Flexibility during implementation enhances program responsiveness. The government made timely adjustments to ensure complementarities between two major assistance programs at the time—the United States’ Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act 2020 that provided unemployment benefits to citizens of Palau and the country’s own Coronavirus Relief One-Stop Shop (CROSS) Act of 2020 that provide relief to the private sector. Funding from the CROSS components with lower uptake were reallocated to those with higher demand. The gap in relative uptake for various components demonstrated that assistance directly addressing households’ livelihoods through cash transfers or alternative employment are preferred to those with more detailed documentation and repayment requirements (i.e., business loans) or lower payouts (i.e., utility subsidies). Further, the prioritization of coverage for women and girls—including in targeting assistance measures, protecting health workers (the majority of whom are women), and sustaining social protection measures—helped safeguard their welfare. The flexibility exercised by the government particularly with respect to CROSS implementation strengthened the responsiveness of the program.
Health Expenditure and Livelihoods Support Program