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SYSTEMS CHANGE...

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SOCIAL PROTECTION MAPPING TOOL 

CCD developed a mapping tool as part of the Ukraine Response Shared Services Strategy to analyze and understand existing social protection programs in Ukraine and Poland. This tool categorises programs based on financing, availability, lifecycle stages, and vulnerability criteria. It provides valuable insights to humanitarian organisations, allowing them to easily access and analyse relevant programs. The tool also highlights amendments to the Ukrainian social protection system following the 2022 conflict. CCD's community of practice members validates the mappings and promotes collaboration and synergy within the humanitarian response. Overall, the mapping tool is crucial in improving the quality and inclusiveness of social protection efforts in the region.

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SOCIAL PROTECTION WORKING GROUP

WHY NOW?

OUR MANDATE

The working group was created in response to a number of external stimuli, including: 

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  • the need to provide faster aid more efficiently and at greater scale

  • a recognition that many who receive humanitarian support have chronic needs that require assistance long after humanitarians have withdrawn – and as a response to the "nexus"

  • the growing caseload and burden on responders to act for longer periods of time, as a result of climate change and conflict, in protracted crises

  • increased pressure on donors to support, despite budget limitations, the growing needs resulting from the protracted crises

  • the need to put social protection systems in place to accommodate donors with better planned and more sustainable responses

  • donors' shift towards "single delivery mechanisms" (a model that has one responsible agent delivering a humanitarian cash programme with partners providing monitoring and accountability functions) by channelling cash through existing local systems, where feasible

  • a push from international commitments (particularly the Grand Bargain ) to use formal or informal social protection models in local systems' operations to complement global approaches.

CCD's social protection team's workstream includes: 

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  • mapping social protection opportunities in countries where CCD collaborations are functioning or starting up 

  • mapping of social protection in CCD countries and CCD's members' work on the topic to identify gaps that CCD could fill and collaborate on

  • providing a safe space for idea sharing and discussions on new ideas, positions, programmes, or ambitions 

  • establishing how CCD and its members can add value to social protection work in humanitarian responses in CCD countries

  • analysing humanitarian responses and effectiveness of engaging with social protection systems.

  • collaborating on potential funding opportunities where there would be  added value in a collaborative approach from the cash sector towards social protection in humanitarian response

BACKGROUND

CCD established a social protection working group in May 2019, led by Oxfam. As this shift affects all NGOs, CCD believes it is beneficial for our members to work together to explore the new roles we can play in this arena, where we can continue to influence the humanitarian sector, and how we can guarantee the delivery of the best possible cash and voucher assistance for people affected by crises.

 

The social protection working group will ensure that we stay up to date with the growing focus on social protection in humanitarian response, see how our country platforms can add value to social protection

programming and policy, make sure that we contribute

to the ongoing learning around social protection, especially in fragile contexts. 

 

The group has put together a workplan and begun to engage externally with in-country CCD partnerships on ways to collaborate. 2020 priorities include generating evidence about social protection and humanitarian response, representing members in key social protection fora, and maintaining space for NGOs and civil society to engage with humanitarian-social protection processes.

MEMBERS

Leads: Maria Pia Ferrari, (Action Against Hunger) and Clara Decamps, (Save the Children UK).

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Members: Action Against Hunger, ACTED, Care, Concern, Catholic Relief Services, DanChurchAid, Danish Refugee Council, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran World, Mercy Corps  Oxfam, Relief International, Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children UK, World Vision

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2020 ACTIVITIES

SP webinar

CCD's social protection (SP) working group is co-hosting a webinar that is part of a series of webinars on linking SP with humanitarian cash organised by UNICEF, IFRC, and DFID as part of their knowledge management work on capacity gaps in humanitarian SP. This also falls under the Grand Bargain's sub-working group for SP and humanitarian cash.

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Conflict environments are situations that humanitarians know well.  What we know less about is engaging with SP systems. In such contexts, humanitarian actors, specifically, international NGOs, can play a critical role in designing cash and voucher assistance so that it can form the basis for social transfers, and in shaping SP policy. This webinar, co-hosted by CCD, will explore the successes and challenges of doing this in practice, based on the examples of Yemen (Oxfam) and Nigeria (ACF).

