Resilience at scale: productive inclusion through safety nets in the Sahel
In today’s rapidly changing world, the enduring challenge of reducing extreme poverty remains, along with multiple new risks and shocks that often have a disproportionate impact on the poor. As policymakers look for ways to improve the lives and livelihoods of the extreme poor, social protection programs offer hope, by responding not only to the needs of those affected post-crisis, but also by building resilience before shocks occur. Sahel countries face acute challenges but are also at the forefront of program innovations with productive inclusion measures to boost the resilience of the extreme poor. These approaches can be effectively scaled up by building on national social protection systems.
Economic inclusion programs, which help boost income and assets of the world’s poorest, are on the rise in 75 countries, reaching approximately 20 million poor and vulnerable households, and benefitting nearly 92 million individuals. This surge comes at a crucial time, as more than
700 million people around the world face extreme poverty, a number on the rise for the first time in two decades.
According to the World Bank’s newly published “State of Economic Inclusion (SEI) Report 2020: The Potential to Scale,” economic inclusion programs usually a combination of cash or in-kind transfers, skills training or coaching, access to finance, and links to market support are fast becoming a critical instrument in many governments’ large-scale anti-poverty strategies. And they are likely to continue, especially in areas affected by conflict, climate change, and shocks, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unprecedented surge in these programs seen in 2020, World Bank report says
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2021 – Economic inclusion programs, which help boost income and assets of the world’s poorest, are on the rise in 75 countries, reaching approximately 20 million poor and vulnerable households, and benefitting nearly 92 million individuals. This surge comes at a crucial time, as more than 700 million people around the world face extreme poverty, a number on the rise for the first time in two decades.
According to the World Bank’s newly published “State of Economic Inclusion (SEI) Report 2020: The Potential to Scale,” economic inclusion programs -usually a combination of cash or in-kind transfers, skills training or coaching, access to finance, and links to market support- are fast becoming a critical instrument in many governments’ large-scale anti-poverty strategies. And they are likely to continue, especially in areas affected by conflict, climate change, and shocks, due to