Network Analysis of the Social Mobilization Component of Waseela-E-Taleem Program

Background:

The Government of Pakistan has initiated Waseela-e-Taleem (WT) program - a Conditional Cash Transfer program – with the objective of sustained human capital development by investing in primary education. The rationale is to educate and equip children so that they can help the family alleviate out of poverty in the long run. The program is based on a system of shared responsibilities by which the state assumes its commitment to providing cash transfers to needy households as long as the household is complying with its responsibility of enrolling its children in school and ensuring at least 70% attendance. Although the ultimate benefit of WT program is extended to a household, it is the female (mothers) that are considered the beneficiaries of the program. This means that beneficiary mothers must ensure the fulfillment of the co-responsibilities of the program and in doing so, will directly receive the cash transfers. The program is structured in this way to meet one of the objectives of the social safety net initiative, namely women empowerment.

Social Mobilization Component of Waseela-e-Taleem:

The Social Mobilization component is imperative for institutionalizing the aspect of co responsibility from grass root level of the WT program. Since the efficient functioning of the WT program relies on the fulfillment of co-responsibility by the beneficiaries, it remains extremely vital that these beneficiaries take ownership of the program and are involved at the highest level to facilitate improvements in the program. Social Mobilization serves various purposes, as outlined below:

• Instill a sense of ownership among the beneficiaries
• Motivate the non-complying beneficiaries to fulfill their co-responsibilities in order to contribute to the effectiveness of the program
• Interact with government officials to convey grievances and make recommendations to improve the processes of the WT program

Research Questions:

1. Is the social mobilization structure successful in meeting its stated objectives?
2. Is the elected committee leader the most suitable candidate for the position?

Data:

Innovative Development Strategies (Pvt.) Ltd. – a research and economic consulting firm in Islamabad, Pakistan– administers a quarterly survey to a representative sample of beneficiary committee members (belonging to same committees) that collects data on various questions including, but not limited to, the following:

• Personal information of respondents (name, religion, cast etc.)
• How often do respondent interact with her fellow committee members (with 1= no interaction and 4=extremely frequent interactions)
• What topics are usually discussed in committee sessions
• Three most important topics that the respondent would like the committee members to discuss
• Which candidate did beneficiaries vote for the committee leadership position and why
• How often do committee leaders interact with government officials

These datasets can be used in UCINET to not only spell out a network but also use important attributes to reflect upon relevant questions. Subsequently, social network analysis can easily be conducted.

Hypotheses:

It is hypothesized that:

• Pakistani society is highly fragmented along caste, sectarian and religious lines. Therefore, interactions among beneficiaries will be influenced by these factors. Subsequently, voting decisions for leadership position will also be influenced by same factors
• Since voting is not objective, members chosen to lead the committee will not be the best suited candidates

Analyses and Conclusion:

For the purpose of analysis, three committees from one district of Pakistan will be analyzed. Since the data is collected on a quarterly basis, an opportunity to analyze the structure of committees at different time periods will be available. In doing so, we will not just be analyzing a snapshot in time. Rather, certain trends can be highlighted which will be vital in drawing the right conclusions.  

First of all, to get a bigger picture, a general analysis will be conducted. Network attributes will be analyzed. Special attention will be paid to attributes such as degree centralization, average distance and density.

In order to analyze the success of Social Mobilization structure, certain factors need to be analyzed. Connected-ness of committee members is important for free information flow and exchange. It will also need to be analyzed whether the beneficiaries interacting frequently with each other (directional) share similar attributes (religion, tribe, caste etc.).  The most frequently discussed issues/topics within WT program will be analyzed and a connection will be made as to whether these topics are considered to be important by all committee members (members connected by issues vs. issues connected by members). If not, it can be concluded that not all members get a chance to equally contribute to committee discussions and these discussions are not a fair representation of members’ choices. 

It will also be important to assess whether the committee leaders possess the desired attributes to hold such positions of influence. Committee leaders are the important cogs through which information flows. Therefore, it is not only pertinent to have beneficiaries with good leadership skills but these beneficiaries must also be central to the network in a way that most information flows through them. As node attributes – for example, InEigenvector and OutEigenvector – can be important reflections upon the leadership qualities of the committee leader, committee members will be ranked according to various node attributes and then an assessment will be made whether the committee leader is in fact the most suitable candidate to lead the committee. In a scenario where committee leader is not the best-suited candidate, alternate choices will be proposed.  

Lastly, node attributes will also reveal the qualities that different committee members bring to the table. In light of this evidence, if the need be, appropriate re-structuring of beneficiary committees will be proposed whereby it will be recommended that different beneficiaries be assigned various roles based on their personal qualities. For example, a beneficiary with a desirable OutDegree and OutEigenvector will be recommended for the communication role. This communication can be between village level committees and with the government officials.

To this day, only statistical analysis has been conducted on social mobilization component of Waseela-e-Taleem. However, as social mobilization stands to be the most fundamental component, it could be highly beneficial to visualize these small networks of beneficiaries and evaluate their efficiency in meeting the desired objectives. Subsequent evidence based recommendations can hugely improve the WT program.