The majority of Somaliland’s population live on very low incomes and would benefit significantly from access to social protection. Vulnerabilities in Somaliland are exacerbated by large shocks, such as prolonged droughts, alongside shocks faced across the lifecycle, which can cause setbacks in families’ living standards, across entire communities. Children face particular challenges in the early stages of life, being unable to access adequate nutrition and health care, which can impede their developmental growth and future education and income-generating opportunities.
In the absence of government-led social protection schemes, Save the Children is piloting a child-sensitive social protection (CSSP) programme in Somaliland. Anh Tran, from Development Pathways, is working with Save the Children to analyse the scope for social protection in Somaliland, building on the CSSP, and providing specific recommendations to lay the foundation for building inclusive social protection schemes in Somaliland, that leave no children behind.
Including a research mission to Somaliland, this project started in July 2019, with the aim to explore the context of vulnerability within Somaliland, including the way forward for a child-sensitive social protection system in Somaliland, building on the CSSP Pilot. The project culminated in the report “Scoping and sector review of social protection in Somaliland” released in July 2020.
Read our related work:
Publication: Scoping and sector review of social protection in Somaliland