DESIGNING EFFECTIVE SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAMMES
Development Discourse | Patrick O. Okigbo III in conversation with Julie Kedroske
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (WAT)
https://bit.ly/DevDisc_DESP
Africa is the poorest continent in the world, with nearly four out of every ten people living below the international extreme poverty line of $2.15 per person per day. The multidimensional poverty index, which measures health, education, and living standards, indicates that about one-third of the population is multidimensionally poor. Despite the high poverty rate in the continent, it has the lowest social protection coverage in the world.
Social protection programmes are crucial for reducing chronic poverty and mitigating the impact of shocks on poor and vulnerable households. These non-contributory benefits, provided in cash or kind, help reduce inequality while enhancing political stability and social cohesion. Social protection systems are indispensable for inclusive economic growth and development because they support household income, boost domestic consumption, and enhance human capital.
Several challenges hinder the widespread implementation of social protection programmes in Africa. These include the underfunding of social protection programmes, the predominance of informal employment with many workers not covered by social protection systems, fragmented social protection systems, and ineffective targeting of beneficiaries.
Governments and their development partners face several difficult questions. Do safety net programmes benefit the poorest people? Who should be targeted for social assistance, and how can governments identify these individuals? What are the critical design elements for a successful and sustainable social protection programme? Why have social protection programmes not worked as intended in Nigeria and across Africa? How should poor countries fund social protection programmes? What is the potential of digital technology to improve social protection systems?
Join Julie Kedroske, Director of Social Programme at the Innovators for Poverty Action, and Patrick O. Okigbo III, Nextier's Founding Partner, to address these questions and many more. Julie Kedroske is the Director of IPA's Social Protection Programme. Prior to joining IPA, she served as the Head of Technical Assistance for BRAC's Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative, where she oversaw a global team providing technical guidance and policy advocacy support to governments, multilaterals, and NGOs across Asia and Africa on adopting and scaling Graduation. She has ten years of experience in programme development, technical assistance, and capacity strengthening, specialising in designing and implementing integrated development programs that include social protection, livelihood promotion, financial inclusion, and social empowerment.
Nextier, a multi-competency advisory firm, uses its Development Discourse to probe for answers to complex development questions.