Seychelles takes stock of impact of progress on society |16 November 2016

Seychelles is working on a document to assess the different risks resulting from modern development and their impact on people, families, communities, services and institutions in the country.

The social impact assessment (SIA) framework document is considered an important step as the country needs to better consider the positive and negative social consequences when drafting policies, programmes, plans and projects and any social change resulting from these developments.

Discussions to develop the SIA was officially launched on Monday during a half-day workshop at the Seychelles Trading Company’s conference room.

Representatives of different stakeholder organisations and agencies took part in the session organised by the social development and policy planning division of the social affairs department which will be conducting the work expected to last a period of six months.

Four expert consultants from South Africa are providing their expertise for the project and this thanks to a grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The team of consultants is being led by Dr Ilse Aucamp a social worker, researcher and consultant and San-Marie Aucamp, a psychologist from Equispectives Research and Consulting Services.

The Minister for Health and Social Affairs Jean-Paul Adam launched the discussions in preparation for the document.

Minister Adam said such a framework document is an important element in reinforcing the government’s deep seated philosophy that people should be at the centre of development.

“We believe we are only successful as a nation if we can support the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society in the most inclusive way possible,” Minister Adam said.

Noting the changing nature of development, Minister Adam remarked that it is not only about needs but also about opportunities.

He said the SIA framework will allow us to better support the whole of our society ensuring that not only those vulnerable and marginalised receive support but also have a framework which will allow us to harness the abilities of all members of our population creating opportunities for all.

Minister Adam noted that while Seychelles has worked hard, has made and is still making good use of its opportunities in development compared to many of its peers, we still need to better define the quality of development we need.

“While there is no denying the benefits that developments have brought in our lives, we are also conscious that not everything has been positive. We realise that there are fundamental changes that have taken place in our social systems and institutions – families, workplaces and gender relations,” he pointed out, noting that this has disrupted many traditional support systems.

While the government remains committed to a long-term plan to raise the standard of early childhood development, Minister Adam said our society is faced with a situation where child care support is strained, many marginalised members of society are victims of substance which create cycles of self-destruction that impacts heavily and negatively on families and communities and feed the cycle of poverty.

Minister Adam stressed that the work ahead to come up with the assessment framework will allow us to better identify the risks resulting from today’s modern reality so that we can better deal with them.

Dr Ilse Aucamp said apart from consultation workshops they will be meeting a wide range of other stakeholders namely from the private sector, civil society which have many roles to play in formulating an assessment framework which is  well adapted to the Seychelles context and specificities.