Significant strides have been made by technocrats attached to the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment, towards the design, development, and implementation of a Social Information System (SIS) that would guide decision-making as it relates to allocating resources toward vulnerable and poor populations on Saint Lucia.

Using massive amounts of collated and analyzed data, the SIS will modernize the way government ministries and agencies involved in delivering social services benefits, like the Ministry of Equity, the Ministry of Education, Health, the Public Service, NIC, the Electoral Department, the Registry, the Social Development Fund, etc., best target and deliver on those much-needed services.

“The government makes payments monthly and there are many other benefits in kind. We have the issues of identifying these persons through applications and the use of eligibility tools, which involves a lot of data management for the Ministry of Equity. Therefore the IT component of the HCRP is a major component in modernizing and strengthening the social protection system for social protection in Saint Lucia,” notes Julian Daniel Foster – HCRP Technical Coordinator with responsibility for Equity.

Throughout the entire process over the next few years, capacity will be built within the Ministry of Equity and within the social protection system for better management of data and information on poor and vulnerable persons receiving assistance from the government. 

According to Permanent Secretary Dr. Charmaine Hippolyte Emmanuel, “The system will therefore feature applicants and beneficiaries of the Public Assistance Programme (PAP) and related services, the Child Disabilities Grant, the SSDF’s Koudmein Ste Lisi and related services, and the Ministry of Equity, Government of Saint Lucia and NEMO’s Shock Response initiative.”

Local ICT consultant Bradley Oculien is heading the SIS initiative, which began in February of 2023.

The SIS forms part of the World Bank-funded Human Capital Resilience Project (HCRP), currently in its halfway phase and set to conclude in 2025.