Rethinking ‘Targeting’ in International Development

Senior Social Policy Specialist at Development Pathways, Stephen Kidd, examines the hot topic of ‘targeting’ and its role in the field of social security.

Edition 11 of our in-house Pathways Perspectives publications discusses whether ‘targeting’ is an appropriate term to use in discussions on social policy. With fervent advocates on different sides of the debate, Stephen argues that the debates on targeting are essentially ideological, and we need to rethink the way in which we approach the issue.

Stephen Kidd is a Senior Social Policy Specialist at Development Pathways: he wonders whether advocates of targeting conceive of universal access as some form of blanket bombing.