The effective administration of non-contributory social protection schemes is key to ensuring that people can realize their human rights. This includes adequate administrative capacities, human and financial infrastructure, as well as administrative procedures.
Across the world, states have made binding commitments under international human rights law to do what they can to ensure all their population attains its basic material needs. And yet, governments in numerous countries have been introducing so-called conditional cash transfer schemes (CCTs) based on the imposition of forms of behavioural conditionality. This means they […]
Is the empowerment of women through conditional cash transfers illusory as women are ‘empowered’ by these programmes only as the nodal points receiving cash for the family and not as independent persons with their own economic, social and cultural rights? First, it is important to distinguish between the positive effects of conditional cash transfers and […]
As the role of social protection in social development is increasingly emphasized, there is a need to ensure that social protection programmes are not only efficiently managed but express core values such as rights which have played a vital role in shaping social development practice over the years. However, given the pressures to deliver services […]
Targeting Techniques and Human Rights Standards of Transparency and Access to Information Poverty targeting presents many problems in terms of accuracy and reliability, but common methods for identifying the poor are also problematic in terms of human rights standards of transparency and access to information. Let us look from this perspective at each of the […]
A reference for the development of social security systems, Convention No. 102 is the flagship of the up-to-date social security Conventions since it is deemed to embody the internationally accepted definition of the very principle of social security. Convention No. 102 is unique for both its conceptual formulation of social security, and the guidance it provides for […]
Recommendation No. 202 is the first international instrument to offer guidance to countries to close social security gaps and progressively achieve universal protection through the establishment and maintenance of comprehensive social security systems. To this aim, the Recommendation calls for (1) the implementation, as a priority, of social protection floors (SPF) as a fundamental element […]
Social protection programmes are now widely recognised as key policy instruments for developing countries to combat poverty. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has explicitly recognised the importance of implementing “nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors” as an explicit target under Sustainable Development Goal 1: “End poverty in all its […]
Voisin de l’Arabie saoudite, des Émirats arabes unis et du Yémen, Oman se trouve sur la pointe sud-est de la péninsule arabique et figure parmi les six pays du Golfe à revenu élevé. Sa population compte environ 4,5 millions d’habitants, dont 1,1 million (25 pour cent) et 0,4 million (9 pour cent) sont respectivement âgés […]
Bordée par la mer Méditerranée au Nord et voisine de la Tunisie, de l’Algérie, du Niger, du Tchad, du Soudan et de l’Égypte, la Libye comptait en 2016 une population de plus de 6 millions d’habitants, dont et 10 pour cent étaient alors respectivement âgés de moins de 18 et de 5 ans. Dans la […]
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam and considered a religious duty for wealthy people to support those in need. In Muslim-majority countries, zakat has a long tradition of providing income, goods for consumption and other basic services such as health care and education to poor and marginalised populations. A growing body of […]
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam and considered a religious duty for wealthy people to help those in need through financial or in-kind contributions. In Muslim-majority countries, it has a long tradition of being part of the provision of social welfare. Countries vary significantly in the institutionalisation of zakat, ranging from obligatory […]
Malawi has a population of over 17 million people, 50.5 per cent of whom are poor, and 25 per cent of whom are extremely poor. Some 10 per cent of the total population are thought to be living below the extreme poverty line in households with a high dependency ratio (i.e. three or more dependents […]
This paper presents some of the challenges the SCTP faced between 2006 and 2016. It starts by presenting the relevant features, actors and episodes of the social protection system for the reader to understand the SCTP and its main operational challenges. It then proceeds to describe the governance and funding changes it underwent from 2006 […]
The concept of a Basic Income (BI), an unconditional transfer paid to each individual is not new. However, although many OECD countries have non-contributory, non-means tested benefits for certain groups (most commonly children or pensioners) no country has made a BI the central pillar of its social security system. The recent upsurge in attention to […]
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Impact evaluations must be embedded in the ongoing process of policy and programme design in order to be effective in influencing country policy. This is the primary lesson found in this book, which is based on the rigorous impact evaluations and country-case study analysis of government-run cash transfer programmes undertaken in eight Sub-Saharan African countries […]