Social transfers and child protection in the South

Abstract

Most low and middle-income countries have implemented programmes providing transfers to families in poverty, often with a focus on children. The paper examines the potential effects of social transfers in these countries on child protection outcomes: the reduction of violence, exploitation and abuse of children, family separation and improved birth registration. The analysis is based on database including information on 79 impact evaluations in 28 countries, covering 45 medium and large-scale social transfer programmes. The paper identifies and evaluates three sets of effects: direct effects observed where social transfers have explicit child protection outcome objectives; poverty-mediated effects where the impact of social transfers on poverty and exclusion leads to improved child protection outcomes; and operational synergies arising from the implementation of social transfers. An extended report of this study, including full references can be accessed at: http://www.unicef-irc.org./ publications/691.

Tackling children's economic and psychosocial vulnerabilities synergistically: How well is the Palestinian National Cash Transfer Programme serving Gazan children?

“…Interventions have generally paid less attention to addressing child protection issues related to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect (Barrientos, Byrne, Miguel Villa, & Pena, 2013;Jones, Presler-Marshall, Cooke, & Akinrimisi, 2012). Not only is this problematic in terms of realising the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child's emphasis on children's multidimensional rights, but also the UNICEF Child Protection Strategy (2008) stresses that 'preventing and responding to violence, exploitation and abuse against children' is 'essential to ensuring children's rights to survival, development and well-being'.…”

The ‘Twofold Investment Trap’: Children and their Role in Sustainable Graduation

“…cash transfers) is an inherent component of graduation programmes, suggesting that they alleviate rather than contribute to the competition for monetary resources in households with children. There is ample evidence that cash transfers have a positive effect on the allocation of household resources to children, leading to many positive outcomes in terms of nutrition, education and health (Barrientos et al 2013;DFID 2011;Sanfilippo et al 2012). These positive findings extend to other programmes, including public works programmes, which have been found to improve children's outcomes and to have the potential to reduce child labour (Barrientos et al 2013).…”

“…There is ample evidence that cash transfers have a positive effect on the allocation of household resources to children, leading to many positive outcomes in terms of nutrition, education and health (Barrientos et al 2013;DFID 2011;Sanfilippo et al 2012). These positive findings extend to other programmes, including public works programmes, which have been found to improve children's outcomes and to have the potential to reduce child labour (Barrientos et al 2013). In Ethiopia, the PSNP was found to reduce child labour outside of the home and decreased the number of hours worked in agricultural work for both boys and girls (Hoddinott, Gilligan and Taffesse 2011).…”

Malaise in the Western Middle Classes

“…In Colombia's Familias en Acción, for example, local officers of the national registration agency are present at the enrolment of new beneficiaries by the programme agency in order to speed up and facilitate participant households in meeting this requirement. Parents or care givers can obtain the certificates needed for enrolment in the programme without spending additional resources on travelling to different places (Barrientos et al, 2013).…”