Social Protection
Context
The State of the World’s Cash 2020 report found:
- Working with, through and alongside social protection systems is now considered key to strengthening the humanitarian-development nexus and humanitarians are increasingly active in this space
- Practitioners find that the three biggest challenges to effective linkages are: (i) lack of coordination between the actors involved, (ii) social protection systems are not designed to respond to crises, (iii) humanitarian practitioners lack expertise in social protection
- Critically, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to linking CVA and social protection. Trade-offs between efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, and sustainability must be considered to ensure the best outcomes for people living in crisis and depends on context, existing systems, and timeframe. Linking will not always be appropriate and social protection systems may not meet all needs. In many contexts, in the short to medium term at least, humanitarian programming will be required to fill gaps.
Current Priorities
The CALP Network has invested intensely in this thematic area over the last few years. We will continue to work closely with the SPIAC-B Working group on linking humanitarian (cash) assistance and social protection (formerly the Grand Bargain Sub-Workstream on Social Protection) and with the SocialProtection.org platform and the Online Community Social Protection in Crisis Contexts to develop evidence, produce capacity building materials and provide technical support to coordination actors.
Community of Practice
SocialProtection.org hosts a dynamic and collaborative online community of practice (CoP) bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds interested in expanding social protection in crisis-prone areas. The CoP offers a space to exchange documents, insights, and news in order to progress and learn together. Its inclusive and member-led approach offers organisations and individual members a forum to increase learning and outreach, facilitating the exchange of experiences and expanding knowledge. A discussion group hosted by dgroups.org complements these activities by connecting users rapidly via email.
SPACE
There are a wealth of relevant resources from ‘Social Protection Approaches To Covid-19: Expert Advice’ (SPACE) published in the CALP library.
Featured content
Linking Social Protection and Humanitarian Cash and Voucher Assistance
Report
There is a growing momentum and body of work around the idea of developing stronger links between humanitarian cash and voucher assistance (CVA) and social protection (SP). This Briefing Paper for the CALP Network, based on a literature review, a survey, and interviews, is intended to inform the CALP Network’s overall approach in this area, and subsequently its capacity building and...
Linking Social Protection and Humanitarian Cash
Blog Post
The case for social protection to help people cope with shocks has always been clear and never more obvious than during the current Covid-19 crisis. These issues are currently playing out in real time as governments, donors and aid agencies scramble to find ways to get more help to more people to cope with the economic consequences of illness and lockdown. As the virus starts to take hold in...
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
Webinar
State of the World’s Cash 2020 Chapter 8 summary: Linking CVA and social protection
Report
Longstanding efforts to strengthen links between humanitarian CVA and social protection have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant progress since the last report. CVA should aim to complement robust social protection systems where they exist and contribute to their strengthening where they are weak or early-stage. This chapter asks: ‘What opportunities and challenges...
Supporting the Linkages Between Humanitarian Cash and Voucher Assistance and National Social Protection Systems
Report
This tipsheet aims to support country-level coordination efforts to strengthen the engagement between humanitarian coordination groups that implement cash and voucher assistance (CVA) and existing social
protection or disaster risk reduction coordination actors and groups. In particular, it seeks to offers inter-cluster and cash working group coordinators simple practical tips for engaging...
Case Studies
Linking CVA and Social Protection in the MENA Region – Crib sheet
Report
Building linkages between humanitarian cash and voucher assistance (CVA) and social protection (SP) has become an increasingly prominent topic over the past five years and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been at the centre of this evolution. The objective of this resource set (the crib sheet and 3, soon to be 6, regional case studies) is to ensure that the CALP Network...
Linking CVA and Social Protection in the MENA Region – Iraq Case Study
Report
Building linkages between humanitarian cash and voucher assistance (CVA) and social protection (SP) has become an increasingly prominent topic over the past five years and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been at the centre of this evolution. The objective of this resource set (the crib sheet and 3, soon to be 6, regional case studies) is to ensure that the CALP Network...
