Evidence on Policymaking, Programme Implementation and Impacts for Women and Girls: Towards gender-responsive social protection

How can social protection programmes and policies achieve gender equality? Systematic evidence on this inquiry is limited, including on the role of design, implementation and contextual factors, and the integration of gender in social protection systems. To address this evidence gap, UNICEF Innocenti undertook a multi-year Gender-Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) research programme from 2018–2024. This synthesis report showcases evidence from 11 case studies across 9 countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay and Viet Nam. The report presents evidence on the effects of cash-based programmes on various gender equality outcome domains including economic security and empowerment, health, education, psychosocial well-being, protection, voice and agency. It includes an assessment of the degree of gender integration in the cash-based programmes as demonstrated by intent and actual design features. The role of design and implementation processes and contextual factors in influencing impact is also discussed. The report also presents findings from five political economy analyses that examined how gender was considered within social protection reforms and explored the obstacles and levers for enhancing gender integration within social protection policy reforms and systems. This project was funded by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.