Overview of non-contributory social protection programmes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region through a child and equity lens

Through the definition of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries have acknowledged the importance of social protection for poverty reduction. Namely, target 1.3 of SDG 1, "End poverty in all its forms everywhere", calls for the implementation of nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all to achieve substantial coverage of poor and vulnerable populations, including children, by 2030. By including childspecific indicators and targets, SDG 1 urges countries to place children at the centre of poverty reduction efforts and reinforces the need to assess the child-sensitivity of policies, incentivising countries to produce child-disaggregated and child-specific data on both poverty and social protection coverage". (...)