The role of social protection programmes in supporting education in conflict-affected situations

Abstract

This article examines the role of social protection in supporting education in conflict-affected contexts. In recent years, social protection has gained popularity as a mechanism to reduce poverty and vulnerability, in part by enabling households to better access and use basic services as a result of increased household income. In conflict-affected countries the costs of accessing services are significant and the direct and indirect costs of sending children to school can be the most substantial factor contributing to children's exclusion from education. While social protection has the potential to play an important role in supporting greater access to education through a variety of instruments, they have not been widely implemented and education remains a secondary objective in the majority of social protection programming. A number of institutional and implementation challenges must be overcome if social protection is to be effective in conflict-affected contexts.

School Feeding or General Food Distribution? Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the Educational Impacts of Emergency Food Assistance during Conflict in Mali

“…In nonhumanitarian contexts, investments in child schooling are part of household decisions related to the time allocation of different members, poverty and other contextual constraints, perceived returns to education, educational quality, and social norms. Social protection programmes such as school feeding and GFD can support child education by reducing poverty, enabling access to educational services, paying for school fees and other educational supplies, and decreasing the opportunity costs of schooling (Holmes, 2011). School feeding programmes offer a free meal, a snack, or a take-home ration to children attending school, while GFD involves the provision of a basic food ration to vulnerable households (Barrett, 2006).…”

Targeting in Protracted Crises: Nigeria Case Study

“…While the federal government is responsible for designing policy, subnational governments have autonomy to interpret, allocate funding to, and implement policies. Given the variation in size, capacity and resources of each state and LGA, the degree to which social protection programmes are implemented varies considerably (Holmes 2011). 14 Moreover, the impact of existing social protection programmes is either minimal or unknown (Ochogwu 2024).…”

School feeding as a social protection programme or a political largesse: a review

“…The objective of the programme in Ghana is to serve the poor and the under privilege in society as a social intervention in the area of education. The programme has a potential in enhancing access to basic education, but the nature of operations sometimes makes education a secondary objective for the implementation of school feeding (Holmes, 2011). Many children who could not afford meal a day will have the opportunity to be fed in a school day considering the poverty situation in the three Northern regions.…”