Thursday 08 / October / 2026
Muscat: As part of national efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of Oman's social protection system, the Social Protection Fund is working with UNICEF and the International Labour Organization (ILO) to develop an integrated national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for social protection programmes. The work is aligned with Oman Vision 2040, the Eleventh Five-Year Development Plan (2026–2030), the Social Protection Law promulgated by Royal Decree No. 52/2023, and other relevant national frameworks.
The system will provide a unified national framework for measuring the performance of social protection programmes, monitoring their results and assessing their impact on individuals and families, both citizens and residents. It will support evidence-based decision-making and strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of social policies and programmes.
Development began around a year ago through a series of technical meetings and in-depth consultations with government entities and partners, including the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour. The consultations focused on understanding the programmes, services, performance indicators and results linked to social protection across sectors, for both Omani and non-Omani workers. The process has produced an integrated results framework with performance indicators, and a monitoring dashboard that tracks progress and measures results and impact at national and sectoral levels, strengthening coordination among the institutions involved in social protection.
The system will complement the National Social Protection Platform being established by the Social Protection Fund, which will bring together data, indicators and analysis on social protection and strengthen the use of data in planning, policymaking and programme development.
"Developing the monitoring and evaluation system is a pivotal step towards strengthening governance and transparency across the social protection system," said Dr Faisal Al Farsi, CEO of the Social Protection Fund. "It reflects the Fund's commitment to working in an integrated way with its partners to deliver tangible and sustainable results for the citizens and residents who benefit from social protection programmes, by improving their efficiency and effectiveness."
"UNICEF is proud to support national efforts to strengthen evidence-based social protection systems," said Sumaira Chowdhury, UNICEF Representative in Oman. "This system is an advanced model of multisectoral collaboration to measure results and improve the quality of services and programmes, creating a positive and lasting impact for children and families in Oman."
"Monitoring and evaluation are the backbone of any system that can learn, adapt and deliver real results for people," said Luca Pellerano, Senior Social Protection Adviser at the ILO. "This framework will support national institutions to use evidence to strengthen coverage, the adequacy of benefits and how they are delivered, and to assess progress towards comprehensive and universal social protection for all. We are proud to support the Social Protection Fund and national partners as Oman implements its ambitious social protection reforms."
The next phase includes completing testing and piloting of the system, building the technical capacity of the institutions involved, and strengthening data integration across partner institutions, ahead of the system's official launch and its use in monitoring and evaluating social protection programmes nationally.
