EVD Risk Allowance System Risk Allowance Payment Program for … · 2020-05-01 · Payments made to ERWs to date Months ERW Count Amount Paid November Cycle 1 14,239 $ 1.3 Millions

EVD Risk Allowance System Risk Allowance Payment Program for Ebola Response Workers

Sierra Leone Hazard Payments Team18 May 2015

Private and Confidential

Key Stakeholders

• The payment process was originally managed by Ministry of

Health and Sanitation but since November 1, 2014 was

transferred to the National Ebola Response Center (NERC)

• UNDP is providing Technical and Financial Support to NERC to

develop and maintain the payment system

• Governance (from January 2015): Steering Committee was

formed consisting of NERC, UNDP, UNMEER, WB, AfDB and DFID

• Fiduciary Agent - BDO


Information Management System

Open source system:

• iDT Labs, a local software development company, was hired to

develop the system

• The system would be used to electronically update the list

• The system (nercpay.sl) is hosted on Amazon EC2cloud

• November to March: Only NERC paid ERWs (23,000 ERWs)

• March: NERC plus other paying agencies (over 31,000 ERWs)


Information Management System

• System is capable of running duplication check (algorithms)

• A biometric re-verification was completed (Feb 2015). ERWs have

photos in the system.

• Contracts/ERW ID can be issued from the system; facial

recognition tests (for duplication) can be run in the system.

• Extend the use of the system to other paying partners for

effective coordination (e.g. list updating, detection of double

dippers).


Strengthening existing payment mechanisms

The GENESIS

• September 2014: Hazard pay was introduced through the Ministry

of Health and Sanitation (MoHS)

• October 2014: Weekly payments could not be delivered on time

by MoHS; Ministry of Finance verified MoHS list.

• November 2014: Payments transferred to NERC with support

from Ministry of Finance and UNDP


Method of Payments by NERC till date:

• November 2014: Direct CASH payment (bi-weekly)

• December: Mobile Money through MNOs and Splash Cash was

introduced (bi-weekly)

• January 2015: Mobile Money and Splash Cash (shift to monthly)

• February and March: Combination of banks and MNOs/Splash

(monthly)

• April: All government staff to be paid through banks (monthly)

• May: All payments to be made through banks (monthly)




Key areas of focus:

1. Efficiency

• Shift from Direct Cash to majority E-Payment for timely delivery

• List management from MS Excel to automated payroll database

(nercpay.sl)

• Complaints resolution (Help Desk, Hotlines, Complaints

resolution processing)

2. Cost effectiveness

• Shift from Direct Cash (7% expense ratio) to MNOs (5% fee)

• Shift from MNOs 5% to combination of banks and MNOs (less

than 5%)

• Shift from MNOs and Banks to only banks (free of charges)



Key areas of focus:

3. Transparency

• Reporting

• Grievance mechanism

• Field monitoring

4. Accountability

• ERW verification to ensure genuine workers are paid (biometrics)

• List attestation by heads of medical facilities and district medical

officers

• Financial reconciliations (to be led by Fiduciary Agent)

• Duplication and investigation/reporting of fraud


Payments made to ERWs to date

Months ERW Count Amount Paid

November Cycle 1 14,239 $ 1.3 Millions cycle 2 15,655 $ 1.8 Millions

December Cycle 3 17,106 $ 1.5 Millions Cycle 4 19,581 $ 1.9 Millions

January Cycle 5 20,310 $ 4.2 Millions

February Cycle 6 23,040 $ 4.1 MillionsMarch Cycle 7 21,922 $ 3.9 Millions April Cycle 8 2,897 $ 0.7 MillionsTotal $ 19.3 Millions


CHALLENGES

Information Related

• List/category of facilities

• List of approved and verified beneficiaries

• Categories of workers based on levels of risks

• Lack of verified start-dates to address backlogs on an ongoing basis

Infrastructure related

• Technology

• Internet connectivity at centers

• Provision of list updation and verification by relevant authorities

• Physical

• Last mile connectivity for payment agents

• Movement of ERW between health and payment centers

• Security while moving cash to remote locations

Policy and Legal related

• Events rapidly overrun policy relevance

• Streamlining operational policies (simplicity and clarity)

• Regular salary and hazard pay paid through different agencies causing confusion

• Compliance to government audit requirements in an emergency

• No control over staff deployments

• Different response structures in districts.


Decentralization of List Management and Help Desk

• Deployment of district staff for hazard payments to assist District

Medical Officers (DMOs) and District Ebola Response

Coordinators (DERCs) in updating list.

• Other Implementing Partners (e.g. MSF) to be given access to the

database for real time list updating.

• District Help Desks to be activated


Financial Education

1. Financial education leaflet to be distributed to ERWs

2. Radio communication

3. SMS

Key messages:

• Changes in hazard pay policies and implications to ERWs

• Security of mobile wallets

• Planning – savings and expenses


After completion of Ebola management, the system can be

transferred to GoSL for Ebola recovery cash-transfer

The system is ideal for future government use as a G2P payment system as:

• The ERP system captures a wealth of information including:

• Identity Number: National ID Card or drivers license or employer ID

• Phone number

• Bank account details

• The system is also interfaced with MNOs, Splash Money and Commercial Banks and

equipped for direct cash transfers, enabling money transfer through key payment channels

• The ERP system is cloud based least expensive and fastest to implement.

• The system is also enabled for SMS based, ODK operations making it easier to operate in

remote regions.


LESSONS LEARNED

• Policy needs to be simple and clear; allows streamlined

protocols but risks are mitigated and accountability is strong.

• Technology Infrastructure such as fast internet connectivity

should be available at the earliest time possible during

emergencies

• Communication to beneficiaries should be proactive and timely

• Coordination of Donors through a Steering Committee is

effective

• Recipient identification should be addressed at the early stage of

the response (e.g. issuance of IDs)

• Legal accountability of facility heads on list of workers should be

strictly enforced at the outset

EVD Risk Allowance System Risk Allowance Payment Program for … · 2020-05-01 · Payments made to ERWs to date Months ERW Count Amount Paid November Cycle 1 14,239 $ 1.3 Millions

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