Social protection features in numerous country policies and development agency strategies, as well as in several Sustainable Development Goals. However, following more than two decades of considerable expansion in policies, programmes, and research, the sector finds itself at a crossroads.
Social protection is currently positioned in a global setting characterised by a range of emerging and intensifying challenges and uncertainties, including post-Covid-19 pandemic recovery; the cost-of-living crisis; unprecedented climate change; and rising numbers of protracted wars and political instability, leading to mass displacement and migration.
Drawing key insights and lessons from an international conference on ‘Reimagining Social Protection in a Time of Global Uncertainty’, hosted by the Institute of Development Studies in September 2023, the articles in this issue of the IDS Bulletin reflect on the role social protection plays in a shifting, uncertain, and volatile global context.
In particular, the articles focus on three broad themes that are increasingly defining the trajectory of social protection policy, programming, and research: the politics of social protection policy processes; social protection in crisis settings; and inclusive and innovative social protection.
Social protection is firmly on the agenda in most low- and middle-income countries. The articles in this collection argue for the need to reimagine the scope and ambition of social protection in light of multiple threats. The challenge that remains for social protection advocates is to support governments and civil society actors to move towards nationally chosen and locally appropriate holistic social protection systems, via more inclusive and responsive programming.
Table of contents
Introduction: Social Protection in a Time of Global Uncertainty
Rachel Sabates-Wheeler, Keetie Roelen, Jeremy Lind, Stephen Devereux
Social Protection: Aspirations and Limitations of an Expanding Agenda
Stephen Devereux, Anna Wolkenhauer
Enacting Social Protection Laws in Jigawa and Zamfara States, Nigeria
Victor Ikechukwu Ogharanduku, Saratu Kujiyat-Iliyasu, Safiya Shuaibu Isa
The Political Economy of Shock-Responsive Social Protection: Analysis from Malawi
Edward M. Archibald
The Future Politics of Social Protection in Africa
Jeremy Seekings
Social Protection in Conflict and Conflict-Related Displacement Crises
Jeremy Lind, Rachel Sabates-Wheeler
Realigning Social Protection Across the Nexus: Reflections from Protracted Crises in the Arab Region
Charis Reid, Nathalie Both, Luca Pellerano, Meredith Byrne, Chantal Neomi Sirisena, Zeina Ammar, Gabrielle Smith
Can Social Assistance Strengthen the Social Contract in Somalia?
Julie Lawson-McDowall, Ruby D. Khan
Humanitarian Activism, Social Protection, and Emergent Citizenship in Myanmar
Aung Naing
Linking Social Protection and Humanitarian Systems to Respond to Forced Displacement
Christina Lowe, Jessica Hagen-Zanker
Beyond Design: Examining the Implementation of Gender-Responsive Social Protection in Ethiopia
Maria Klara Kuss, Sofia af Hällström
Indigenous Peoples and Social Protection: The Case of the Peruvian Amazon
Norma Correa Aste
Cellfare: Delivering Self-Targeted Social Protection Using Mobile Phones
Erlend Berg, D. Rajasekhar, R. Manjula
Exploring Synergies Between Community Mobilisation and Cash Transfers in Bangladesh
Afrin Aktar, Keetie Roelen, Giel Ton
Editors
