COVID-19 Resources
The coronavirus pandemic is a crisis that requires unprecedent efforts from a truly global response. No one yet knows how long it will take and how its impacts will shape the future of our societies, but learning from concrete and practical guidance to social protection bridging humanitarian and development interventions can lead to better informed and effective short- and long-term responses.
Social protection is a policy instrument with robust, flexible and widely available delivery mechanisms. As such, it holds significant potential to transform the ways countries respond to the pandemic and keep the pace of development processes to achieve resilience, peace, stabilisation and economic growth. Knowledge and effective international cooperation is central to rapid and effective responses, which can be oriented by lessons learned from a range of social protection policies and tools.
In 2017, the European Commission (EC) created the Guidance Package (GP) on Social Protection across the Humanitarian-Development Nexus (SPaN) to outline the current body of knowledge, including brief definitions, and processes of social protection approaches in most challenging settings. The variety of contexts covered by the GP also includes countries where social protection systems are nationally led and those without any structures in place. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the GP launched its e-learning course providing insights and strategies for humanitarian and development staff introducing and reflecting knowledge from the GP´s materials.
This COVID-19 Resources page is part of the Guidance Package knowledge framework. It summarizes main documents and sources guiding discussions and information on social protection efforts in times of COVID-19. Community members will find here a list of links to key online communities, documents and relevant sources providing updates on social protection efforts to make countries more responsive to the crisis. Just as the Guidance Package, this page is a living document that can and will be updated with the collaboration of members of our online community of practice. For that, please provide your comments in the bottom of the page.
Online resources of Projects, Discussions and Experts´ Collaboration Spaces
The Social Protection in times of COVID-19 Task Force, an initiative of the UNDP/IPC-IG, GIZ and DFAT, issued weekly newsletters mapping social protection responses to reduce the impacts of the pandemic and ensure support to those in need. The initiative also relied on the organization of news from regions, complemented with tailored support offered not only by the EU but also for example an Expert Advice Helpline (SPACE) and a Webinar Series. SPACE was a joint initiative of the UK FCDO’s Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) and Gender Responsive Social Protection (GSP) programmes (funded by UKAid); GIZ (funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development); and the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Below is a short list of SPACE materials published:
- SPACE Informal Workers and Social Protection
- SPACE Useful COVID-19 and Social Protection Materials
- SPACE Understanding the Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Who, Where, How, and When?
- SPACE Social Protection in the COVID-19 Recovery: Opportunities and Challenges
- SPACE Options for rapid delivery (payment) of cash transfers for COVID-19 responses and beyond
- Programming Guidance: Embedding Localisation in the Response to COVID-19
- SPACE Social Protection Approaches to COVID-19: Expert advice helpline
- SPACE Strengthening Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) During the Implementation of Social Protection Responses to COVID-19
- SPACE Social protection for older people during COVID-19 and beyond
- SPACE Preparing for Future Shocks: Priority Actions for Social Protection Practitioners in the Wake of COVID-19
- SPACE Guidance for Framing Case Studies on Social Protection Responses to COVID-19
- SPACE Value for Money of Social Protection and Humanitarian Cash Transfers in the Context of COVID-19
- SPACE Programming Options: ‘Cash Plus’ Approaches in the Response to COVID-19
- SPACE The Potential Role of Economic Inclusion Programmes to Respond to Those Affected by COVID-19
- SPACE Social Protection and Humanitarian Cash and Food Responses to COVID-19: Needs, Coverage, and Gaps
- SPACE How Targeting Mechanisms Can Identify People With Disabilities for Inclusion in Social Protection Programmes
- SPACE Inclusive Information Systems for Social Protection: Intentionally Integrating Gender and Disability
- COVID-19 and the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) and Conditional Cash Transfers for Education (CCTE) programmes
- SPACE Useful COVID-19 and Social Protection Materials
- SPACE Transfer Values: How Much Is Enough? Balancing social protection and humanitarian considerations
- Drivers of Timely and Large-Scale Cash Responses to COVID-19: what does the data say?
SP-HCT Links - weekly newsletters: a joint initiative between the Grand Bargain´s Cash Sub Group and the online community Social Protection in Crisis Contexts with highlights on relevant events, documents and mapping efforts to interested public.
Grand Bargain´s Cash Sub Group initiative to map social protection and humanitarian cash linkages - The purpose of this live, shareable mapping was to support humanitarian actors in the field.
ODI Research Project Social Protection Response to COVID-19 and beyond: lessons learned for adaptive social protection. This research project examined social protection measures adopted since the onset of the pandemic, with the aim to promote policy learning and to assist partner countries strengthen their social protection systems to be more inclusive, adaptive and sustainable social protection systems. The project had a working paper series and a podcast addressing emerging evidence and learning for future crises, impact on gender equality, national cash transfer responses and urban cash, and provisions to refugees during the COVID-19 pandemic, among other topics.
Key Documents
Communication on the Global EU response to COVID-19
Factsheet: EU global response to coronavirus: supporting our partner countries
Grand Bargain Cash Sub Group on Linking Social Protection and Humanitarian Cash Transfers Statement
A UN framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19
Report of the UN Secretary-General Our Common Agenda (2021)
We critically need to increase our efforts to protect and support all people throughout the crisis, both in its health dimension as well as its economic and social repercussions. For this, we can draw on the range of social protection policies and tools at our disposal and on lessons learnt from earlier pandemics and economic and financial crises. - SPIAC-B Joint Statement on the Role of Social Protection in Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Relevant Information Sources
EU Global Response to COVID-19
ILO COVID-19 and the World of Work & ILO Country Policy Responses
ILO Monitor of Social Protection Responses to COVID-19 Crisis around the World
Weekly Social Protection Links - World Bank Ugo Gentili´s newsletter on latest research and practices from the world of social protection . Also see the posts A round up of key cash transfers papers for 2020 and Social Protection in 2021: A compilation of suggested readings for lists of selected publications in the field.
Social Protection Responses to COVID-19 in the Global South - Online Dashboard Developed by UNDP/IPC-IG and partners using a shock-responsive lens
International Social Security Association (ISSA) - COVID-19 Updates and Webinars
UN COVID-19 Response & Recovery Fund (MPTF-O)
Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP) - CVA and COVID-19: resources, guidance, events and questions
Key Policy Responses from OECD