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The objectives of the session include:

  • looking at ways in which a SP system can be leveraged in humanitarian settings

  • exploring what role humanitarian stakeholders can play in supporting and strengthening the system

  • considering who is best placed to do what in a complex emergency with multiple actors and donors (and why?)

  • thinking about how humanitarian principles have been balanced in these situations.

Speakers:

Stella Esedunme, Project Manager CDGP,  Action Against Hunger

 

Aneel Memon, Head, Food Security and Livelihoods, Action Against Hunger

 

Amr Mohammed Al-Nood, Protection Technical Coordinator, Oxfam

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Discussant:

Larissa Pelham, Social Protection Adviser, Oxfam, CCD SP working group chair

 

Moderator: 

Zehra Rizvi, Independent Consultant

12th March 2020 webinar

blog here

recording here

presentation here

2019 ACTIVITIES

#CASHWEEK2019: SOCIAL PROTECTION IN HUMANITARIAN CASH

Oxfam_CCD_Graphic-recording_social-protection

CCD presented a special session "Social protection and humanitarian cash: What works, what doesn't, and what's needed next" at Cash Week 2019 in London. Moderated by Emily Henderson (DFID), panel members included Kathryn Taetzsch (World Vision), Vlad Jovanovic (Mercy Corps), and Larissa Pelham (CCD's Social Protection Working Group Lead on behalf of Oxfam).

 

A report on inclusive social protection in humanitarian response was prepared by CCD's social protection working group ahead of the event and shared with attendees. Case studies were presented by Kathryn and Vlad and Larissa led a discussion on NGOs' role in social protection. One big takeaway was that there is a need to shift the still prevalent idea that there is no time to engage with social protection when doing humanitarian cash to understanding how it can be done agilely and effectively.

A summary of the special session hosted by CCD on "Social protection and humanitarian cash: What works, what doesn’t and what’s needed next" as captured by Caroline Chapple ©2019 CCD / Caroline Chapple, Chapple Cartoons

Live poll - Social protection & humanitarian linkages
Live poll - Social protection & humanitarian linkages
Live poll - Social protection & humanitarian linkages

A word cloud created live during the session that reflects participants key takeaways from the presentations and discussions. 

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REPORTS/PRESENTATIONS

This paper explores the extent to which humanitarian Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) in Ukraine has been able to leverage different elements of the delivery chain of national social protection (SP) programming. There are significant similarities between humanitarian cash assistance and SP, but there are also key differences that may impede leveraging the SP system to deliver assistance. Understanding these differences is as important as understanding the context in which linkages could occur. 

CCD partnered with Ukraine Cash Consortium (UCC) to build on CCD’s work of mapping the SP system in Ukraine to advance in identifying alignment options for humanitarian cash assistance design programming within Ukraine’s SP system. The exercise first started with the facilitation of a workshop on 4 July 2023 attended by CCD Community of Practice members and other relevant stakeholders such as the Cash Working Group (CWG) chairs, the CWG Task Team 5 (TT5) members and the Perekhid Initiative’s Technical Assistance Facility members. Invitations to the workshop were extended to organizations outside of the CCD to ensure coordination and synergies between all SP related initiatives. This discussion paper is building on the workshop and aims to present humanitarian organizations with program design options for humanitarian cash programming aligning to the SP system in Ukraine. This paper begins with an overview of the situation in Ukraine, then moves to a brief description of structure of the SP system in Ukraine and a brief snapshot of the emergency cash transfers currently being delivered by humanitarian actors and the government. The last section provides a gap analysis of the current benefits across the lifecycle along with recommendations of how humanitarian actors can link with and fill the gaps of the cash benefits provided through Ukraine’s social insurance and social assistance systems.

This summary tool of the discussion paper highlights the alignment options for each lifecycle stage (maternity to old age, plus disability which runs through the entire lifecycle) according to the analytical framework, triangulating gaps in coverage, income gaps from transfer values of social protection programs, and ongoing unmet needs. It is highly recommended that this summary paper be read in conjunction with the full discussion paper to understand the full analysis and evidence.

