ABSTRACT
Introduction Social protection is a relatively new but increasingly important component of the social policy dialogue in Africa. Recent advances in social protection policy have tended to focus on vulnerable groups other than children, such as social pensions for older persons, input subsidies for farmers or public works programs for working adults. Yet the economic and demographic structure of African societies is such that the highest sub-group poverty rates are found among children, and children represent the largest group of poor individuals within countries. Table 1.1 reports poverty headcount rates for children and older persons in five countries of Eastern and Southern Africa, based on the most recent national household budget surveys and national poverty lines. In all cases children display higher poverty rates than the national average and significantly higher than older persons, and in three of the five countries older persons have lower poverty rates than the national average. Children’s economic vulnerability is compounded by the significant social vulnerability they face, particularly in areas of generalized HIV-prevalence where high prime-age adult mortality has led to high rates of orphanhood and weakened traditional support structures that protect and care for children. Children’s economic and social vulnerabilities are further amplified by their inability to advocate for themselves, so that as a new social protection agenda emerges, there is a real risk that programming
initiatives in this sector will not address Africa’s most marginalized and vulnerable group.
