Reducing Poverty and Investing in People:The New Role of Safety Nets in Africa

Abstract

This review is a product of the World Bank's Africa Region Social Protection Unit. Victoria Monchuk was the task leader and is the principal author. Monchuk is an economist whose fields of interest include social protection, labor, and children and youth. Her current work at the World Bank includes supporting governments in West and Central Africa in building safety net systems. She has also carried out evaluations of cash transfer, public works, and skills development programs. She previously worked in the Fiscal Affairs Department at the International Monetary Fund, where she did analytical work on public expenditure efficiency of health and education spending. Her research has focused on the impact of child labor on school achievement in Latin America. The review benefited from significant inputs from Sarah Coll-Black, Siddharth Sharma, and Frieda Vandeninden. Fiona Mackintosh edited the document, and Ana Lukau provided editorial support. The review was conducted under the overall direction of Deon Filmer, Stefano Paternostro, Manuel Salazar, and Lynne Sherburne-Benz. This review is heavily based on 22 country-level safety net and social protection assessments undertaken by the World Bank from 2009 to 2013. These assessments analyzed the status, as well as the strengths and weaknesses, of safety nets in Africa. They also identified areas for improvement with the aim of helping governments and donors strengthen African safety net systems to protect and promote poor and vulnerable people. These assessments were prepared together with the respective country governments, and some of the assessments are published as joint World Bank and government products. Several of the assessments benefited from support from the United Kingdom's Department for International Development and the Rapid Social Response Program. The Rapid Social Response Program is the result of a concerted effort by several donors (Australia, Norway, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom) that seek to help developing countries implement efficient social protection systems to better protect poor and vulnerable people against serious shocks, such as food, energy, and financial crises. Several World Bank staff members in the Africa Region Social Protection Unit were involved in preparing the country-level assessments, including Philippe