Reimagining Social Protection in Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt
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.
The research program will be focused 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. The Principal Investigators (PIs) of the research program are: Ragui Assaad (University of Minnesota), Caroline Krafft (St. Catherine University), and Irene Selwaness (Cairo University).
Ragui Assaad
Professor of Planning and Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
Khaled Nasri
Researcher, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management of Tunis
Imane Helmy
Senior Economist at World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Global Practice
Mohamed Amara
Associate Professor, Higher School of Economic and Commercial Sciences of Tunis, University of Tunis
Irène Selwaness
Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University
Caroline Krafft
Associate Professor of Economics, St. Catherine University
Mary Kawar
Former Minister for Planning, Jordan
Zina S. Nimeh
Associate Professor of Public Policy, United Nations University MERIT and Maastricht University
Maia Sieverding
Assistant Professor of Public Health Practice at the American University of Beirut
Zeina Jamaluddine
Center for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut
Mohamed Ali Marouani
Associate Professor, Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne
Nidhal Ben Cheikh
Independent Consultant & University of Paris
Susan Razzaz
Economist
Cyrine Hannafi
Post-Doctoral Researcher, University Paris-Est Créteil
Najat El Mekkaoui
Professor of Economics, University Paris-Dauphine
Ahmad Awad
General Director, Phenix Center for Economic and Informatics Studies
Asma Ben Hassen
Founder and President, Tunisia Inclusive Labor Institute (TILI) & Regional Director, Global Fairness Initiative (GFI)
Phuong Minh Le
Research Intern, Centre for Analysis and Forecast (CAF), Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
Yeganeh Forouheshfar
Economist and Researcher, The Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association
Jacob Emont
Robertson Fellow at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and Advisor to the Tunisia Inclusive Labor Institute
Reimagining Social Protection in MENA
Social protection can be broadly defined as the policies and programs concerned with “preventing, managing, and overcoming situations... Read More
Nov 19, 2023
Policy Conference on Social Protection in Jordan
Social protection can be broadly defined as the policies and programs concerned with “preventing, managing, and overcoming situations... Read More
Oct 02, 2022
National Dialogue on the Social Protection System in Tunisia
Tunisia is considered among the countries with the most comprehensive social protection system in the MENA region, with... Read More
Jan 24, 2022
Social Protection in Jordan
Social protection can be broadly defined as the polices and programs concerned with “preventing, managing, and overcoming situations... Read More
Jan 12, 2022
Landscape of Formal Social Protection in Jordan
Social protection, defined as the set policies and programs designed to reduce and prevent poverty and vulnerability, is... Read More
Sep 27, 2021
National Dialogue on the Social Protection System in Tunisia
Tunisia is considered among the countries with the most comprehensive social protection system in the MENA region. However,... Read More
Sep 07, 2021
Why Is Social Insurance Coverage Declining in Egypt? A Decomposition Analysis
We analyze in this paper the decline in social insurance coverage in Egypt from 2007 to 2021 to... Read More
What Is Driving the Decline in Social Insurance Coverage in Egypt? Understanding The Relative Role of Structural Change
In a nutshell There has been a secular decline in social insurance coverage rates for both wage and... Read More
Social Insurance from A Regional Perspective: Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia
This paper presents a comparative analysis of social insurance systems in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia. It examines legal,... Read More
Regional Insights into Social Insurance: Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia
In a nutshell: The social contracts in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia have evolved over time, influenced by political... Read More
When Formality Is Costly and Informality Is Legal: Social Insurance Design Woes at A Time of Economic Crises
This paper examines the extent to which the institutional framework for social insurance (SI) might constrain access to... Read More
Between Costly Formality and Legal Informality: Egypt’s Social Insurance Design Woes
In a nutshell Social insurance (SI) coverage rates have plummeted across the board in Egypt. In 2021, around... Read More
Working Conditions in the Paid Care Economy in Egypt: Improvement or Deterioration?
