Governments in low and middle-income countries are increasingly investing in social protection, and also address many of their own people's 'humanitarian' needs themselves. For their international partners, who may have an important role in filling gaps when household needs exceed national...

Poverty and crises are rapidly "urbanizing". Yet experience with operationalizing cash transfers in urban areas is limited. This paper captures early lessons from a new generation of urban cash transfer responses to Covid-19 in eleven African countries. The analysis contextualizes such...

The longstanding "cash versus food" debate has received renewed attention in both research and practice. This paper reviews key issues shaping the debate and presents new evidence from randomized and quasi-experimental evaluations that deliberately compare cash and in-kind food transfers in ten...

"Over 60 million people are currently displaced due to conflict or violence, and about 140 million are exposed to natural disasters. As part of humanitarian responses to those affected populations, growing attention is paid to cash transfers as a form of assistance. Cash is being strongly...

This note provides an update of social protection responses to the food, fuel, fertilizer, and other price shocks sparked or accelerated by the Ukraine war. The vast majority of measures were introduced in early 2022 (February-April), although some specific interventions to mitigate prices were...

Is Coronavirus (Covid-19) a "game changer" for cash transfers? This tantalizing question has animated a large body of recent literature and over 60 virtual panels. This paper offers some clues to address the question by bringing together data, evaluations and practical experiences generated over...

A leading economist recently stated that "food security may be the defining global challenge of the Century." And in underscoring the importance of social protection, the head of an international organization declared that "[w]e must recognize, share, scale up and build on these successful...

"Universal Basic Income (UBI) is one of the most hotly-debated ideas in development and social protection. Drawing from global evidence and experiences, this volume provides a compass to help navigate key issues and trade-offs, as well as offering new data and insights to better inform choices...