Social protection
Social protection provides income support, employment and other services to vulnerable people. It is a frontline tool for tackling extreme poverty and inequality.
Promoting accountability, social protection strengthens links between people and the state.
Income and in-kind support to poor and vulnerable families is the most common form of social protection.
Ireland’s contribution to developing national social protection systems in low income countries is built on our experience. The Irish Government provides social protection to over two million of our own citizens.
Despite its importance, half the world’s population lack any access to social protection. That figure rises to 80% in Africa.
Only 5% of people in low income countries receive cash assistance. The equivalent figure in high income countries is 26%.
The importance of social protection in the SDGs
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target an end to extreme poverty and to reaching the Furthest Behind First. Expanding social protection is key to achieving this.
It is also linked to many other SDGs. Social protection helps to improve food security and nutrition. Giving people the means to adapt to climate change and invest in education, it promotes social cohesion by reducing inequalities. Therefore, it is vital for women’s empowerment.
Ireland adopts a rights-based approach to social protection in our development cooperation programmes. We also believe it is vital in humanitarian settings, including building resilience against sudden shocks caused by climate or conflict.
50%
of the world’s population lack any form of social protection
80%
of the population of Africa have no access to social protection
5%
of people in low-income countries receive cash assistance
Supporting social protection programmes
Ireland spends around €15 – €20 million annually on supporting social protection programmes around the world.
We provide direct support to social protection in the following countries:
Ireland promotes cash assistance in social protection programmes. This is the case in humanitarian settings as well as in our development programmes.
We prioritise programmes that help to strengthen national systems. This helps to builds or enhance sustainable social protection systems.
Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Programme
Ireland is a long-term supporter of the Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Programme. Extensive research has been undertaken on the benefits of this programme. Among the benefits of social protection are:
- Food security and nutrition can be improved.
- Social protection is an effective way to provide humanitarian assistance and to build resilience to climatic and conflict shocks.
- The predictability of social assistance cash payments gives subsistence farming families the confidence to experiment with new crops and practices critical for adapting to climate change.
- Cash transfers dis-incentivise early marriage and are shown to reduce gender-based violence.
These benefits are felt in all the countries where Ireland helps to provide similar support.
Supporting multilateral agencies in the region
Ireland’s Embassy network manages most of our investments in this area. We also support multilateral agencies. These agencies play a critical role in the drive to expand social protection programmes around the world.
We support the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF to strengthen national systems. These agencies also help to make social protection programmes more adaptable to respond to climate or conflict related shocks.
Ireland partners with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in the UK. This agency researches social protection approaches in different contexts and shares the learning.
IDS research funded by Ireland has helped inform the use of social protection in conflict regions. It also provided evidence on how social protection can enhance food security and gender equality.