Improving Rigorous Evidence for Better Civic Engagement on Social Protection and Supporting the Network’s Institutional Strengthening

The project explores the current landscape of social protection in the region and considers how the government and civil society can collaborate to build a new social contract with robust social protection for all. In line with national constitutions and international agreements, social protection is a human right and a right of citizenship, where every citizen has entitlements to certain protections to maintain a decent and dignified existence. Accordingly, we adopt a rights-based approach to social protection in this project, but investigate key questions of how to achieve those rights through different policy and programmatic approaches. and efforts to provide social protection for their citizens (and others living in their territories) and where there is relatively more openness to discuss innovative approaches to the topic.

This project focuses on key aspects and questions around social protection in Jordan and Tunisia. The research will provide an overview of the landscape of social protection in each country and focus on topics such as the targeting and coverage of cash transfers, food security, nutrition and health, health insurance and access to affordable health care, living and minimum wages, and expanding access to old-age and disability pensions to workers in the informal economy. We are therefore proposing a project with substantial civil society engagement early on – even at the research formulation phase – along with policymakers and program beneficiaries to identify successes and struggles with social protection systems that merit further research and are pressing issues for the state and society.

ERF acknowledges the generous financial contribution of the Ford Foundation (FF).