Adaptive role of (universal) child benefits in emergency responses in Turkey

Social Protection strategies aim to build resilience against various shocks and risks. Adaptive social protection incorporates shock responsiveness to foster adaptive capacity through preparedness, coping mechanisms, and adaptation strategies. Safety nets and universal child benefits are recommended as essential schemes within a crisis context. The Kızılaycard, compromising the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) and conditional cash transfers for education (CCTE), emerged as national European Union-funded schemes expanded to accommodate refugees following the influx of the Syrian population into Turkey. These programs strive to achieve adaptive capacity outcomes for refugee children by addressing social, economic, physical, and institutional vulnerabilities. A context-specified adaptive capacity outcome framework assesses how the Kızılaycard contributes adaptively to building resilience among children, informing policies on universal child benefits. The content analysis examines 50 policy documents, impact evaluations, 2 intersectoral vulnerability studies, and 4 expert interviews. In the development of multi-stakeholder cooperation, partners engage in policy dialogues, produce learning documents, and conduct evidence-based impact evaluations. While the programs demonstrate positive impacts on basic needs and education, their efficacy in fostering lasting positive coping strategies resilient to the economic crisis remains limited, with children's outcomes inadequately specified. Policy discussions take place within Steering Committees consisting of international agencies, with recommendations from The World Bank and UNICEF advocating for Turkey's adoption of universal child benefits to enhance adaptive capacity in policy frameworks, transforming institutional vulnerability into effective support and capacity for children. However, institutional vulnerabilities persist in multi-crisis environments, hindering the adoption of adaptive, child-responsive benefits for vulnerable children.