Supporting social protection systems and providing social assistance in protracted crises is difficult. Access is often constrained; violence and insecurity make delivery dangerous; and governments are often weak, divided or predatory. Donor governments and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) can be estranged from crisis affected governments and unable to directly fund national systems. These difficulties often result in an over-reliance on parallel systems of international humanitarian aid for delivering assistance. Support to social protection and national systems has been limited.
Despite the difficulties, evidence from BASIC Research shows that social protection systems can and should be supported during protracted crises. Sustained provision of social protection through a crisis can protect key outcomes – including progress tackling chronic poverty, prior improvements in human capital and food security, and advances towards more resilient livelihoods. Sustained provision also ensures capacity to deliver social protection post-crisis. In this way, sustaining social protection provision prevents the gains from prior investments from being lost or eroded.
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