United Nations agencies and development partners are urging governments to strengthen social protection systems to reach vulnerable populations, close gaps in coverage and help households withstand economic crises and other shocks.
The call came during an interregional workshop held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where participants reviewed guidelines designed to help governments use poverty data to improve social protection policies and extend assistance to underserved communities.
Zuzana Schwidrowski, director of the Socio-Economic Development Division at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said social protection should extend beyond meeting immediate needs to help people build sustainable livelihoods.
She called for stronger links between social assistance, employment, skills development and entrepreneurship, particularly for informal-sector workers and self-employed people who often lack access to social insurance.
Schwidrowski also urged governments to develop systems capable of responding to economic and other shocks, stressing the importance of evidence-based policies informed by countries’ experiences.
Amson Sibanda, a social policy official at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said multidimensional poverty data could help governments identify excluded populations, connect them with essential services and direct limited resources towards those facing multiple disadvantages.
Rajul Awasthi, a World Bank governance specialist, highlighted the importance of transparent public spending, clearly defined institutional responsibilities and accountability in the delivery of social protection programmes.
He also identified reliable social registries and accessible complaint mechanisms as important tools for ensuring that assistance reaches intended beneficiaries.
Marco Schaefer, head of the social protection section at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, said informal-sector workers remained particularly vulnerable because many were excluded from social insurance and targeted poverty assistance.
He called for cash assistance to be combined with employment support and preventive measures, alongside contingency funding that governments could deploy during emergencies.
The workshop was organised by the ECA, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, in collaboration with the African Union Commission. The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative provided technical support.
Participants reviewed guidelines for applying the Multidimensional Poverty Index to adaptive social protection, an approach that uses measures of deprivation beyond income to help governments identify vulnerable groups and improve the design of assistance programmes.
Discussions also focused on strengthening coordination among government agencies, building national capacity and providing technical assistance to support implementation.
The initiative aims to help governments develop more inclusive social protection systems that can respond to changing needs and provide assistance before economic or other crises push vulnerable households further into poverty.
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