This overview provides an initial operational framework to guide decision-making as NGOs engage with SP systems and programmes. It outlines key guiding principles and specifies the value-add of NGOs engaging with systems of SP. It aims to complement and balance the considerable existing work aimed at, where possible and appropriate, supporting governments’ system strengthening and the UN to contribute to and complement SP in humanitarian contexts. 

RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS: LINKING HUMANITARIAN CASH AND SOCIAL PROTECTION IN PRACTICE (JULY 2020)

This paper seeks to demonstrate practical ways in which NGOs are linking their humanitarian work to social protection and the added importance of this in the context of COVID-19, following from the earlier work of CCD outlining the role of NGOs to improve the access to and delivery of social protection in crises and the COVID-19 advocacy paper. This is written for signatories of the Grand Bargain, particularly those engaged in the cash sub-working group on social protection and humanitarian cash. This paper highlights that there is much more to be done but that NGOs have a crucial role to play and what follows are some of the ways in which CCD can engage. 

ADVOCACY BRIEF IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19

(APRIL 2020)

COVID-19 has an unprecedented impact globally in terms of access to and the capacity of healthcare systems to respond. The health crisis is yet to peak in many countries and in low income contexts, the concern is that its impact will be severe where it is not physically possible to practice physical distancing. As we saw during Ebola in 2014 or in cholera outbreaks, physical distancing is a choice that only a minority can afford in low income countries.  It is anticipated that this crisis will result in significant numbers of households falling into poverty (or deeper into poverty) as a result of the enormous economic impacts of measures needed to contain this virus: recovery from the economic impact of this, will not be short term. Those most vulnerable to this are those without job security, small businesses, those in the informal economy and in unpaid care. We recognise that these roles are the backbone of many national economies. We recognise that a large burden will currently fall to communities to meet care and other needs to affected households.  The impact on women is particularly strong, given their role as caregivers, which puts them at particular health and economic risk due to their roles in both the informal sector and care economy and the additional care burden of the sick and also of children, now schools are closed. Governments should recognise too, that children and caregivers depended on breakfasts and/or lunches in schools to avoid going hungry. At the same time there are those excluded from society, stateless, displaced, refugees who are extremely vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic.

INCLUSIVE SOCIAL PROTECTION IN HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE: IS THERE A ROLE FOR CCD? 

(DECEMBER 2019)

This position paper discusses the potential for social protection to act as a faster, more efficient way to deliver assistance in certain contexts and looks at how social protection and humanitarian responses intersect and what this means for NGOs and other cash actors working along the cash value chain. CCD looks out how social protection can be embedded into CCD activities and staff training, facilitated as part of collaborations at the field level, and awareness raised within the humanitarian community, as well as next steps to keep programming and advocacy at the forefront of discussions around social protection issues. 

LINKING MPCA AND THE FEDERAL SSN IN IRAQ

(DECEMBER 2019)

Vladimir Jovanovic, Technical Advisor of Cash Transfer Programming for Mercy Corps presented this presentation as part of CCD's special session, "Social protection and humanitarian cash: What works, what doesn't, and what's needed next", at Cash Week 2019. He discussed the timeline it took to implement a multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) project of this scale, how the integration worked in practice, and lessons learnt.

FROM MPCA TO CHILD-SENSITIVE SOCIAL PROTECTION IN SULAWESI, INDONESIA

(DECEMBER 2019)

Kathryn Taetzsch, Global Director, Humanitarian Cash and Voucher-Based Programming for World Vision presented this presentation as part of CCD's special session, "Social protection and humanitarian cash: What works, what doesn't, and what's needed next", at Cash Week 2019. She discussed the timeline in which they were able to launch MPCA in the midst of an emergency response; how it worked and lessons learnt; the challenges and opportunities for a better, more harmonised collaboration; and World Vision's strategic approach of driving child well-being outcomes through quality cash transfer programming. 

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