The Evolution of Social Welfare in Lesotho

Résumé fourni par la source

Like many other African countries, after gaining her independence forty years ago, Lesotho has also endured a lot o f political, economic, social and cultural upheavals all o f which have in turn triggered multiple social and humanitarian problems.Some of these problems can be traced back to the colonial era.Evidently, some response measures which were instituted to ameliorate the resultant situations have mainly been inherited from colonialism as well.Thus, the welfare model and social security system in Lesotho have been founded on Western European institutional policy framework which placed greater emphasis on the residual welfare system.Since gaining independence, Lesotho has undergone great social change which requires even a stronger multi-sectoral intervention from Government, voluntary and private sectors.This paper is therefore an attempt to trace the history (the nature and scope) o f Social welfare in Lesotho.Firstly, the paper will focus on the influence of the social, cultural, economic and political histories on the current Social welfare system.Secondly, it will then look into the Social welfare system in Lesotho before and after gaining independence.Finally, the discussion will look at the contemporary and future challenges on the Social welfare system in attempting to overcome people's needs.The Evolution of Social welfare in Lesotho 2002 it was inclusive of 68% of the households who were found to be poor on the basis of income levels (Wason and Hall, 2002).Thus, according to Sechaba consultants (2000), two-thirds of the population lived in destitution with barely enough cash income to satisfy basic food needs.The 16,h follow up session of the world summit for social development has indicated that to a very great extent persistent inequalities also exacerbate poverty, high unemployment rates, lack of access to resources like land and further limit the productive capacity of the poor people.Thus, the increasing and unbearable conditions of poverty which can be closely linked to the declining agro-economy, the increasing population and increasing demand for food forces (Chronic food insecurity), have also compelled the Basotho to seek alternative means of livelihood, failing which they have to resort to social welfare schemes to get protection against contingencies they are confronted with.According to Zastrow (1995:5), social welfare can be broadly defined as a "nation's system of programs, benefits and services that help people meet those social, economic, education, and health needs that are fundamental to the maintenance of society".Recently, one major problem that has severely hampered the Basotho's wellbeing has been HIV/ AIDS.Not only has this had a very debilitating effect on the country's economic situation, but evidently, the premature death of parents has also increased the number of orphans.As the number of AIDS related deaths increases, the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) increases (Kymario et.al., 2004).This increase is likely to create a vicious circle as already stretched coping mechanisms are unable to respond, thereby increasing the risk and vulnerability of these children (United Nations, 2004).Overstressed and in many cases already overwhelmed, the extended family networks face ever-greater burdens as the number of orphans continues to spiral upward (UNICEF, 2005).In view of these problems, there is a huge challenge facing both the old and the young as the essence of assisting one another through the extended family has lost its grip.I his is indicative of the detriment of the informal systems in meeting personal needs.Wason and Hall (2002) have noted a sharp decline in the number of households that are able to assist poorer relatives and the lapse of traditional support mechanisms which are not able to maintain the increasing number of destitute households. 1 hey further observe the failure of the market-driven economy to distribute wealth to the poor as it is not being compensated for by official safety net projects or social welfare efforts.Thus, although some formal strategies for alleviating human suffering and providing an acceptable minimum standard of living have been instituted, Lesotho being a developing country cannot afford to maintain the full-tledge social welfare system.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.