GSDRC newsfeed on Social protection

The Politics of What Works in Reducing Chronic Poverty

Sam Hickey — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

What forms of politics are most likely to reduce chronic poverty in developing countries? This working paper, published by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, uses comparative case-study analysis to argue that a shift is needed in donor policy. Greater attention should be paid to political instead of civil society, to the link between political discourse and poverty analysis rather than simply to poverty data, and to the importance of political contracts in sustaining pro-poor policies.

Social Assistance as An Instrument of Social Inclusion: Practices and Policy Choices

CIARIS Learning and Resources Centre on Social Inclusion — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

This draft paper from the International Labour Organisation's Centre for Learning on Social Inclusion (CIARIS) outlines the growing importance of social assistance, and reviews its place within wider social protection, labour and poverty reduction strategies. Social assistance is not a panacea against social exclusion; its limitations should be recognised and addressed through links with more comprehensive social and labour market policies.

Examining Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes: A Role for Increased Social Inclusion?

Benedicte de la Briere, Laura B. Rawlings — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Conditional Cash Transfer programmes (CCTs) provide money to poor families, contingent on specific verifiable actions such as children's school attendance or preventative health care. How successful are CCTs in addressing social inclusion and inter-generational poverty? What is their impact on social accountability relationships between beneficiaries, service providers and governments? This summary focuses on the Social Inclusion section in a World Bank paper. While CCTs hold promise, they are not a panacea against social exclusion. They should form part of comprehensive social and economic policy strategies and be applied carefully in different policy contexts.

Households and Income: Ageing and Gender Inequalities in Urban Brazil and Colombia

Maria Cristina Gomes da Conceição — Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

How are social policy and pension reforms affecting the welfare of the elderly in Brazil and Colombia? What impact are these reforms having on family structure? This paper from the Journal of Developing Societies finds that universal pension reform can mitigate the economic and domestic exclusion of poorer and rural elderly while an individual saving pension system can reinforce inequalities and reproduce gender roles of domestic submission and dependence.

Fearing Africa's Young Men: The Case of Rwanda

Marc Sommers — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Do the concentrated numbers of male youths in urban Rwanda threaten social stability? The World Bank investigates this theory, examining the concept that large concentrations of male youths are disconnected from their cultures and prone to violence due to the �youth bulge�. However, interviews with urban male youths in Rwanda indicate that they are constrained by limited opportunities rather than menaces to society. The situation confronting most Rwandan youth and most of their counterparts in Africa remains alarming - a largely silent emergency.

Rectifying Horizontal Inequalities: Lessons from African Conflict

David McCoy — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

How can countries emerging from conflict create sustainable peace and stability? This article from the African Journal on Conflict Resolution argues countries must address the horizontal inequalities that cause many violent conflicts. The examples of Mali and Rwanda illustrate steps countries can take to rectify horizontal inequalities in post-conflict environments, providing long term conflict resolution.

Utility Subsidies as Social Transfers: An Empirical Evaluation of Targeting Performance

Kristin Komives et. al. — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Do utility subsidies actually help the poor? This paper from the Development Policy Review argues that the average targeting performance of water and electricity subsidies is similar to that of other social transfer mechanisms using the same targeting method. The most common utility subsidies are consumption-based. These aim to subsidise low-volume users but primarily benefit the non-poor. Many geographically-targeted and most means-tested utility subsidies are progressive, but still exclude many poor households. Connection subsidies are an attractive alternative in low coverage areas, but they will only reach the poor if utilities extend network access to poor households and if households choose to connect.

Addressing Gender-Based Violence: A Critical Review of Interventions

A. Morrison, M. Ellsberg, S. Bott — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

How can gender-based violence be reduced? How can access to justice and support for survivors be increased? This article from The World Bank Research Observer surveys knowledge of and responses to gender-based violence worldwide and highlights emerging good practices. Multiple interventions at different levels (individual, community, institutional, legal, and policy) appear to be necessary.

Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-Conflict States: Reparations Programmes

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

How can effective reparations programmes be conducted? What role should the international community play? This publication, by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), offers a practical guide for reparations programmes. It is important to clarify legal obligations and the moral reasons for reparations, to address the political concerns and to be aware of cultural issues. International actors should rethink their reluctance to provide financial support to reparations efforts.

Alternative Approaches to Employment-Based Social Protection

Naila Kabeer — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Are supply-driven or demand-led approaches to employment generation more successful in reaching poor women? This chapter in the Commonwealth Secretariat's publication Mainstreaming Gender in Social Protection for the Informal Economy examines social protection schemes in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It argues that the design of social protection schemes is actually more important than whether the scheme is supply-driven or demand-led.

Towards a 'Generative' Model of Social Protection: Making the Links to Development Policy

Naila Kabeer — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This chapter in the Commonwealth Secretariat's publication Mainstreaming Gender in Social Protection for the Informal Economy argues that the current conceptualisation of social protection schemes has led to their value being calculated in narrow fiscal terms. It offers a gendered analysis of social protection schemes and argues they can have 'generative' developmental benefits, which lead to a reframing of the affordability question.

