During the recent Covid-19 shock (2020/21), most countries used cash transfers to protect the livelihoods of those affected by the pandemic or by restrictions on mobility or economic activities, including the poor and vulnerable. While a large majority of countries mobilized existing programs...

Instead of mean-tested conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs, some countries have implemented gender-targeted CCTs to explicitly address intra-household disparities in human capital investments. This study focuses on addressing the direct impact of a female school stipend program in Punjab,...

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya) has rapidly expanded to become the largest social protection and human development program in the Philippines. Over the last decade, the evolution of the Pantawid Pamilya was not only about its size and coverage, but also related to the...

Several government and development partner programs employ different approaches to ensure the inclusion of poor and vulnerable areas and people in Myanmar’s development. Buildingon this experience, this note aims to identify feasible options to effectively reach these groups, as government...

Many countries develop systems to identify the poor and vulnerable in order to direct program resources to these areas and groups, often to ensure their inclusion in social service provision orcommunity development. Determining eligibility typically depends on the overall program objectives,...

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...

As of January 2022, a total of 3,856 social protection and labor measures were planned or implemented by 223 economies. This constitutes a net increase of 523 measures, or 15.6 percent since the last update in May 2021. While noteworthy, such increase is the lowest among net additions observed...

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya) has rapidly expanded to become the largest social protection and human development program in the Philippines. Over the last decade, the evolution of the Pantawid Pamilya was not only about its size and coverage, but also related to the...

Energy subsidies, which have a long history of use by governments around the world, have been rising in recent years after a brief period of decline. Despite their significant wider costs, subsidies are used by governments for various policy, and political, reasons. Faced with recent external...

The multiplier effects of cash transfers are receiving renewed attention globally. The existence of multipliers - or the generation of additional dollars for every one dollar injected as cash transfers - illuminates new aspects of the impacts of social assistance and holds the potential to...