Social Protection in Africa: Overview for Policymakers

Abstract

What is social protection? - What are cash transfers? - What are social protection floors? - Why is social protection in Africa important? - Socio-economic context - The development of social protection in Africa - Non-contributory social protection programmes in Africa: Overview of programmes - Which types of social protection intervention are most common? - What is the size of cash transfers? - What is the institutional location and who funds social protection programmes? - How much do social protection programmes cost? - Social protection in Africa: Reviewing the evidence - Poverty and inequality reduction - Nutrition and food security - Health - Education - Gender - Productive outcomes - Community empowerment and citizen accountability - Social protection in Africa: Key issues - Rights-based approaches to social protection - Universalism and targeting - Gender - Conditional vs unconditional cash transfers - Cash or food - Institutionalisation - Affordability - Labour market linkages and informal workers - Technology - Informal social protection