1. Africa
  2. Namibia

Namibia

develop_region: 
Sub-Saharan Africa
iso2: 
NA
iso3: 
NAM
Continent: 
Africa
Official name: 
Republic of Namibia

Weekly Social Protection Links: 02 December 2022

Ugo Gentilini's picture
Submitted by Ugo Gentilini
on Fri, 02/12/2022 - 00:00
The figure shows two graphs considering the probability of receiving the Ecuadorian Bono de Desarrollo Humano in function of the RS Score in 2008, and considering of being excluded of the program for sample M2
Let me begin with an important paper on the unintended negative effects of cash transfers. A study by Mora et al examines Ecuador’s Bono Desarollo between 2008 and 2014, and finds that the combined effects of people’s uncertainty on eligibility criteria, substantial increases in benefit size, and a preference for short-term cash created perverse incentives to remain poor . Indeed, eligible households show a lower welfare index in 2014 compared to non-eligible households (except for beneficiaries in the Amazon region). In the words of one of the co-authors, “beneficiaries are trapped in their low asset levels as they anticipate the next assessment”. The uncertainty about exiting the program seems to play a key role: in fact, the unintended effects are not observed under a...Read more

Tags:

Weekly Social Protection Links: 02 September 2022

Ugo Gentilini's picture
Submitted by Ugo Gentilini
on Fri, 02/09/2022 - 00:00
The Figure illustrates the income development across time between groups of the Ugandan Youth Opportunities Program.
Do the effects of cash transfers persist over time? Let me share two papers offering differing answers in different settings. Starting on a bright note, new evidence from Uganda by Fiala et al extended previous experimental research on the YOP scheme – a one-off grant introduced in 2008 and providing 265 groups of young adults (16-35 year-olds) with $382/capita. Their new paper tracks YOP’s effects 12 years after the grant distribution , namely in the midst of the pandemic in September 2020 (they were able to reach about 1,656 individuals via phone and in-person contacting, a response rate of about 83%). What did they find? The treatment group reported 20% higher income (mostly driven by men), with beneficiaries also experiencing a less severe Covid income shock. But...Read more

Tags:

This report provides a consolidated account of social protection programmes before and during COVID-19 in 10 Southern African countries, with a thematic emphasis on the informal economy, gender, access to primary healthcare and migration. A total of 53 social assistance programmes were mapped as pre-existing before COVID-19 struck. Of the 53 programmes, Botswana had the most number of programmes (10) while Zimbabwe had the least with only one programme being classified as social assistance in the country.

English

Há uma tendência, a nível mundial, para a automatização e digitalização dos pagamentos monetários dos programas de proteção social. Em alguns países africanos, como Zambia, Namíbia, Togo, Tanzânia, Malawi, Comores e Moçambique, assiste-se à crescente diversificação de meios. Contudo, os estágios de digitalização destes países variam, sendo comuns os desafios legais, regulatórios e ao nível das infraestruturas.

English

There is a global trend to automate and digitalise the cash payments of social protection programmes, and there has been a shift towards diversifying payment means in some African countries such as Zambia, Namibia, Togo, Tanzania, Malawi, Comoros and Mozambique. In Mozambique, the COVID-19 pandemic response has tripled the social protection system’s coverage, from 520,000 to approximately 1.6 million households. In the past few years, the country’s emergency response has driven improvements in digital payments.

English