Discussion Papers on Social Protection
This newsletter aims to provide focussed insights into specific aspects of the international debate on social protection.
Effective poverty reduction and empowering women: a win-win situation? CCTs in Latin America
by Karolin Herzog
Discussion Papers on Social Protection, Issue No. 12, October 2011
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
The fact that mothers are commonly chosen as recipients of cash transfer programmes (CCTs) has often led to the claim that CCTs, in addition to reducing poverty, also empower women and promote gender equality. However, the author argues that the narrow focus on material poverty reduction that most CCTs share restricts the gendered dimensions of their programme design. The more comprehensive the concept of poverty used in research, the smaller the evidence base for positive gendered impacts of CCTs.
Social determinants of health: The role of social protection in addressing social inequalities in health
by Barbara Rohregger
Discussion Papers on Social Protection, Issue No. 11, August 2011
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
The social, economic and political context in which people grow, live, work and age has enormous impact on their health status. These wider structural determinants of health lie largely outside the health sector. The level and coverage of social protection systems is one key determinant. Social protection measures and mechanisms directly contribute to poverty reduction and human resource development by providing recipients with in-kind or cash transfers. They also allow beneficiaries to gain better access to social services, including health facilities, drugs, etc.
Towards a comprehensive social protection system: linking microinsurance and social cash transfers
by Martina Bergthaller
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection, Issue No. 10, June 2011
Starting from social protection being a fundamental human right, the author wonders how to achieve comprehensive social protection for the poor – maybe by linking micro-insurance products with social cash transfers? In her well researched paper, she presents experiences so far with the linkage of these two instruments and discusses the role of the state.
Social protection and the social model of disability
by Dominic Fritz
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection - Issue No. 9, April 2011
This paper analyses the existing and the potential connection between the social model of disability and social protection, and discusses some of the major challenges faced when applying a rights-based understanding of disability to social protection. The last section proposes a way forward by using the framework of ‘transformative social protection’ as the main reference.
Lessons learnt from the German Riester pension scheme and their possible application in India
by Sandra Kissling
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection - Issue No. 8, February 2011
The fairly young Indian National Pension System (NPS) aims at creating an efficient incentive and regulation structure to convince unorganised sector workers to start saving for their old age with NPS. Some lessons can be drawn from the experience of the German Riester pension scheme and applied to NPS. Reliable quality and a consumer protection system earn the trust of (future) savers.
Using private companies to extend health insurance to the informal sector
by Jennifer Hennig
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection, Issue No. 7, December 2010
It is estimated that every year more than 44 million households face financial ruin because of direct health care expenditure and 25 million households are forced into poverty through having to pay for health services. In Tanzania, a Public Private Partnership (PPP) has recently been launched to address this issue. The PPP uses the private company Biolands as an innovative distribution channel for health insurance to extend social protection to the informal sector.
Mutual Health Organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa – Opportunities and Challenges
by Katharina Wietler
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection, Issue No. 6, October 2010
One instrument that cushions the individual’s risk of sickness is membership in a Mutual Health Organisation (MHO): these small-scale, community-based and voluntary micro health insurance schemes make health care services accessible to poor people. Such schemes have taken root in many sub-Saharan African countries during the last decade and often constitute the only available form of social health protection for the rural poor.
Using conditional cash transfers to control sexual transmitted infections and HIV
By Marco Schäfer
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection, Issue No. 5, July 2010
There are increasing calls for new structural approaches to HIV-prevention using social protection measures. This is partially related to the recognition that social inequalities are one of the underlying factors driving generalised HIV epidemics. Moreover, conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes, that encourage beneficiaries to use health services and schooling, have shown promising results.
Social Protection in Germany: Current challenges and lessons learnt from an ongoing reform process
by Roland Hackenberg
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection - Issue No. 4, June 2010
This paper aims to provide an overview of Germany's current social protection system with a strong focus on unemployment benefits, especially regarding the conditional cash transfer instrument. It discusses the main arguments and lessons learnt within this ongoing reform process. It aspires to provide relevant insights about the trade-offs between costs and benefits of the current system that hopefully could enrich the ongoing discussions and reform processes within developing and emerging economies.
Social protection and governance
By Barbara Rohregger
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection, Issue No. 3, May 2010
Social protection can be seen as part of a broad security concept, particularly in terms of what is generally described as internal security: social protection programmes can contribute towards strengthening governance systems and enhancing state legitimacy, which in turn can positively affect democratisation and nation building processes.
Barriers to health care for the poor and ethnic minorities in Northwest Vietnam
by Bettina Schwind
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection, Issue No. 2, April 2010
This paper presents some of the research evidence on barriers to health care services encountered by poor and ethnic minority people inhabiting mountainous Northwest Vietnam. It refers, in particular, to the Health Care Fund for the Poor – a social health insurance scheme aimed at people from these two social groups. The objective is to reflect upon what may need to be done in order to improve their situation and to achieve greater equitable access to health services.
Social transfers for poor households as an innovative way out of the 'triple F' crisis
by Dr Angelika Fleddermann, Paul-Theodor Schütz and Sanna Stockstrom
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Discussion Papers on Social Protection, Issue No. 1, February 2010
The food, fuel and financial crisis (“triple F” crisis), and increasingly frequent price fluctuations brought about by speculation on world markets have serious impacts on extremely poor households, which frequently spend up to 80 per cent of their income on food. Social transfers help safeguard against risks posed in this context and reduce extreme poverty, while also preventing chronic hunger. They can be used as a preventative instrument for dealing with food bottlenecks and as a short-term relief measure.
