Social Protection Policies and Programmes

Poverty affects both the quality and length of children’s lives, reduces the ability of families to adequately provide for their children, and is a significant cause of family breakdown and child separation. Social assistance programmes aim to reduce child poverty and act as a safety net for families with minimal resources.

Such programmes include in-kind and in-cash transfers, and food for work initiatives. Social assistance programmes are a part of social welfare and must include clear child care policies that protect children and strengthen family and community capacities to access services and provide care.

Cash transfers are a means of financially supporting the most vulnerable households to improve the child’s access to essential goods and services, such as health and education. They include the use of child support grants, child and family allowances and targeted and conditional cash transfers. They may be combined with investment in child education and health services, and redistributive tax policies.

In-kind transfers provide access to essential goods and services instead of cash payments. Conditional cash transfers provide money to poor families on achieving certain actions, such as sending children to school.

Social assistance programmes may struggle to target those most in need, and provide sustainable support. Economic policies, including social assistance, and household economic strengthening, require substantial research, monitoring, and gatekeeping to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable are reached and that long term benefits can be achieved for families, including child headed households.

The literature in this section provides country examples and analyses of social assistance programs, focusing primarily on cash transfer schemes.

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Promoting Synergies between Child Protection and Social Protection: West and Central Africa

UNICEF Regional Office for West and Central Africa, 01 Feb 2009

Focuses on children’s vulnerabilities and risks related to an absence of protection from violence, abuse and neglect, and the ways in which measures to address such vulnerabilities and risks can be more effectively integrated into social protection policy frameworks in the West and Central Africa region.

Communiqué: Social Welfare and Cash Transfer Meeting, Carmona Spain

Carmona Social Welfare and Cash Transfer Meeting Participants, 04 Jan 2009

Experts gathered in Carmona Spain to examine the results of policy relevant systemic reviews on social welfare and cash transfers. Meeting delegates explored the findings of reviews on integration of social welfare services and cash transfers in Ghana, Chile, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Kenya.

Assessment of Capacity to Manage Alternative Care in Swaziland - DRAFT

John Parry-Williams, 31 Dec 2008

Country level evaluation of contributing factors to the establishment of an alternative care system.

Information Collection Tools for Quantitative Indicators for the Manual of Measurement of Indicators for Children in Formal Care (Indicators 1-12)

Better Care Network and UNICEF Headquarters , 31 Dec 2008

The information collection tools from the Manual for the Measurement of Indicators for Children in Formal Care - a manual to assist countries in strengthening their information system around children in formal care through data collection around 15 global indicators.

Information-Collection-Tools-for-Quantitative-Indicators.doc

Children and AIDS: Third Stocktaking Report

UNICEF, 01 Dec 2008

Examines data on progress, emerging evidence, and current knowledge and practice for children as they relate to four programme areas

Assessment of Capacity to Manage Alternative Care in Malawi - DRAFT

John-Parry Williams, 01 Dec 2008

Country level evaluation of contributing factors to the establishment of an alternative care system.

State Kinship Care Policies for Children that Come to the Attention of Child Welfare Agencies

Child Trends, 01 Dec 2008

Explores the disparity in support given to children in formal foster care in the United States compared to those in informal kin arrangements

Social Work Education and the Practice Environment in Europe & Eurasia

United States Agency for International Development, 30 Nov 2008

The purpose of this study is to inform stakeholders about the current status of social work in the region, describe the practice environment, identify gaps between what is expected of social workers and the reality, provide examples of best practices, and make recommendations for furthering the development of social work in the region.

The African Report on Child Wellbeing 2008: How child-friendly are African governments?

African Child Policy Forum, 01 Nov 2008

Assessment of individual African government's performance in regards to child welfare.

Perspectives for Social Protection in West and Central Africa

Anthony Hodges, UNICEF, 01 Oct 2008

Assesses constraints and opportunities for social protection programming regionally with particular consideration for child sensitive social protection.