STRENGTHENING RESILIENCE THROUGH SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAMS GUIDANCE NOTE

Author: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Year: 2018

Category: Corporate Reports

Abstract

new ones. The adverse effects are felt most by the poor and the marginalized population. The effects include loss of household assets, disruption of livelihoods, and loss of income, and may lead to the poor adopting negative coping strategies, including selling their productive assets, reducing their consumption levels, and making harmful investment choices regarding education, health, and livelihoods, all of which may impact their long-term well-being. The effects may also result in the near-poor sliding back into poverty due to impacts of hazard-related shocks and stresses, and the increase in the number of transitory poor due to increase in intensity and frequency of hazards. The poor and vulnerable population are typically the recipients of social protection programs which are designed to reduce overall vulnerability. Social protection is defined as the set of policies and programs designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting efficient labor markets, diminishing people’s exposure to risks, and enhancing their capacity to protect themselves against hazards and interruption or loss of income.1 However, increase in risks from climate change and disasters will imply that the assets, livelihoods, and well-being of the poor will become more vulnerable. This will require solutions to reduce the current and future vulnerabilities of the poor and marginalized in the context of climate change and disasters, strengthen their adaptive capacity, and enhance residual risk management to support them to recover from hazard-related shocks. The solutions may include a range of measures—providing consumption support during lean periods, developing a culture of savings to encourage investments in risk reduction measures, supporting livelihood diversification to adapt to longer-term changes in climate variables, and providing insurance products to manage residual risk. These measures are closely related to measures often supported by social protection programs. Thus, when designed with climate and disaster risk considerations in mind and implemented in close coordination with programs focusing on strengthening livelihoods, financial inclusion, and early warning systems, social protection programs provide real opportunities to strengthen climate and disaster resilience.

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