Demand for social protection is growingin low income countries and fragile situations. In recentyears, the success of social protection (SP) interventionsin middle income countries (MICs) like Brazil and Mexico,along with the series of food, fuel, and financial crises,has prompted policymakers in low income countries (LICs) andfragile situations (FSs) to examine the possibility ofintroducing such programs in their own countries. Flagshipprograms in countries as diverse as Ethiopia, India,Pakistan, and Rwanda have shown the adaptability of socialprotection interventions to the LIC context. Yet, despitegrowing levels of support for these initiatives, manychallenges remain. In LICs and FSs, governments areconfronted with a nexus of mutually reinforcing deficitsthat increase the need for SP programs and simultaneouslyreduce their ability to successfully respond. Governmentsface hard choices about the type, affordability, andsustainability of SP interventions. The paper reviews howthese factors affect SP programs in these countries andidentifies ways to address the deficits. It supports theestablishment of resilient SP systems to address specificneeds and vulnerabilities and to respond flexibly to bothslow and sudden onset crises. To achieve this, bothinnovation and pragmatism are required in three strategicareas: (i) building the basic blocks of SP systems (e.g.,targeting, payments, and monitoring and evaluation); (ii)ensuring financial sustainability; and (iii) promoting goodgovernance and transparency. These issues suggest thepossibility of a different trajectory in the development ofsocial protection in LICs than in MICs. The implications forWorld Bank support include the need to focus on increasingknowledge and operational effectiveness of SP programs,fostering institutional links between multiple SP programs,and using community capacity and technological innovationsto overcome bottlenecks in operations.
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