The pitfalls of poverty targeting: Systemic exclusion from a South African social assistance transfer
07/04/2025
Siyanda Baduza, Kelle Howson, Thato Setambule and Thobani Khumalo (Institute for Economic Justice) More than half of the target population has not been able to access a lifesaving South African social assistance transfer aimed at alleviating extreme poverty amongst working-age adults. While the overall scale of exclusion from the “COVID-19 Social...
“All social protection interventions are equal, but some are more equal than others”, with apologies to George Orwell, Animal Farm (1945)
I recently came across a heading “Iniquities and Social Protection”. It made me realise (yet again!) what an impossible language English is to master as a second tongue (and even as a mother tongue). “Iniquity” is definitely the wrong term to use here: it means “sin” or “wickedness” or “gross...
01/04/2025
From Jharkhand’s “Semi-UBI” to Universal Child Benefits: why it’s time for India to think bigger and better
By Dhanisha Raj Remember my last post on Jharkhand’s bold move to introduce a “Semi-UBI”? If not, here’s the refresher: the state – in India – rolled out a universal benefit for women aged 18-50, proving that big ideas can come from unexpected places. Think of it as a universal...
25/02/2025
Digitalisation in Social Protection: Lessons from Azerbaijan
Richard Chirchir, Principal Digital Technology Specialist at Development Pathways, breaks down the technical components of Azerbaijan’s advanced information system for social security and lists several key lessons that other countries can take away. This blog was written in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population of...
11/02/2025
How Jharkhand is setting a precedent for universal social security in India: where there’s a will…
By Dhanisha Raj Who would’ve guessed that one of the boldest moves in designing social security benefits would come from—not even a country—but a state in India called Jharkhand? For those unfamiliar, Jharkhand is one of India’s poorest states,¹ nestled in the country’s eastern region, often making headlines for its...
27/01/2025
Thidwick in Ethiopia
By Nicholas Freeland Many years ago, in an early online discussion about graduation, hosted by the Centre for Social Protection, John Hoddinott memorably likened social protection to a character in his favourite children’s book, Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose. I would like to borrow his splendid analogy to talk about Ethiopia’s...
10/12/2024
Come on and open up your heart!
By Nicholas Freeland I very much enjoyed Stephen’s humble and courageous admission that he is a reformed poverty-targeter! And I admire his plaintive appeal to all deluded believers in poverty targeting: “please, look at the evidence”. But I am not sure that evidence is the answer. After all, as Stephen...
01/11/2024