Safety Nets in Contexts of Violence, Fragility and Forced Displacement: The Case of Burkina Faso and Cameroon

Anne Della Guardia, Milli Lake and Mira Saidi

No 192987, Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes from The World Bank

Abstract: The rapid expansion of social safety nets in contexts affected by violence, fragility and forced displacement raises questions about whether such programs can relieve the worst forms of insecurity and vulnerability in affected communities. To answer this question, the authors analyze 394 qualitative interviews from Burkina Faso and Cameroon (West and Central Africa). As the first study of its kind conducting cross-country comparative research in varied security contexts, the authors posit three channels – material, social, and political – through which social protection can shape experiences of violence, fragility and forced displacement. The authors found that social assistance, or social safety nets, built resilience by smoothing consumption and relieving the pressure of unanticipated shocks while programs were ongoing. However, because many of the most vulnerable inhabitants directed transfer spending towards immediate subsistence needs, safety nets rarely resulted in additional income-generating opportunities or enduring material effects beyond the program’s conclusion. Although trends diverged across regions and security contexts, the authors identified tentative evidence of social and political effects, in the form of expanded social networks, cohesion and interdependence among some beneficiary groups, and greater confidence in existing institutions when beneficiaries attributed the safety net to the government. The authors examined these impacts across regions facing distinct levels and types of insecurity.

Date: 2024-06-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mig, nep-soc and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/0994240 ... 0e7-24a802c8a082.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:192987

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes from The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Aaron F Buchsbaum ().