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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HIV/AIDS Education: What African Youth Say Is Effective

W. James Jacob, Stacey A. Shaw, Donald E. Morisky, Steven J.Hite, &, 2007

A study of HIV/AIDS education programs and direction for creating curricula in African schools.

Promoting the Rights of Children with Disabilities: Innocenti Digest No. 13

UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2007

A report on the situation of the millions of children globally with disabilities, and the challenges faced in realizing their human rights. It gives an overview of international standards, and strategies for advancing the social inclusion of children with disabilities in their families, schools, communities, and wider society.

Enhanced Protection for Children Affected by AIDS: A Companion Paper to The OVC Framework

UNICEF, 31 Dec 2006

Outlines how to strengthen social protection, legal protection, and alternative care for children at country level. Contains specific actions that governments and NGO's can take to decrease the vulnerability of children affected by AIDS and respond to instances of abuse, exploitation and neglect.

Conditional Cash Transfers: An Annotated Bibliography

Andrea Schapper, International Labour Organization, 02 Jan 2006

This document contains a bibliography global conditional cash transfer documents.

Strengthening National Responses to Children Affected by HIV/AIDS: What is the Role of the State and Social Welfare in Africa?

Julia Purcell, 2006

Overview of social protection and welfare directions around the world, with recommendations for policies to protect vulnerable children and those affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Capacity Needs Assessment Report (2006)

Uganda Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, 2006

An Assessment to Determine MGLSD and District Management and Operational Capacity Needs in Providing Leadership, Coordination, and Monitoring and Evaluating the National Response to OVC and AB/Y

Reassessing Conditional Cash Transfer Programs

Jishnu Das, Quy-Toan Do, and Berk Özler , 2006

This article reviews the existing literature on conditional cash transfer programs around the world. It urges the careful consideration of multiple factors in program planning and policy making to achieve successful long-term outcomes.

A Sense of Belonging: Case studies in positive care options for children

David Tolfree, 2006

Save the Children's "First Resort" series focuses on the needs and rights of children who, for a wide variety of reasons, are lacking adequate parental care. This third paper in the First Resort series presents practical examples of the range of options available to policy-makers, practitioners and others with responsibilities for the care and protection of children without adequate parental care.

Emerging Practices in Community-Based Services for Vulnerable Groups: A Study of Social Services Delivery Systems in Europe and Eurasia

Rebecca T. Davis, 2006

Examines the transition from residential care to family-based, community care models in five European / Eurasian countries.

Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition

UNICEF, 2006

Evaluates global improvements in nutrition as progress towards achieving the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Suggests that the MDGs are attainable only with re-prioritization of efforts to reduce child undernutrition.