Consideration of the socioeconomic ripple effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the impact of the 'triple F' (food, fuel and finance) crisis, the failure of economic growth to impact broadly on poverty reduction and the increasing pressure to show progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), would seem to make social protection the policy instrument of choice in low-income countries. Yet, in some of the countries with the worst chronic poverty, scepticism regarding social protection appears to prevail, despite exposure visits to Latin America, tailor-made training courses, much generation and communication of evidence regarding the positive impacts of social protection initiatives and increasing donor commitments. Zambia, in particular, has been criticised for a lack of government commitment to social protection generally, but especially to social cash transfers (SCT). SCT started in Zambia in Kalomo district as a donor-funded initiative in 2003, and was later extended to five districts. This pilot project aimed to generate evidence and offer government and the Ministry responsible-Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS)-the necessary information and skills to demonstrate the value of social protection for citizens who have limited or no productive capacity. The SCT was proposed alongside other social protection interventions, as illustrated by the first national Social Protection Strategy in 2005.
The operational and socioeconomic consequences of Covid-19 have made cash assistance the global go-to relief modality, whether through humanitarian or social protection channels. Cash has proven to be an adaptable means of saving lives and supporting livelihoods and mitigating the pandemic's impacts on local economies while giving recipients the flexibility to decide what they require. Many humanitarian organisations have increased the scale of cash programmes, while government-administered social assistance mechanisms have been utilised on a huge scale. The crisis has bolstered attention on why linkages between social protection and humanitarian cash are important, including how to work together more effectively to enable better coverage of those in need. This paper has been developed with inputs from across the CALP Network. It explores how cash and voucher assistance-with a focus on humanitarian response-has been scaled up or adjusted in response to Covid-19, and how it is changing ways of working.
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