Perspectives on tax reform in Brazil
There is no question that the salience of tax reform in Brazil is high. It has become common to point out the country’s low quality of public services and high level of taxes, at least from the view of the country’s “middle class” and poorer income groups. In this...
Read MoreBuilding 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 MoreSocial Protection in Asia and the Pacific: Inventory of non-contributory programmes
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...
Read MoreNon-contributory social protection through a child and equity lens in Oman (One Pager 397)
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...
Read MoreNon-contributory social protection through a child and equity lens in Libya (One Pager 395)
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...
Read MoreNon-contributory social protection through a child and equity lens in Morocco (One Pager 396)
Le Maroc est un pays d’Afrique du Nord à revenu intermédiaire de la tranche inférieure. En 2016, sa population a été estimée à 35,27 millions d’habitants, dont 10 pour cent (3,5 millions) ont moins de 5 ans et 32 pour cent (11,4 millions) ont moins de 18 ans (Banque...
Read MoreThe role of zakat in the provision of social protection: a comparison between Jordan, Palestine and Sudan (One Pager 381)
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...
Read MoreThe role of zakat in the provision of social protection: a comparison between Jordan, Palestine and Sudan
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...
Read MoreMalawi’s Social Cash Transfer Programme (One Pager 398)
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...
Read MoreA brief history of Malawi’s Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP)
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...
Read MoreOverview of Non-contributory Social Protection Programmes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region Through a Child and Equity Lens
Through the definition of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries have acknowledged the importance of social protection for poverty reduction. Namely, target 1.3 of SDG 1, “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”, calls for the implementation of nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for...
Read MoreTax on Large Fortunes: the recent international debate and the situation in Brazil
Many discussions have taken place in Brazil about legislation pertaining to the Tax on Large Fortunes (Imposto sobre Grandes Fortunas—IGF). In the current scenario, with the country facing a second consecutive annual decrease in tax revenue, the subject of the implementation of the IGF is gaining some traction, with...
Read MoreWomen at work: addressing the gaps
Despite progress in education and health worldwide, women still face significant barriers to engage as full economic citizens. There are significant gender gaps in wages and labour market participation. In many cases, women also face barriers and lack the assets needed to become entrepreneurs. These inequalities remain large, persistent...
Read MoreWomen’s economic empowerment programmes: towards a ‘double boon’ instead of drudgery and depletion
Recent research carried out in four countries (India, Nepal, Tanzania and Rwanda) under the framework of the Growth and Equal Opportunities for Women (GrOW) programme has highlighted the drudgery of both paid work and unpaid care work faced by women in poor families, leading to the depletion of their...
Read MoreSocial Protection after the Arab Spring
When countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) achieved independence, formal social protection schemes established by former colonial powers were, to varying degrees, assimilated or mimicked by the State, particularly pension systems for government and formal-sector workers. These systems, however, have proven to be highly subsidized and...
Read MoreBuilding a Favourable Environment for Institutional Food Procurement Programmes: contributions from Mozambique
The efficiency of institutional food procurement programmes (IFPPs) depends on a series of interconnected conditions to reach their stated goal of linking smallholders with institutional markets and demand (e.g. school meals). These programmes rely on governmental will and the availability of public demand. Furthermore, they require institutional changes and...
Read MoreImplementation of Decentralized Food Procurement Programmes and the Impact of the Policy, Institutional and Legal Enabling Environment: the case of PRONAE and PAA Africa in Mozambique
The development and implementation of an efficient institutional food procurement programme (IFPP —which aims to link smallholder producers to institutional markets and promote development of food supply systems—is not a simple or straightforward task. It requires a series of conditions that must be coordinated and matched together. These conditions...
Read MoreMainstreaming Graduation into Social Protection Floors (One Pager 324)
With the recent adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), eradicating extreme poverty presents a major challenge for governments worldwide. Despite recent progress, 902 million people remain in extreme poverty. To attain the right to social protection for people living in extreme poverty and, simultaneously, Goal 1,...
Read MoreThe Social Dimensions of Saudi Vision 2030: a paradigm shift (One Pager 361)
This One Pager explains that to address internal development issues in Saudi Arabia such as poverty, vulnerability and inequality, the Vision 2030 plan and its programmes have, inter alia, pointed to a number of specific goals, targets and policy measures to reduce social vulnerability, address labour market issues for women and promote...
Read MoreFrom Expansion to Austerity: challenges and risks of the radical fiscal policy turn in Brazil (One Pager 360)
Brazil, in the period after the great financial crisis of 2007–2008, presents a compelling case study of the interactions between fiscal policy and business cycles. The country is noteworthy not only for being one of the very few that dealt relatively well with the most acute stage of the...
Read MoreBrazilian Fiscal Policy in Perspective: from expansion to austerity
This paper analyses the changes in orientation and composition of Brazilian fiscal policy, focusing on three recent periods and seeking to explore their relationship with economic performance. The first period (2005–2010) was characterised by fiscal expansion, with public investment and redistributive transfers as its main drivers. Economic performance was...
Read MoreBehavioural Insights in Poverty Reduction Policies
This Policy Research Brief presents some elements that should be carefully considered in the design of policies and programmes to overcome poverty, based on evidence from the field of behavioural economics. A growing number of international experiences point to the fact that, in many situations, government policies and programmes...
Read MoreCareer Advice and Placement Services in Sierra Leone (One Pager 356)
Approximately 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth population are either underemployed or unemployed, and 50 percent are classified as either illiterate and/or unskilled. There is visible unemployment, particularly among young men. Although there have been improvements in the youth situation compared to before the civil war, many of the...
Read MoreFrom Policy Commitments to the Effective Implementation of Gender-Sensitive Social Protection Programmes (One Pager 355)
This brief looks at the factors that need to be considered while designing and implementing gender-sensitive social protection...
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