ABSTRACT
Social protection is concerned with preventing, managing and overcoming situations that adversely affect people’s well-being. Social protection programmes aim to assist individuals and households in maintaining basic consumption and living standards when confronted by contingencies such as unemployment, illness, maternity, disability or old age, as well as economic crisis or natural disaster. In an increasingly volatile economic context associated with market liberalization and globalization, social protection has risen on the development policy agenda, initially with a narrow focus on safety nets and the management of risk (Holzmann and Jørgensen, 2000), but expanding to encompass broader concerns with poverty and vulnerability (Cook and Kabeer, 2010). Supported by a renewed global commitment to poverty reduction represented in the Millennium Development Goals, the social protection agenda has also embraced the promotion of livelihoods and more inclusive development within a framework of universal rights (UNRISD, 2010).
