Digital innovation breaks barriers to welfare access
How would you feel if the welfare payment you'd been counting on to put food on the table suddenly stopped, and you didn’t know why?
This happened to Krish*, a 32-year-old single mother of two in Sri Lanka, who’s been struggling financially to make ends meet.
As a tea plucker, she doesn’t earn enough to take care of her family’s needs. The 1,000 Sri Lankan Rupees (AUD $5.40) she earns each day is often not enough to support her two children. To help Krish, her elderly mother Vaani* came out of retirement to work a few days in the tea estate and help with the family income.
Vaani was also receiving a welfare payment for the elderly under the Samurdhi scheme, amounting to 1,000 Sri Lankan Rupees (AUD $5.40) per month. She gave this allowance to Krish to provide for her grandchildren, which was a great support to the family.
Then one day the benefit stopped without explanation. It was only when Vaani and Krish took the time to go to the bank that they were told their payments had been discontinued.
“No one from the government informed us, and we didn’t have any system to notify us either. Since we don’t have a TV or smartphone, we only receive information from our neighbours and other members in our community,” says Krish.
So when Krish heard about a new welfare payment scheme, she took a day off from work to make enquiries with the local government officer. It was only by doing so that both Krish and Vaani received a confirmation slip stating that they are eligible for social welfare benefits.
If Krish didn’t take the time to enquire, they would have missed out on much-needed funds for her children and family.
An app to keep families informed
The U FIND digital platform will put essential information in the palm of Krish’s hand.
Photo: Save the Children Sri Lanka.
With support from the Australian government, Save the Children developed the U FIND app. Designed with the input of Krish and countless other welfare recipients, it’s designed to help families across Sri Lanka apply and access vital social welfare information digitally.
The app expects to help families, including women-headed households, persons with disabilities, and marginalised families with children, to have equitable access to the government's social protection services.
Krish herself has been supporting the development of U FIND. She’s offering valuable insights to co-design the app, making sure it’s inclusive and accessible for women-headed households like hers.
A positive impact on families
U FIND aims to have a positive impact on families like that of Krish and her children Kavi* and Vicky*
Photo: Sejani Wilegoda / Save the Children.
Krish believes U FIND will help ease some of the barriers she previously faced, such as missing a day’s work, the cost of travel, time spent at government institutions, and accessing vital and timely information about her payments.
“With this kind of system and app, we can save a day’s salary (AUD $5.40) and save time … filing applications and getting information, etc. We will also be stress-free while we register for social welfare benefits, which we’ll be able to do peacefully from our home,” Krish shares.
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This project is supported by the Australian government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
*Names have been changed to protect identities.