CHAPTER FIVE

Social Protection

Adaptive Safety Nets for Crisis Recovery

Kalle Hirvonen

DOWNLOAD

Social protection, especially safety net programs, can build resilience for vulnerable populations before a shock and reduce impacts on food security and poverty when crises hit

KEY MESSAGES

Social protection programs, especially social safety nets that provide cash and in-kind transfers, are an increasingly common policy tool to reduce poverty and improve food security and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries.
Social protection can play a critical role in times of crisis. Programs have been expanded in response to recent shocks, but coverage remains low in the poorest countries and in urban areas.
Before crises occur, social safety nets can reduce vulnerability and build resilience by helping households build assets, increase productive investments, and diversify income sources.
During crises, social safety nets that provide timely and adequate cash or in-kind transfers help maintain household consumption and savings and limit use of welfare-reducing coping strategies. Benefits can be expanded effectively and quickly when programs are already in place.
There is growing international commitment to better coordinating emergency and long-term social assistance to improve crisis responses.

To boost the role of safety nets in recovery and resilience, steps should be taken to:

Shift toward a more proactive approach to disasters by building highly adaptive, flexible, inclusive social protection systems and by budgeting for potential crises.
Invest in incorporating shock-responsive designs into social protection programming to improve the speed and effectiveness of scaling up support during emergencies. This includes investment in monitoring and in predictive early warning systems, as well as unified and digitized targeting systems.
Improve coordination between emergency humanitarian aid and preexisting social protection programs to facilitate delivery and targeting of transfers.
Explore new ways to cover the costs of social protection, such as climate or green financing schemes, and to reduce costs of implementation, such as use of cash transfers and mobile payments when appropriate for the context.