Safety nets, health crises and natural disasters: Lessons from Sierra Leone

This paper examines the case of Sierra Leone, a low-income country with an emerging social protection system that has been used to respond to natural disasters and health crisis. The country's responses use the institutional arrangements and delivery systems of the Et Fet Po to differing degrees, highlighting how nascent social protection systems can support the delivery of emergency cash transfers.

This case study suggests how shock-responsive social protection systems can be the basis of a government-led response to a health crisis and a rapid-onset disaster. It also points to how linking pre-arranged finance to safety nets can help with quick delivery of cash to vulnerable populations post-disasters. The paper complements existing evidence and experience in other parts of Africa, where social protection systems have been used for responding to drought, a slow-onset natural disaster. It also informs the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone, which provides further lessons for shock-responsive social protection globally.