The answer to this question suggests Hania Sholkamy, lies in taking a feminist approach to social protection.
A feminist social protection programme recognises and enhances women’s identity as citizens and enables them to assume the roles they choose and fulfil the obligations they value. It is an approach that defines, targets and alleviates poverty in accordance with the views, priorities and experiences of the women beneficiaries of social protection programmes. The objective of this type of programme is not simply to guarantee social protection as a short-term measure.
In this Pathways Policy Paper, Hania uses examples from Pathways research on Conditional Cash Transfers in Egypt, and experiences from Brazil to demonstrate the effectiveness of a feminist approach to social protection in meeting women’s needs.
