scholarly journals Financial Incentives to Reduce Female Infanticide, Child Marriage and Promote Girl’s Education: Institutional and Monitoring Mechanisms

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izzy Birch

The focus of this paper is on the complementary mechanisms and interventions likely to increase the effectiveness and impact of conditional cash transfer (CCT) schemes in South Asia that aim to reduce female infanticide and child marriage and promote girls’ education. The literature on the institutional aspects of these particular schemes is limited, but from this and from the wider literature on CCT programmes in similar contexts, the following institutional mechanisms are likely to enhance success: a strong information and communication strategy that enhances programme reach and coverage and ensures stakeholder awareness; advance agreements with financial institutions; a simple and flexible registration process; appropriate use of technology to strengthen access, disbursement, and oversight; adequate implementation capacity to support processes of outreach, enrolment, and monitoring; monitoring and accountability mechanisms embedded in programme design; coordination mechanisms across government across social protection schemes; an effective management information system; and the provision of quality services in the sectors for which conditions are required. There is a very limited body of evidence that explores these institutional issues as they apply to the specific CCT programmes that are the focus of this report, however, there is more available evidence of the potential impact of ‘cash-plus’ programmes, which complement the transfers with other interventions designed to enhance their results or address the structural barriers to well-being

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huma Haider

This review examines evidence on the key design features and impact of programmes that use Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) or baby bonds to reduce female infanticide, child marriage and promote girl’s education. Conditional cash transfer (CCT) schemes have been adopted to promote the survival and well-being of girls. They provide parents with financial incentives to raise daughters; to delay marrying them until age 18, and to reduce the gender imbalance in school. Given that many CCT programmes aimed at addressing girl children are relatively new, it has in many cases been too early to evaluate their effectiveness. There is thus limited evidence of the impact of their implementation and outcomes. This helpdesk report focuses on recent studies, published in the past five years, on select programmes implemented in South Asia, particularly in India, for which there is the most available information. Evidence suggests that CCT programmes aimed at supporting the girl child have succeeded in promoting school enrolment and delaying marriage in South Asia. It is less clear, however, the extent to which these transfers have affected gender-biased sex selection.


2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-74
Author(s):  
Natasha Borges Sugiyama ◽  
Wendy Hunter

ABSTRACTConditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) have emerged as an important social welfare innovation across the Global South in the last two decades. That poor mothers are typically the primary recipients of the grants renders easy, but not necessarily correct, the notion that CCTs empower women. This article assesses the relationship between the world’s largest CCT, Brazil’s Bolsa Família, and women’s empowerment. To systematize and interpret existing research, including our own, it puts forth a three-part framework that examines the program’s effects on economic independence, physical health, and psychosocial well-being. Findings suggest that women experience some improved status along all three dimensions, but that improvements are far from universal. A core conclusion is that the broader institutional context in which the Bolsa Família is embedded—that is, ancillary services in health and social assistance—is crucial for conditioning the degree of empowerment obtained.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-48
Author(s):  
Mark Stevenson Curry

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs disburse cash grants to targeted recipient families under requirements for education and maternal health. These programs have been widely adopted with international donor assistance since the 1990s. Most CCT research examines program effectiveness at the demand level-the cash provision and compliance outcomes. This paper considers the respective supply-side question of health and education budgeting in Brazil and the Philippines during the relevant period of CCT implementation. The data provide that whereas Brazil has improved such access to services to complement its CCT programs, the Philippines has underinvested in supply-side provision. Brazil thus exhibits an integrated conceptualization of social protection for development. The Philippines exhibits a patchwork scheme for short term goals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Ikenna Samuel Umezurike ◽  
Ibraheem Salisu Adam

Despite the recent economic growth in Nigeria, poverty remains a social problem. One of the strategies employed by the Nigerian government and some development partners towards solving this problem is the deployment of social protection instruments, such as Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs), which aim at stemming the tide of poverty and vulnerability. This study uses the secondary research method to examine the extent to which the Latin American CCT model influenced the design and operation of the Nigerian CCT programme. The policy diffusion model adopted for the study posits that the success of CCT programmes in Latin America has stimulated its extension to many developing countries outside the region. The findings from the review of selected literature explain the rationale for CCTs as short-term poverty reduction and long-term human capital development. Admittedly, a nexus exists between the Latin American and Nigerian strategies. Yet the study concludes that the Latin American model cannot adequately serve as a blueprint for the Nigeria strategy, given that underlying conditions in upper middle-income Latin American countries are clearly different from those present in low income or lower middle-income African countries like Nigeria. The study recommends urgent implementation of the National Social Protection Policy; a review of the current CCT programme in Nigeria every two years and extensive research into social protection strategies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 151 (3) ◽  
pp. 865-895
Author(s):  
Kelly Kilburn ◽  
Lucia Ferrone ◽  
Audrey Pettifor ◽  
Ryan Wagner ◽  
F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé ◽  
...  

