Increase Social Protection

Increasing social protection is about reducing the economic and social vulnerability of vulnerable groups. It is commonly understood to include all, public (e.g., social pensions) and private (e.g., employment related health insurance) initiatives that provide income or consumption transfers to the poor, protect the vulnerable against livelihood risks and enhance the social status and rights of the marginalised; with the overall objective of reducing the economic and social vulnerability of poor, vulnerable and marginalised groups’ (Devereux & Sabates-Wheeler, 2004).
Important social protection mechanisms in the context of fragile and low-income countries relate to basic services such as better access to quality health care and education, universal cash transfers, ensuring income in the case of illness or injury or improving access to maternity benefits.