Mauritius has a reputation of having an extensive social protection system in the region,  yet it has been criticised for not being ideal, characterised with inefficient coordination, inadequate monitoring and evaluation, overlapping of programmes, lack of uniformity in selection criteria, wastage due to duplication of processing and limited information dissemination on availability of existing social protection programmes among many others.

The brief assesses the social protection system in Mauritius, with a particular focus on both conditional and non-conditional cash transfers and their implications on the alleviation of poverty and reduction of vulnerability of Mauritians in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.