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Creating Synergies Between Social Protection and Care Reform in Eastern and Southern Africa

Social protection is increasingly being used in Eastern and Southern Africa to address economic and social vulnerability.Many governments in the region are also engaged in care reform to prevent family separation, support families to care for children well and provide quality alternative care.There are many overlaps in the goals, interventions and target groups of care reform and social protection programmes. The same frontline workers are also often engaged in these two streams of work.

Currently, synergies are yet to be maximised and this paper helps to address this gap by providing:

  • an outline of the key concepts and processes involved in social protection system strengthening and care reform,
  • an argument for encouraging greater synergies between these two systems, and
  • lessons learnt from across the region on how to create these synergies.

The paper ends with three case studies of programmes which have successfully merged care and social protection interventions in South Africa, Uganda and Mozambique. The paper is based on a literature review and is aimed at policy makers and programme managers working in both the fields of social protection and children’s care. Its aim is to encourage a deeper mutual understanding and greater collaboration between these groups. 

Author(s): 
UNICEF
Year of Publication: 
2022
Workforce themes: 
Resource Type: 
Gray literature
Language: 
English
Section: 
Resource Database