Child-sensitive social protection in context
UNICEF is doing critical work to highlight the importance social and economic policy issues have on children all over the world.
In recent years, social protection has emerged as a major new focus in efforts to reduce poverty around the world. Social protection can be understood as a set of public actions which address not only income poverty and economic shocks, but also social vulnerability, thus taking into account the inter-relationship between exclusion and poverty. In the current economic and financial crisis, social protection strategies will be a crucial element in effective policy responses.
Making social protection more child-sensitive has the potential to benefit not only children, but also their families, communities and national development as a whole. Child sensitive social protection systems mitigate the effects of poverty on families, strengthen families in their child care role, and enhance access to basic services for the poorest and most marginalized. Since the most at-risk children live outside family care, child sensitive social protection systems must also be responsive to this vulnerable group, as well as to children facing abuse or discrimination at home.
