Building Shock-Responsive National Social Protection Systems in the Middle East and North Africa Region
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is confronted by significant challenges resulting from multiple shocks and complex emergencies: countries in the region face various risks in terms of natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods and drought; violent conflicts, such as in Syria, pose unprecedented challenges related to the...
Read MoreThe Humanitarian Metadata Problem: “Doing no harm” in the digital era
New technologies continue to present great risks and opportunities for humanitarian action. To ensure that their use does not result in any harm, humanitarian organisations must develop and implement appropriate data protection standards, including robust risk assessments. However, this requires a good understanding of what these technologies are, what...
Read MoreThe Role of Cash Transfers in Social Protection, Humanitarian Response and Shock- Responsive Social Protection
Cash transfers have expanded rapidly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) around the world in the past decade. The contexts in which they are implemented have also diversified; while cash transfers were mostly adopted initially as central elements of social protection systems, they have become increasingly popular as a...
Read MoreSocial Protection and Humanitarian Response: What is the Scope for Integration?
Given the rise in humanitarian emergencies triggered by climate-related risks and conflict, often in contexts of chronic poverty and vulnerability, the international community is calling for the better integration of short-term humanitarian assistance and longer-term development interventions. In this context, social protection is increasingly portrayed as a policy tool...
Read MoreSocial Protection and Resilience: supporting livelihoods in protracted crises and in fragile and humanitarian contexts
The paper discusses the role social protection can play in saving livelihoods while also enhancing the capacity of households to respond, cope and withstand threats and crises. It focuses on social protection’s role in protracted crises and fragile and humanitarian contexts, as well as discusses the importance of shock-response...
Read MoreRethinking Transitions: economic and social justice in societies emerging from conflict
Transitions bring the opportunity to rewrite the social contract between state and society, to restructure institutional architecture and tackle the political, social and economic deficits that contribute to social exclusion and deprivation. In transitions, economic and social rights have the potential to translate people’s social justice claims into normative...
Read MoreThe Role of Social Protection Programmes in Supporting Education in Conflict-Affected Situations
This background paper examines the role of social protection programmes in supporting education in conflict-affected contexts. Drawing on existing literature, the paper looks at the impact, design and implementation issues of social protection programme experience in conflict, protracted crisis and post-conflict contexts, including in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of...
Read MoreSocial Protection in Protracted Crises, Humanitarian and Fragile Contexts
FAO recognizes that scaling-up cash-based programming and risk-informed and shock-responsive social protection systems is a strategic priority in particular to improve food security and nutrition and protect households’ assets as well as increase income of the most vulnerable population. Over the past 15 years, there has been a rapid...
Read MoreResponding to a crisis: The design and delivery of social protection
This working paper identifies the social protection policy design and implementation details that enable timely and adequate shock response. It also examines developments in securing adequate social protection financing and crisis preparedness....
Read MoreSocial Protection in Fragile States: Lessons learned
How can social protection best be achieved in situations of fragility? This paper argues that while the objectives for social protection in fragile states are essentially the same as in development contexts, social protection instruments, financing and delivery need to be adapted. In order to scale up social protection...
Read MoreFragile states and post-crisis contexts
Social protection plays a fundamental role in fragile states where the prevalence of civil wars, humanitarian crisis or violence, make people extremely vulnerable and more exposed to economic risks. During the time of turmoil, social protection ensure in these contexts livelihoods and some sort of income security and access...
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