Links between poverty and lack of access to basic services are uncontested, however there is a contentious debate about whether abolition of fees is the best way to increase accessibility. Lack of direct cost for the service may obscure the limits to accessibility imposed by related costs of related items or associated services. Plus abolition of fees does not address the issue of quality of the available services. Addressing these issues within a social protection package will increase the cost. This session presented Plan's research on the issue of user fees and discuss the best ways of delivering basic services that meet the needs of poor children. The key questions in this session focused on viability and affordability of the abolition of user fees, targeting mechanisms and the impact of such measures on quality.

Speakers:

Dr Josef Decosas, Plan West Africa Regional Office

Francis Sathya, Plan International

Christina Behrendt, Social Security Department, International Labour Office
Chair:

Angela Penrose, Grow Up Free From Poverty Coalition