Abstract Despite the growing popularity of multidimensional poverty measurement and analysis, its use to measure the impact of social protection programs remains scarce. Using primary data collected for the evaluation of HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 068, a randomized, conditional cash transfer intervention for young girls in South Africa that ran from 2011 to 2015, we construct an individual-level measure of multidimensional poverty, a major departure from standard indices that use the household as the unit of analysis. We construct our measure by aggregating multiple deprivation indicators across six dimensions and using a system of nested weights where each domain is weighted equally. Our findings show that the cash transfer consistently reduces deprivations among girls, in particular through the domains of economic agency, violence, and relationships. These results show how social protection interventions can improve the lives of young women beyond single domains and demonstrate the potential for social protection to simultaneously address multiple targets of the SDGs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-97
Author(s):  
Mônica A. Haddad ◽  
Joshua Hellyer

This article examines how beneficiaries of Brazil’s Bolsa Família (BFP) conditional cash transfer program find employment in a Brazilian municipality and assesses their participation in decent work. Using Belo Horizonte as a case study, researchers conducted a survey of BFP recipients. The article compares responses of informally and formally employed workers to assess how their employment meets the criteria of the decent work agenda. Results indicate no significant difference between perceptions of formal and informal employees concerning discrimination and poor working conditions. Findings lead to recommendations about formalization of employment, coordination with existing job training programs, child care, and transportation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
LEILA PATEL ◽  
TRUDIE KNIJN ◽  
FRITS VAN WEL

AbstractDespite the growth of cash transfers to reduce poverty, promote child and family well-being and women's empowerment, the gender dynamics and impact of social protection remains poorly understood. We hypothesise that poor female care-givers receiving a cash transfer for their children are better able to contribute to the material and social well-being of their children than female care-givers who do not receive a cash transfer. This paper reports results of a household survey in one of the poorest wards in Johannesburg, South Africa. Structural equation modelling is used to analyse the data. We found that cash transfers increase women's individual income, which is in turn positively associated with increased financial independence, decision-making power over financial resources and decisions about children's well-being. Beneficiaries were more actively engaged in care activities with their children. There are two implications for the insertion of gender and care into social protection policies. First that it is not necessary to attach behavioural change conditions to social protection policies in order to stimulate female care-givers to be more engaged in developmental activities with their children. Second, there is no risk of promoting a maternalistic model of care or ‘maternalism’ in the South African context as the transfer contributes to both women's individual incomes and their financial decision-making power.


2019 ◽  
Vol 149 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 2302S-2309S ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynnette M Neufeld ◽  
Armando García-Guerra ◽  
Amado D Quezada ◽  
Florence Théodore ◽  
Anabelle Bonvecchio Arenas ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundDespite positive nutrition impacts, the prevalence of malnutrition among beneficiaries of Mexico's conditional cash transfer (CCT) program remains high. Greater nutrition impact may have been constrained by the type of nutritional supplements provided.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to inform a potential modification to the supplements distributed to pregnant and lactating women and children.MethodsImpact was assessed using 2 cluster-randomized trials (pregnant women, children) run simultaneously. Communities (n = 54) were randomly assigned to the fortified foods provided by the program (Nutrivida women, Nutrisano children) or alternatives: tablets (women), syrup (children), or micronutrient powders for women (MNP-W) and children (MNP-C). Each supplement for women/children contained the same micronutrients based on the formulations of Nutrivida and Nutrisano, respectively. Pregnant women (aged >18 y) were recruited before 25 weeks of gestation and followed to 3 mo postpartum. Children aged 6–12 mo were recruited and followed to age 24 mo. Primary outcomes were anemia for women and length growth for children. Statistical analyses appropriate for cluster-randomized designs were used, and structural equation modeling to estimate dose-response effects. Supplement costs per beneficiary (daily dose for 18 mo) were estimated for production and distribution.ResultsThere was no significant difference in change of anemia prevalence between supplement groups in women, or in length growth between groups in children. One daily dose of any supplement was associated with 0.8 cm greater length growth. From baseline to age 24 mo, the prevalence of anemia in the Nutrisano, syrup, and MNP-C groups decreased by 36.7, 40.8, and 37.9 percentage points, respectively (within-group, P < 0.05; between groups, P > 0.05). Costs per beneficiary ranged from $12.1 (MNP-C) to $94.8 (Nutrivida).ConclusionsThe CCT program could distribute alternative supplements at lower cost per beneficiary without compromising potential for impact. Acceptance among beneficiaries should also be considered in choice of alternatives. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00531674.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Doris Ottie-Boakye

Abstract Background Social assistance in the form of cash transfer or in-kind has been recognised as a social protection strategy in many developing countries to tackle poverty and provide protection for individuals and households. Ghana’s cash grant programme, Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), was introduced in 2008 to support selected households with vulnerable persons including older people 65 years and above, and persons with disabilities. This paper examined the coverage of non-receipt of LEAP, and the associated factors among older persons (65+ years) in the Mampong Municipality, Ghana. Methods Data were extracted from the Ageing, Social Protection and Health Systems (ASPHS) survey carried out between September 2017 and October 2017 among older persons residing in LEAP-targeted communities. Data were analysed using descriptive and sequential logistic regression model techniques. Results The mean age of respondents was 77.0 years and 62.3% were females. Rural residents constituted 59.0%. About 42.0% had no formal education and only 20.5% had no form of caregiving. Non-receipt of LEAP was 82.7% among study respondents. The fully adjusted model showed that being married (AOR = 3.406, CI 1.127–10.290), residing in an urban location (AOR = 3.855, CI 1.752–8.484), having attained primary level of education (AOR = 0.246, CI 0.094–0.642), and not residing in the same household with a primary caregiver (AOR = 6.088, CI 1.814–20.428) were significantly associated with non-receipt of cash grant among older persons. Conclusion These results provide the first quantitative estimates of non-receipt coverage and its associated factors with the LEAP programme, which can inform the design of government policies related to cash transfers for older persons. The need for further research using different approaches to understand and explain the impact of cash grants on older persons’ well-being is crucial in strengthening old age social support care mechanisms in Ghana.


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