Linking CVA and Social Protection in the MENA Region – Lebanon Case Study
Report
Building linkages between humanitarian cash and voucher assistance (CVA) and social protection (SP) has become an increasingly prominent topic over the past five years and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been at the centre of this evolution. The objective of this resource set (the crib sheet and 3, soon to be 6, regional case studies) is to ensure that the CALP Network...
Linking CVA and Social Protection in the MENA Region – Yemen Case Study
Case Study
Building linkages between humanitarian cash and voucher assistance (CVA) and social protection (SP) has become an increasingly prominent topic over the past five years and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been at the centre of this evolution. The objective of this resource set (the crib sheet and 3, soon to be 6, regional case studies) is to ensure that the CALP Network...
Linking Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) and Social Protection – Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT): Country Summary
Report
This country summary is part of a larger resource set, providing practitioners with examples of different approaches to linking CVA
and social protection.
Linking Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) and Social Protection – Turkey: Country Summary
Report
This country summary is part of a larger resource set, providing practitioners with examples of different approaches to linking CVA
and social protection.
Linking Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) and Social Protection – Lebanon: Country Summary
Report
This country summary is part of a larger resource set, providing practitioners with examples of different approaches to linking CVA
and social protection.
Thematic lead
Latest
Mapping of Cash and Voucher Assistances (CVAs) in Türkiye in 2023
Report
TÜRKİYE CASH-BASED INTERVENTIONS TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP | 2024
Cash-Based Interventions Technical Working Group (CBI TWG) published this document to
share a summary of the findings of Mapping of CVAs in Türkiye in 2023, along with the
background information and purpose (Annex A). Further findings...
East and Southern Africa Cash Working Group Leads and Co-Leads Workshop 2024 Report
Report
This report provides a detailed summary of the strategic discussions at the East and Southern Africa Leads and Co-Leads Workshop 2024. It highlights efforts to enhance cash coordination, improve quality, and promote unified approaches in the region. The document analyzes collaborative planning aimed at...
Social Protection, CVA and Climate Change
Webinar recording
Do you want to explore the relationships between climate change, CVA, social protection, and humanitarian response? Watch the webinar recordings on ‘Social Protection, CVA and Climate Change’ brought to you by the CVA, Climate and Environment Community of Practice (CoP). The disruptive impacts of...
Improving Food Security and Nutrition through Cash+ in Armenia: Combining cash transfers, productive assets and inputs distribution with agricultural and nutrition trainings for vulnerable rural households in Lori and Shirak region
Case Study
Armenia is an upper-middle-income country in the South Caucasus with a population of three million people. It is landlocked and a net importer of food. The country is vulnerable to natural hazards, including floods and drought, and external shocks, namely global food price fluctuations, which often have...
Targeting in Protracted Crises: Nigeria case study
Case Study
This country case study focuses on Nigeria and the specific challenge of conflict, violence, and insecurity. Using four waves of General Household Survey data covering the period 2010 to 2019, we analyse trends in poverty, food insecurity, shocks, and coping strategies among different population groups,...
Improving Food Security and Nutrition with Cash Assistance, Cash for Work and Inputs Distribution in Myanmar – Strengthening household resilience to socioeconomic and climate shocks in Rakhine State
Case Study
Rakhine State in Myanmar has been experiencing armed conflict, localized violence, political instability and extremely high levels of forced displacement for years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the local population faced further and compounding disruptions to livelihoods, and local government...
Advocating for Cash and Voucher Assistance with Governments
Webinar recording
‘Advocating for Cash and Voucher Assistance with Governments’.
We were delighted to be joined by a distinguished expert panel of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement senior leaders:
- Alper Kucuk, Director General for International Affairs and Migration Services, Türk Kızılay;
- Caroline...
Enhancing Resilience and Restoring Agricultural Productive Capacity and Food Security through Social Protection in Indonesia – Emergency assistance for post-earthquake and tsunami recovery through cash assistance in Central Sulawesi
Case Study
In 2018, a series of earthquakes struck Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi Province, which is a major agricultural production centre in the country. The earthquakes triggered a tsunami and caused landslides with considerable damage and loss of life. Damages to the agricultural sector accounted alone for 40...
