World Food Programme Strategy for Support to Social Protection 2021
Discover how social protection addresses poverty, food insecurity and inequality in the World Food Programme's comprehensive analysis.
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Social protection systems play a vital role in achieving a Zero Hunger world. Hundreds of millions of people contend daily with food insecurity and malnutrition, poverty and inequality. These are often linked in complex ways. What’s more, as the COVID-19 pandemic revealed, all people — whether currently in a vulnerable situation or not — risk welfare declines owing to shocks and stressors. Social protection is a cornerstone of policies that address these issues by redistributing resources and by interventions that help individuals or households to manage risks. It is an accelerator for many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Commitment to social protection by governments and their partners has long been increasing. Many challenges remain, some already the subject of global cooperation and others meriting attention. These include expanding social protection across the three dimensions of the Universal Social Protection 2030 agenda — coverage, comprehensiveness and adequacy; improving quality; and embedding programs in a cohesive system. Taking better account of food security and nutrition considerations, and of extra needs in crises, are other important concerns.
World Food Programme’s Engagement in Social Protection
For the World Food Programme (WFP), poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion — the three conditions cited above as the remit of social protection policy — are part of three broader domains of concern, relating to needs, risks and inequalities respectively. All three resonate with our mandate:
- Needs: Certain needs must be met for people to have a decent life — not just food, but a range of essential needs, all of which can affect food security and nutrition — and social protection can help them attain it.
- Risks: Social protection’s risk management function is of primary importance to WFP as it can relieve some negative impacts of shocks and help build resilience.
- Inequalities: The role of social protection in combating inequalities matters as these affect vulnerability. Opportunity and disadvantage are influenced by social, economic and/or geographical factors, e.g., age, gender, disability or migration status. In this strategy, we focus on formal, public social protection initiatives that tackle these concerns.
A Framework for Achieving Social Protection Goals
We set out our strategic framework in five parts. These are:
- WFP’s vision.
- The priorities.
- Social protection for whom?
- Modes of support.
- Areas of work.