Long-Term Care of Older Persons in India
Older persons, particularly the oldest-old, are the fastest growing population segment in India and many of them require or will require long-term care in the future. The paper discusses policies on population ageing in India, such as the National Policy on Older Persons and the National Programme for Health...
Read MorePublication – Compendium Social Protection Floors: Volume 2 – Innovations to extend coverage
The volumes on Social Protection Floors present best practices and experiences from countries that are useful for South-South learning, for practitioners and to provide the basis for more informed policy-making. Volume 2 presents innovative approaches to cover more people under social protection schemes such as Bolsa Verde in Brazil,...
Read MoreTrade unions in the informal sector: Finding their bearings
These nine national studies cover four regions of the world and reveal the stakes and problems which the multifaceted informal sector poses for the trade union movement, irrespective of the level of development in the countries under consideration. The studies are based on the information available and represent testimonies...
Read MoreIndia’s Basic Income Experiment
This brief looks at the effects of a basic income pilot project conducted in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Despite a short implementation period and relatively low benefit levels, the effects were impressive: by the end of the project it was possible to see significant improvements in living...
Read MoreThe Indian Labour Market: A gender perspective
This paper provides an in-depth analysis of trends in labour market outcomes of women in India based on unit level data sets of employment and unemployment surveys undertaken in 1999-2000, 2004-2005, and 2011-2012. The paper analyzes the gender differentials that exist in the employment status of women and men...
Read MoreSanitation Law and Policy in India
Most comprehensive work on sanitation in India. Provides an overview of the existing legal as well as policy instruments related to sanitation in India. Fills the existing gap, both in knowledge and policy instruments, defining sanitation in India. Highlights the importance, complexity, and fragmented nature of the legal and...
Read MoreMenstrual Hygiene Practices, WASH Access and the Risk of Urogenital Infection in Women from Odisha, India
Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) practices vary worldwide and depend on the individual’s socioeconomic status, personal preferences, local traditions and beliefs, and access to water and sanitation resources. MHM practices can be particularly unhygienic and inconvenient for girls and women in poorer settings. Little is known about whether unhygienic MHM...
Read MorePsychosocial Stress Associated with Sanitation Practices: Experiences of women in a rural community in India
This study examined sources of psychosocial stress related to the use of toilet facilities or open defecation by women and adolescent girls at home, public places, workplaces and in schools in a rural community in Pune, India. The mixed methods approach included focus group discussions among women, key informant...
Read MoreRisk of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes among Women Practicing Poor Sanitation in Rural India: A population-based prospective cohort study
The importance of maternal sanitation behaviour during pregnancy for birth outcomes remains unclear. Poor sanitation practices can promote infection and induce stress during pregnancy and may contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs). We aimed to assess whether poor sanitation practices were associated with increased risk of APOs such as...
Read MoreSanitation-Related Psychosocial Stress: A grounded theory study of women across the life-course in Odisha, India
While sanitation interventions have focused primarily on child health, women’s unique health risks from inadequate sanitation are gaining recognition as a priority issue. This study examines the range of sanitation-related psychosocial stressors during routine sanitation practices in Odisha, India. Between August 2013 and March 2014, we conducted in-depth interviews...
Read MoreNo Relief
Tackling Social Exclusion
It is argued that social protection can reduce the extent to which marginalized people and groups are socially excluded. This paper investigates this thesis by considering what causes marginalization in the first place and what is needed to change the dynamics of exclusion. Using examples from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India...
Read MoreRealizing the Right to Social Security and the Right to Food (ESS Working Paper No. 51)
This paper identifies conceptual synergies and dissonances between food security and income security. It considers the contribution of mainstream social protection instruments, such as cash transfers, to food security. The paper presents specific food security policies that would strengthen the ability of national social protection floors to address food...
Read MoreCash transfer programmes, poverty reduction and empowerment of women: A comparative analysis
This publication summarizes existing knowledge on the impact of cash transfers on women. These transfers are of relevance for gender equality, first, because as a group, women spend fewer years in paid employment than men, receive lower wages, and live longer. All three differences increase women’s risks of poverty....
Read MoreGood practices on Single Window Services: Research on existing Single Window Services around the world (India, Chile, Brazil, South Africa, Pakistan) and key lessons to be learned for Cambodia
The aim of this research is to identify good and bad practices of Single Window Services around the world, by looking at the experiences of countries where these services are already in place. Link to Word...
Read MorePoverty and shame: global experiences
Poverty and Shame: Global Experiences, edited by Elaine Chase and Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo, explores Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s contention that shame lies at the absolutist core of poverty. It draws on a wealth of empirical evidence to demonstrate how paying greater attention to the psychological and social consequences of poverty...
Read MoreThe shame of poverty: global perspectives
The Shame of Poverty, edited by Robert Walker, presents comparable evidence from the seven countries, challenges the conventional thinking that separates discussion of poverty found in the Global North from that prevalent in the Global South. It demonstrates that the emotional experience of poverty, with its attendant social and...
Read MoreSocial security coverage extension in the BRICS: A comparative study on the extension of coverage in Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa
This comparative study of the International Social Security Association ISSA presents the diverse approaches of the BRICS for the extension of social security coverage. It shows how responses take into account the local realities and environment in each country, with a focus on innovations that measurabley extend and improve...
Read MoreEnsuring mechanisms that protect the right to life against the risk of famine in India
Summary: In 2001 the Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties claimed that that recent starvation deaths that occurred in the Indian State of Rajasthan were the result of the State’s failure to release grain stocks in fact kept as a guard against famine, and that this denial amounted to a...
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