Adaptive social protection : the delivery chain and shock response

Social protection cash transfer programs are increasingly being used to respond to covariate shocks, including most recently and prominently in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on some of these experiences, this report examines the ways in which the operational systems and processes developed for the delivery of cash transfer programs in normal times can be leveraged and adapted to respond to shocks, enabling the provision of cash-based assistance to help affected people cope with the impacts. Specifically, the report utilizes the social protection delivery chain framework (Lindert et al, 2020) to: review the delivery chain’s four phases: assess, enroll, provide and manage; examine how the systems and processes in each of these phases can support cash transfer responses; highlight the additional adaptations to these systems and processes that can enable timelier and more effective cash transfer responses. In doing so, the report outlines some of the key considerations needed to help social protection practitioners formulate comprehensive cash transfer contingency plans ahead of future shocks.