Working Paper 3: Shock-Responsive Social Protection in the Sahel: Community Perspectives

This is the third in a series of working papers from the ongoing Shock-Responsive Social Protection Systems research. Together, the set of papers explore perspectives about the interface between social protection, humanitarian assistance and disaster risk management (DRM), to complement the formal insights from our case studies across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

This working paper focuses on community-level practices and perceptions of social protection in the Sahel, exploring both informal mechanisms of risk management and response, as well as the social dynamics arising out of the intersection of formal and informal systems. The aim is to contribute to reflection as to how community-sensitive ‘shock-responsive’ social protection can build on, complement and reinforce local mechanisms in a manner that integrates shock responsiveness within a broader social protection continuum.