(Em-)powered by openIMIS, the island nation Sao Tomé and Principe is effectively managing its social protection programs

In May 2023, the government of the Central African island nation Sao Tomé and Principé adopted a new digital information management system for its national social protection system. It is called "Ké-Non (= our house)" and based on the CORE-MIS solution, powered by the digital global good openIMIS.

The government’s Institute of Innovation and Knowledge is Ké-Non’s institutional home. In this initial phase it encompasses a Unique Social Registry database and key modules it needs for a conditional cash transfer program for vulnerable families: beneficiary management, user and administrator roles, dashboards and payments. In a second phase, a complaints monitoring mechanism, a geographic module and links to the Kobo data collection software will be added. In phase 3, monitoring of children’s school attendance, a calendar module and knowledge management will further enhance the capacities of Ké-Non.

To run its social protection programs, Ké-Non has links to the data systems of all the partners involved in their delivery: For the payment module it works with the Banco Internacional de São Tomé and Príncipe (BISTP), for client identification with the national civil registry of the Ministry of Justice and for the verification of students’ school attendance with the Ministry of Education. For future programs, new partners and data systems can be added.

Between December 2023 and February 2024, Ké-Non’s Social Registry data for the more than 10,000 vulnerable families eligible for the conditional cash transfer program were successfully updated. A clear sign that, powered by openIMIS, the government of Sao Tomé and Principe is effectively managing its own digital social protection information systems.