World Bank blog lists top social protection papers of 2019

Children at a UNICEF-supported tented school for Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.(Florence, 6 December 2019) As conflict-related crises and the movement of people across the globe continue, there is a growing need to support vulnerable populations who have been uprooted or are on the move. Social protection can help to address this need, through supporting basic needs, addressing poverty, and providing opportunities to improve health and education of children. A newly published special issue of the Journal of Development Studies aims to inform and support the design of social protection programmes in these humanitarian contexts. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE JDS SPECIAL ISSUE“Ongoing and new crises left an estimated 164.2 million people in need of international humanitarian assistance in 2016,” said UNICEF Innocenti’s Manager of Humanitarian Policy Research, Jacobus de Hoop. “The combination of commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals [Goal 1.3] and the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit [increase social protection programmes and strengthen national and local systems and coping mechanisms in order to build resilience in fragile contexts] means now is the time to focus efforts on building resilient and effective social protection systems in fragile contexts.”“Now is the time to focus efforts on building resilient and effective social protection systems in fragile contexts.”Despite the increased use of social protection in fragile settings, there is still a need for thorough research regarding what works and why. Significant challenges arise in conducting research in fragile contexts. The studies in this special edition are helping to close the evidence gaps by exploring:Intended and unintended education and child labor impacts of food assistance in Mali; The nutrition impacts of food and asset transfers in Niger; Productive impacts of in-kind and cash transfers in Yemen;Ways to effectively identify social protection recipients in Niger;The costs of reforming Iraq’s public distribution system;The impact of cash transfers on the school participation of displaced Syrian children in Lebanon;If social protection affects social cohesion among Colombian refugees and poor segments of the Ecuadorian host community.A map showing the seven studies included in the Special Issue Journal of Development Studies on social protection in fragile settings. “We hope that these studies will help support policy design and encourage further research on social protection in challenging humanitarian settings,” de Hoop said. Despite these emerging insights, the authors of the special issue call for more research on social protection in humanitarian settings, the efficiency of which can, ultimately, save lives.The publication, focusing on social protection in contexts of fragility and forced displacement, follows a call for papers by UNICEF Office of Research—Innocenti and a workshop on the topic in June 2018. Revised versions of seven working papers released at the workshop are included in the special issue, which was led and edited by UNICEF Innocenti, in collaboration with colleagues at the International Security and Development Centre and the World Bank. Discover UNICEF Innocenti’s work on Social Protection in Humanitarian Settings plus explore our Research Watch on Social Protection in Emergency Situations,

(3 May 2019) International attention towards social protection has increased enormously as governments adopt and invest in more programmes. In fact, more than 3 billion people around the world today are covered by at least one social protection benefit. Despite the pervasiveness of social protection, and its potential to provide income security and resilience against shocks, one vital component is often missing in its design and implementation—gender dynamics. This has led to gaps in our understanding on how different social protection programmes and features, contribute to foster positive gender outcomes. Adolescent girls and boys who benefit from social protection programmes in the Mbeya region of Tanzania take part in livelihood and life skills training provided by village mentors.As global attention turns towards social protection, there is a concurrent emphasis on adolescence as a critical opportunity to fast-track social change. Adopting a life cycle lens to social protection, with a focus on adolescents in particular, is important for multiple reasons. Firstly, adolescence is a period of rapid biological change, in which young people experience puberty, brains change rapidly, and gender differences emerge. Secondly, adolescents are a growing demographic group, with the global population of adolescents and young people expected to reach 2 billion by 2030.Despite the importance of both gender and age in order to achieve social change, there is little evidence on how social protection systems and programmes can be more gender-responsive, as well as sensitive to different age groups’ specific risks and vulnerabilities. To identify and address these gaps in our knowledge, 35 experts from the fields of academia, practice, and programming will gather at UNICEF’s Office of Research in Florence on the 6th of May for an experts’ workshop on gender-responsive and age-sensitive social protection. The event will discuss the evidence base on gender, adolescence and social protection, and create linkages between evidence, policy and programming actors. A series of think pieces by key experts in the fields of gender and social protection, commissioned by UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, will also be presented at the workshop. Bodoor, a 17 year old 12th grade student in Azraq Refugee Camp, with her friends at her UNICEF-supported school. She is preparing for her final exams. She and her family, including two sisters and three brothers, have lived in Azraq since it opened in 2014. A keynote address from Charlotte Watts, the Chief Scientific Adviser at the UK’s Department for International Development, will set the tone for the workshop. Following this, discussions throughout the day will identify where the evidence base is robust and where there are evidence gaps that need investments. Panel discussions will explore: How a life course lens is critical for effective and efficient social protection systems, including for adolescents;How social protection programmes and strategies have – or have not – considered gender dynamics in their design and implementation;Design and implementation considerations in gender-responsive social protection;Social protection in the context of humanitarian, climate change, and complex crises.This experts’ workshop is part of the DFID-funded programme on gender-responsive age-sensitive social protection. The think piece series, which discusses the intersection of these three important areas, will be published on the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti website in the coming weeks.Check out UNICEF Innocenti’s Twitter for live updates throughout the workshop. 

OverviewSocial protection has significant positive impacts for poor and vulnerable children and their families. As governments seek to reach international targets on eliminating poverty, social protection is increasingly being adopted to reduce deprivation and improve the lives of children and families. Rigorous evidence is required to inform and strengthen the design, financing and sustainability of child-sensitive social protection systems. UNICEF Innocenti generates multi-country evidence on the impacts of social protection programmes, especially cash transfers and integrated programmes (cash-plus), on the wellbeing of children and families in development and humanitarian settings. Our research also examines the gender and shock responsiveness of social protection programmes; the role of design and implementation in the effectiveness of cash transfers and integrated programmes; and the political economy, financing and sustainability of statutory social protection systems.Goal To generate high-quality evidence that helps countries establish integrated, domestically financed, effective and statutory social protection systems.ApproachWe work in close collaboration with governments, UNICEF country offices, national and international research partners to generate multi-country evidence on the impacts of social cash transfers and the pathways of change through rigorous mixed-methods impact evaluations. We conduct political economy analysis of social protection systems and use micro and macro data to assess the affordability, financing and effectiveness of social protection policies and programmes. We provide technical assistance in the design and implementation of social protection programmes and build capacity on methodologies and impact evaluation for programme managers and researchers in low- and middle-income countries. To ensure high research uptake and policy impact, we regularly and closely engage with policymakers and key stakeholders. Research findings are widely disseminated through social media channels, websites, in-country dissemination workshops, seminars and presentations at international research conferences