Welfare, Social Protection and Poverty Reduction

Abstract

In the last decade, social protection has emerged as a policy framework employed to address poverty and vulnerability in developing countries. A range of factors signal the rise to prominence of social protection. International development organizations, especially agencies within the United Nations family, have adopted and adapted social protection strategies and policies.1 A growing number of national governments in the developing world are developing and adopting national social protection strategies within their poverty reduction planning. There is a rapid escalation in the number and coverage of social protection policies and programmes being implemented in developing countries.2 There is also rising interest in social protection among development researchers, development research institutes, and higher education.