funds over the next four years into a Marshall Islands trust fund. The initiatives include:
A universal basic income program, that the government hopes to roll out by Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year. “We can only do so much with wages,” Heine said in reference to the announced government plan to incrementally raise the minimum wage. “It’s still not enough and when we increase the minimum wage there are other consequences. In the meantime, people are suffering.”
The universal basic income program, which the government plans to fund using Compact trust fund money “will go a long way to shoring up families,” the president said. The plan is to provide a payment of between $800 to $1,000 a year to every citizen in the country. “It will bump up their standard of living by helping with everyday needs.” The universal basic income program is targeted to citizens residing in Marshall Islands. Legislation is to be introduced later this year to move the plan ahead while a task force is working out the details for the rollout. While some political leaders want it to include Marshallese in the US, the president made the point that “the new Compact provides (expanded) assistance” for Marshallese living in the US.
Raising the minimum wage from the current $3 per hour to $5.25 in the next three years. The minimum wage picture is worse than the $3 per hour standard indicates. One out of three workers in the country is currently being paid less than the minimum, according to a study released in April by the Graduate School USA. Heine said it’s essential to increase the wage levels, even though she acknowledged it will have spinoff impacts in the economy, both negative and positive. “If new minimum wage legislation is enacted, the private sector is expected to incur $18 million in additional labor costs,” said the Graduate School report.
A non-contributory social protection bill that was passed last year is in progress of implementation with the aim of rolling it out Oct. 1. This new system, which will be administered by the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration, will provide a monthly stipend to retirement age Marshallese and people of any age who are disabled, even though they have never contributed taxes to the retirement system. The government needs to set aside funding to support this program for the upcoming fiscal year. “The process (for establishing the new system) could delay implementation, but we are ensuring that it moves forward,” Heine said. She made the point that many people who are disabled “have nothing to support themselves with. We want to make sure we are leaving no one behind.”
The Early Childhood Development program that Heine engaged the World Bank to support during her first term will continue. The World Bank is supporting a more than $30 million intervention focused on addressing rampant malnutrition among children from birth to five years of age, including providing modest stipends to mothers of young children to improve their ability to purchase food or other needs of their children. Heine said, “We need reassess it at some point,” to ensure implementation is meeting the expectations established for the program.
In a new development, the president said the country “needs to look at how well we are taking care of our children.” The Early Childhood Development program is for children under five years of age. “We don’t have a good sense of how we’re doing in the five-to-18 age group,” she said, adding she wants to evaluate the situation of young people in this age group “to get a better understanding to target assistance.” What worries Heine? “What I see is kids not in school,” she said. “It’s an area that needs attention.”
All these initiatives feed into the Heine administration’s developing Agenda 2030. A three-day consultation held with Marshall Islands ministries and agencies in late March gave information to the president and cabinet that is being used to develop the plan of action that is in the process of being drafted. Heine said the new Agenda 2030 will be introduced to the Nitijela (parliament) in the August session for endorsement.
“It’s a good opportunity to take a look at where we’re at and where we want to be by 2030,” she said. mbj