HNPW Linking humanitarian assistance and social protection – common principles and country experiences
Webinar recording
More and more people are living in contexts of protracted crises, driven by conflict, climate vulnerability and socio-economic fragility, requiring new ways of working together and stronger coherence between interventions across the HDP nexus. Linking HA and SP provides a clear entry point for development...
Linking humanitarian assistance and social protection – common principles and country experiences
Members event
About the webinar: More and more people are living in contexts of protracted crises, driven by conflict, climate vulnerability and socio-economic fragility, requiring new ways of working together and stronger coherence between interventions across the HDP nexus. Linking HA and SP provides a clear...
Cash Voucher Assistance, Social Protection and Cash Plus Programmes
Presentation
In this session, we examine the linkages between CVA and social protection and Cash Plus programmes. We closely follow a Case Study by Mercy Corps that looks into impact programs that combine cash interventions with vocational trainings on violence reduction.
In summary, we explore:
Linkages to...
Report Launch and Panel Discussion: Achieving Resilience by Linking Humanitarian CVA to Social Protection in MENA
Webinar recording
This event, held on April 18th 2024, featured CALP’s recent report on the feasibility of achieving resilience by linking vulnerable populations receiving humanitarian CVA to development and social protection.
Report Launch and Panel Discussion: Achieving Resilience by Linking Humanitarian CVA to Social Protection in MENA
Event
Join as for a rich panel discussion on linking humanitarian CVA to social protection in MENA!
Please join us on April 18th 2024 from 15:00-16:30 Amman time to launch CALP's new report on the Feasibility of Achieving Resilience by linking vulnerable populations receiving humanitarian CVA to development...
From Emergency to System Strengthening: WFP Caribbean cash transfer responses through social protection (2018-2023)
Report
This document presents an overview of the World Food Programme’s efforts from 2018 to 2023 in the Caribbean, focusing on enhancing social protection systems through cash transfers in response to emergencies, highlighting key lessons learned and the path forward. This paper provides an overview of WFP...
Colombia and Lebanon Evaluation Report: Measuring the impact of cash on child protection outcomes
Report
As humanitarian crises break down traditional protection mechanisms and the loss of income restricts access to basic resources, children become increasingly vulnerable to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence. Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) is a critical modality that is increasingly being adopted...
Aligning Aid: Recipient perspectives on humanitarian cash and social protection in Ukraine
Report
In January 2023, Ground Truth Solutions and the CCD set out to understand the
experiences and perceptions of people who had applied for or received cash
assistance in Ukraine, both from humanitarian organisations and through government
social protection schemes. The Ukrainian cash response is the...
Cash and Vouchers Assistance (CVA) and Child Protection: Summary of practice and evidence from Save the Children programmes 2023 Edition
Report
In an effort to increase global knowledge and learning, Save the Children conducted a global review of twenty Country Offices and their programs in order to assess and highlight the impact that different forms of Cash and Vouchers Assistance (CVA) have on Child Protection (CP) outcomes, to identify...
Social Protection as a Pathway to Sustaining Peace
Policy paper
Global crises are becoming the new normal. From climate change to the contemporary food price crisis, vulnerable populations – and especially rural people – are facing increasingly difficult odds of flourishing. Such challenges are even more pronounced where there is conflict, whose multidimensional...
Exploring linkages between Cash and Voucher Assistance and Social Protection in West and Central Africa
Webinar recording
This is the first in a series of webinars that aims to explore the connections between humanitarian CVA and social protection in West and Central Africa region. The webinar sought to frame the discussion with opening remarks from Dr. Sintike Tarfa Ugbe, Director of Humanitarian & Social Affairs of the...
Webinar series: Exploring linkages between Cash and Voucher Assistance and Social Protection in West and Central Africa
Webinar
There was a lot of buzz on the need to link humanitarian assistance to social protection (SP) systems, especially during the COVID pandemic. The linkage should encompass various contexts from stable well-organised states, preferred context by development and social protection stakeholders, to conflict...