The Unemployment Insurance Amendment Act granted domestic workers a number of social protection benefits by including domestic workers in the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The Fund provides (a) full or partial unemployment benefits in case of dismissal, retrenchment, illness, or death of the employer; and (b) maternity benefits for pregnant...

Evaluations of social protection interventions across Africa often register significant success in improving household food security indicators, but little or no improvement in individual nutritional outcomes. One reason is under-coverage of poor people; another is the low value of social transfers. This paper reviews experiences with social protection in...

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...

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...

This paper uses the United Nations Global Policy Model (GPM) to assess how increasing minimum wages might impact the South African economy by increasing the share of income going to workers (the “labour share”) – in contrast to the share that accrues to capital through profits and property income....

This short documentary film focuses on the extension of social protection coverage to workers in the informal economy in Mozambique. It is a useful advocacy tool to raise awareness about the importance of increasing the coverage levels of these...

Opera in Practice: Strengthening Implementation of Strategic Litigation in South Africa is a case study reflecting the Center for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Legal Resources Center’s collaborative efforts to monitor, and hold the government accountable for, the implementation of court orders in the Madzodzo v Department...

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...

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...

This report presents an analysis of progress and disparities among children in South Africa. Data show significant progress during the past two decades in areas such as child poverty, child survival, mother to-child transmission of HIV and primary school attendance, among others. These are impressive achievements, but they are...

The video provides insight into the pilot project “Making Public Works Inclusive” implemented in 2016 in Dedza District in Malawi´s Central Region. The video explains the approach the pilot has taken on including persons with disabilities in Malawi´s national Public Works Programme. Central and district level stakeholders as well...

This review discusses two issues: maternal health care in Mozambique and adequate housing in...

The South African social protection system is one of the most comprehensive within the region. Its statutory and effective coverage rates are above the region’s average and comparable or even beyond those of other BRICS countries. The comprehensive nature of the system lies in contributory and non-contributory cash and...

The study explores the possible strategies to expand social protection to small scale farmers as well as the requirements for SHI scheme design adjustments to fit the income patterns and employment arrangements which prevail in the sector. The report also offers a case study on a possible linkage between...

This report provides an overview of the nature and extent of social security benefits for domestic workers in Zambia and explores perception of benefits and willingness to contribute from both domestic workers and employers’...

The study focuses on reviewing the nature and extent of social security benefits provided by legislation to casual workers in the saw milling industry, understanding their patterns of income and specific employment arrangements and exploring innovative ways of providing social protection to workers in atypical form of...

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This report presents Africa’s sustainable development priorities and goals, prepared under the framework of the Africa post-2015 consultations, and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (“Rio+20”) follow-up processes. It is based on information gathered through consultations undertaken in the five subregions of Africa and from an extensive literature...

Of the 23 million children under the age of 18 in South Africa, about 60 per cent lives in poverty. The Child Support Grant (CSG), introduced in 1998, initially covered only 10 per cent of poor children. Incremental changes in the eligibility criteria and successful awareness-raising campaigns increased the...

The Old Age Pension (OAP) is a tax-based scheme for all older persons. This non-contributory social pension also benefits other household members, particularly children. This brief explores Lesotho’s experience in extending the...

In the present report, the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons presents the findings of her visit to Mauritius from 28 April to 8 May 2015. The main objective of the visit was to identify both best practices and gaps in the implementation...

This working paper is one of the five country studies on cash transfer programmes and women’s empowerment. The review of the South African experience in this study is complemented by country studies on Brazil, Chile, India and Mexico. Its results have also informed a comparative study, authored by Elaine...

Cash transfer programmes have been implemented in many countries as a key component of their national social protection floors and because these programmes provide a modest but regular income to poor households, they have the potential to reduce poverty and to enhance women’s economic empowerment. However, there have been...

This paper examines prospects for enhanced regional migration governance and protection of migrants’ rights in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Migration in this region is substantial in scale and diverse in nature, incorporating economic, political and mixed migration flows. In addition to movements between countries within the region,...

Angolan law on social protection.   Link to English...