Social Protection Schemes for Children with Complex Disabilities
Basic Information
Country
Geographic area
Institutions and agencies involved
Population group
Children, Persons with disabilities
Programme Details
Programme objectives
To increase the resilience and social inclusion of families of children with complex disabilities; to strengthen capacity development interventions accompanying the cash transfer programme aimed at sustaining and strengthening the social protection system which existed before the conflict
UNICEF. 2017. Resilience development for the most vulnerable children in Syria:
promoting cash transfers and social protection integrated services. Damascus:
United Nations Children’s Fund Syria. Internal archives
Programme components
Cash transfers to families of eligible children; provision of case management
support through the involvement of trained social workers (hired through NGOs,
in coordination with Departments of Social Affairs and Labour)
UNICEF. 2017. Resilience development for the most vulnerable children in Syria:
promoting cash transfers and social protection integrated services. Damascus:
United Nations Children’s Fund Syria. Internal archives.
Start date
2016
UNICEF Syria. 2017. Personal communication.
Coverage
30,000 children with severe disabilities and over 150,000 people in families of children with disabilities since the programme started in 2016 to May 2022
Programme expenditure
At present around USD2.5 million for Aleppo, including the involvement of NGOs,
and monitoring and evaluation; additional funds allocated for the planned expansion,
not yet disbursed.
Source of funding: UNICEF (donors)
UNICEF Syria. 2017. Personal communication.
Targeting and eligiblity
Targeting methods
Categorical Targeting
Geographical Targeting
Categorical: children with complex disabilities, verified through presentation of
medical certificates (no functional assessment is implemented currently)
Geographical: in selected governorates, related to a combination of factors,
including identified vulnerabilities in the early livelihood and recovery sector;
high percentage of displaced people; relatively stable operating environment;
interest of local counterparts; and assessed presence of NGOs that could be
involved as implementing partners
Reference: UNICEF. 2017. Resilience development for the most vulnerable children in Syria:
promoting cash transfers and social protection integrated services. Damascus:
United Nations Children’s Fund Syria. Internal archives.
Targeted areas
Selected governorates: Aleppo, Lattakia; expansion planned in Tartous
and rural Damascus
UNICEF Syria. 2017. Personal communication
Target groups
Children with complex disabilities (cerebral palsy; paraplegia; quadriplegia;
Down syndrome; autism; profound, severe or moderate ‘mental retardation’, severe or moderate intellectual disability)
UNICEF Syria. 2017. Personal communication
Eligibility criteria
Specific types of disabilities (as per medical certificate); aged 0–17 years
Coverage and other information
Type of benefits
Cash
UNICEF. 2017. Resilience development for the most vulnerable children in Syria:
promoting cash transfers and social protection integrated services. Damascus:
United Nations Children’s Fund Syria. Internal archives
Amount of benefits
USD40 per month or USD 120 per quarter, per child.
Payment/delivery frequency
Benefit delivery mechanism
Through money transfer facilities (Al Haram)
UNICEF. 2017. Resilience development for the most vulnerable children in Syria:
promoting cash transfers and social protection integrated services. Damascus:
United Nations Children’s Fund Syria. Internal archives.
Benefit recipients
Appointed caregiver
UNICEF Syria. 2017. Personal communication.
Minimum and maximum duration of benefits (if any)
Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and frequency
Biannual post-distribution monitoring (not initiated) targeting 10 per cent of
beneficiaries; consumption analysis targeting 1 per cent of beneficiaries
MIS:Disability registrar, at the moment not updated
UNICEF Syria. 2017. Personal communication.
UNICEF. 2017. Resilience development for the most vulnerable children in Syria:
promoting cash transfers and social protection integrated services. Damascus:
United Nations Children’s Fund Syria. Internal archives.
