Linking Social Protection and humanitarian cash and voucher assistance (CVA) – what do we really know and where to start? Findings from the CALP Network commissioned high level briefing paper at the time of COVID-19

21 May 2020 – 8am EDT/GMT-4

What is the state of the art in our thinking about linking social protection and humanitarian response, particularly cash assistance? The case for social protection to help people cope with shocks, and for humanitarian assistance and social protection to be more closely linked has long been clear – and never more obvious than during the current Covid-19 crisis. A rich body of experience is emerging along with theoretical foundations to help us deliver on this approach. Recent frameworks show how social protection can respond better to shocks – through vertical and horizontal expansion, alignment, or parallel humanitarian processes that contribute to the building blocks of a social protection system. Increasingly, evidence is available on how, in each context, we can use these concepts to guide a more in depth analyses of entry points. But how might we speed up this process and identify where blockages lie so that we can go beyond technical solutions and existing concepts to understand how embedded ways of working prevent more rapid progress? Where might be some key entry points to move this process forward? And where do we need to focus on the outcomes, not the processes? The webinar is based on a project commissioned by the CALP Network and generously funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO).

Speakers: 

• Paul Harvey, Partner, Humanitarian Outcomes
• Daniel Longhurst, Independent Consultant
• Dr. Rachel Slater – Professor of International Development, Centre for International Development and Training, University of Wolverhampton

Moderator: 

• Julie Lawson-McDowall, the CALP Network Knowledge Management and Research Coordinator

This webinar is part of the Linking Social Protection with humanitarian cash webinar series, of the Grand Bargain Cash Sub Group on linking social protection and humanitarian cash transfers co-led by UNICEF, IFRC and DFID.