The paid care economy plays a crucial role in employing women. This sector also acts as a mechanism... Read More
Deteriorating Working Conditions in the Care Economy in Egypt: Directions for Reform
In a nutshell A robust care economy is critical to supporting women’s employment, both as an employer of... Read More
The Dynamics of Social Insurance in Egypt
Contributory social insurance provides essential benefits to workers when they retire and is associated with a host of... Read More
The Dynamics behind the Decline of Social Insurance in Egypt and Directions for Reform
In a nutshell Workers in Egypt have experienced declines in contributory social insurance coverage (and thus formality) over... Read More
The Landscape of Social Protection in Tunisia
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the social protection system in Tunisia based on discussions... Read More
The Tunisian Social Protection System: Key Strengths and Challenges
In a nutshell Tunisia’s social protection system is well designed and features contributory schemes for a large portion... Read More
Do Social Protection Programs Improve Health Related Outcomes of the Poor in Tunisia?
In this study, we analyze the impact of the PNAFN, a Tunisian social protection program combining a cash... Read More
Do Social Protection Programs Improve Health-related Outcomes of the Poor in Tunisia?
In a nutshell The Tunisian social protection main program (PNAFN) reduces the risks of incur- ring high and... Read More
Social Security Coverage and Informal Workers in Tunisia
Informality is prevalent in Tunisia, limiting the access of a large share of the population to social safety... Read More
Extending Social Protections to Tunisia’s Informal Workers
In a nutshell Despite Tunisia’s advanced social protection system, a substantial portion of the workforce is excluded from... Read More
Alternative Targeting Mechanisms for Social Safety Nets in Tunisia
In a nutshell Institutional weaknesses, poor coordination between different government services, and the increase in informality all make... Read More
From Protection to Transformation: Understanding the Landscape of Formal Social Protection in Jordan
This paper provides a broad overview of the formal contributory and non-contributory programs provided formally by the Jordanian... Read More
The Importance of the Transformative Angle for Advancing the Social Protection Agenda in Jordan
In a nutshell The publication of the National Social Protection Strategy (JNSPS) 2019-2025 (JNSPS, 2019), marked an important... Read More
The Role of Civil Society in Promoting Social Protection Reforms: A Comparative Study of Jordan and Tunisia
In the Arab region, social protection systems have historically suffered from several shortcomings, including high degrees of fragmentation,... Read More
National Social Dialogue on Social Protection Reform in Jordan and Tunisia
In a nutshell Historically, civil society organizations in both Jordan and Tunisia have experienced periods of significant suppression... Read More
The Jordanian Social Contract: Shifting from Public Employment As A Source of Social Insurance to Government-Regulated Social Insurance
Under the old social contract, the main components of social insurance were provided through several features of public... Read More
Is Jordan Achieving the Social Insurance Goals of its New Social Contract?
In a nutshell: There is a regulatory gap in social insurance schemes for private sector jobs. The Jordanian... Read More
Minimum and Living Wages in Jordan and Tunisia
Countries around the world are working to develop social protection floors to help reduce poverty. Ensuring workers can... Read More
Minimum and Living Wages in Jordan and Tunisia: Implications for Social Protection Floors
In a nutshell While the majority of workers in Jordan and Tunisia earn at least minimum and poverty... Read More
Cash Transfers, Household Food Insecurity and the Subjective Wellbeing of Youth in Jordan
Cash transfers have become an increasingly common feature of social protection systems in the Middle East and North... Read More
Cash Transfers During the Transition to Adulthood in Jordan: Associations with Household Food Insecurity and the Subjective Wellbeing of Youth
In a nutshell 20% of Jordanian-headed households with youth aged 16-30 receive a government social assistance cash transfer... Read More
Cash Transfers and Food Vouchers for Syrian Refugees in Jordan: Do They Reach the Multi-Dimensionally Poor?
We examine in this paper the determinants of access to transfers in the context of the Syrian refugee... Read More
Social Protection for Syrian Refugees in Jordan: Do Transfers Reach the Multi-dimensionally Poor?
In a nutshell A substantial proportion of the Syrian refugee in Jordan (77 percent) receives either food vouchers... Read More
Achieving Health Insurance Coverage for Persons with Disabilities in Jordan: A Focus on Youth
In a nutshell 11.8% of Jordanian men and 10.6% of Jordanian women had some form of disability as... Read More