From the growing number and severity of climate disasters to ongoing political upheaval, the number of children and families living in communities vulnerable to shocks and facing emergency situations is growing, with potentially devastating impacts on children and their childhoods.
When crisis hits, effective social protection support is often a crucial factor in determining whether children can quickly return to normality or their life paths will be permanently altered. All too often, however, national systems are either too weak to respond, or are not designed to have the flexibility to adjust, for example, through rapidly expanding to reach those that need support or temporarily increasing transfer size while families and communities recover.
UNICEF, along with partners such as the World Bank, European Commission, International Labour Organisation, World Food Programme and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is increasing our focus
on supporting governments to strengthen social protection systems so they are ready to respond. This guidance supports this transition, outlining UNICEF’s approach to shock responsive social protection and providing practical tools and resources. We hope it will aid UNICEF colleagues as well as partners inside and outside of governments as we work together to build and strengthen shock responsive social protection systems.
This guidance focuses on social transfers, especially cash transfers, as proven programmatic responses and an integral part of social protection systems in both development settings and humanitarian response, and an area in which UNICEF has significant expertise.