The Case for Direct Cash Transfers to the Poor

Devesh Kapur — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Is the enormous expenditure on poverty eradication through centralised mechanisms the best way of improving the welfare of India's poor and achieving its development objectives? This Economic and Political Weekly article argues that the poor should be trusted to use these resources better than the state. It proposes a radical redirection with substantial direct transfers to individuals and complementary decentralisation to local governments.

Are Cash Transfers Made to Women Spent Like Other Sources of Income?

Norbert Schady, Jose Rosero — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

How cash transfers made to women are used has important implications for models of household behaviour and social programme design. This World Bank paper analyses the effects of cash transfers to women in rural Ecuador on the Engel food curve. The Engel curve relates expenditure on food (the food share) to total expenditure. The study found that households receiving transfers had a higher food share in expenditure. It also found that the food share rose among beneficiary households containing both male and female adults, but not among female-only households. The results indicate an increase in the bargaining power of women in households that received cash transfers.

Conceptualising the Politics of Social Protection in Africa

Sam Hickey — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Which forms of politics tend to underpin and emerge from social protection interventions? This Brooks World Poverty Institute paper uses a conceptual framework derived from synthesising analysis of African politics with a review of social protection policies. The framework embraces four dimensions: political institutions; political actors and agencies; socio-economic forces; and the global dimension. It argues that the notion of a 'political contract' can explain how these dimensions combine to shape the politics of social protection in Africa.

The Practitioners' Guide to the Household Economy Approach

Tanya Boudreau — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Household Economy Approach (HEA) is a livelihoods-based framework for analysing how people obtain access to the things they need to survive and prosper. This Practitioners' Guide from the Regional Hunger and Vulnerability Programme (RHVP), FEG Consulting and Save the Children provides tools for those involved in fieldwork and analysis of HEA assessments. Central issues in HEA analysis include: how people in different social and economic circumstances get the food and cash they need; their assets, opportunities and constraints; and the options open to them at times of crisis.

Cash Transfers in Sierra Leone: Are They Appropriate, Affordable or Feasible?

Rebecca Holmes, Adam Jackson — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Can cash transfers assist in Sierra Leone's post-conflict transition and contribute to reducing poverty levels? This Overseas Development Institute (ODI) project briefing discusses cash-based social protection programmes. It finds that the political acceptability of cash transfers remains a challenge. To achieve political acceptability, particularly from donors, cash transfer programmes must be linked, programmatically and institutionally, to the wider economic growth processes. Implementation challenges, including institutional capacity and physical infrastructure, are serious but not insurmountable.

No Small Change: Oxfam GB Malawi and Zambia Emergency Cash Transfer Projects: A Synthesis of Key Learning

Paul Harvey, Kevin Savage — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Are cash transfers an appropriate and cost-effective alternative to food aid? Oxfam undertook cash transfer programmes in Malawi and Zambia in 2005-2006 in response to acute food insecurity. Evaluations by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) show that cash transfers should be considered in future relief responses. However, case-by-case, context specific analysis is needed, particularly of prices and markets.

Addressing the Employment-Poverty Nexus in Kenya: Comparing Cash-Transfer and Job-Creation Programmes

E Zepeda — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

What links employment and poverty? This International Poverty Centre paper examines the links between poverty and unemployment, underemployment, employment and labour earnings in Kenya. It finds that poor workers need short-term social protection and all workers need an effective, long-term and employment-focused development strategy. The paper simulates the potential impact of two programmes designed to provide income support to poor households: a cash-transfer programme based on the number of school-age children, and a job creation programme. Results suggest that both programmes would significantly reduce the depth of poverty, with cash-transfer most beneficial in rural areas, and job creation in urban locations.

Lessons from Ethiopia on a Scaled-Up National Safety Net Programme

Regional Vulnerability and Hunger Programme (Wahenga) — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

How successful is Ethiopia's Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP) in allowing households to graduate to food security? This brief from Wahenga suggests that the PSNP is already having a significant impact. Several important changes have taken place, particularly in terms of food consumption, asset protection, asset building and a new confidence in taking productive loans. However, graduation processes are complex and cannot be delivered through a safety net programme alone.

The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Social Security Contributions: The Case of Zimbabwe

H N Chikova and C F Chinamasa — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

What is the potential impact of HIV/AIDS on social security contributions in Zimbabwe? What can be done to limit this impact? This article from the International Social Security Review aims to project the potential impact of HIV/AIDS and imposed ceilings on social security contributions in the context of high inflation. HIV/AIDS and the growth of imposed ceilings on insurable earnings separately and collectively could have an important attritional impact on projected contributions to the National Pension and Other Benefits Scheme (NPOBS) in Zimbabwe.