UNICEF Social Protection Training Course Summary of Day 7 Mark Davies 21st July 2009

Towards a comprehensive approach Comprehensive approach is important where income poverty affects the majority of families and is compounded by deeply-engrained processes of social exclusion Rationale for a comprehensive approach in some countries e.g. Nepal but could be the case in many contexts The implications of not having a comprehensive approach often not considered What are the implications of a short-term SP intervention that is not linked to wider complimentary activities?

Towards a comprehensive approach Developing a comprehensive approach example from ESARO Defines and prioritises – makes the links Identifies WHAT needs to be done Says HOW And considers UNICEF’s role is within this Regional specific perhaps but useful framework to consider as a guide

CP and SP We often think of barriers to SP– we looked at opportunities Synergies , opportunistic, entry points, improving Practical opportunities to integrate child sensitive into social protection Richard Morgan 2008: “holistic approach to protection”

Marginalised children Understanding power - central to a comprehensive approach to social protection The challenge is that SP does not take sufficient account of the complex nature of power e.g. SP needs to be design to take account and transform the power relations that cause and sustain poverty

Marginalised children Presents interesting questions in relation to our knowledge on designing and implementing social protection How you design, implement target etc.. on the basis of power and exclusion - less clear in social protection discourse. This may be because the debate focuses a lot on poverty and the household. Household is not a sufficient unit of analysis to appreciate the dynamics of vulnerability of marginalised and excluded children How do you make sure you don’t reinforce adverse power relationships

Marginalised children There is also the political acceptability and the strengths of predominant donors Few lead SP donors taking this area seriously

Marginalised children Marginalisation and universal approaches: Should broad-based and equitable poverty reduction be favoured over a focus on specific disadvantages associated with marginsalition? How do you address social exclusion in the universal approach? Why would a universal benefit be more unifying, and pro-poor, than a scheme which targets the ones who need it most? The real question is, however, how does one single out specific individuals or households without reinforcing social tensions and divisions? Be clear and careful on how you identify and target these groups

Marginalised children So a real role for UNICEF on this agenda? – ensuring how marginalisation/power is considered and addressed Apply it to SP Should include how we operationalise – adding to what we do and making it better informed – synergy argument re-enforcing What are the examples so far; what are the costing; timeframes We can do all of this when we have a clearer sense of what we are trying to achieve – role of TSP!