CHIDILI EDOZIE U14MM1190
Social protection is concerned with preventing, managing and overcoming situations that adversely affects people’s wellbeing. Social protection has evolved differently in various socio-economic and political contexts. In high and middle income countries, they are broad social policy frameworks that guide social interventions are beginning to find relevance in low income countries. This is because social intervention has being established as an effective mechanism to protect the poor or prevent the near-poor from falling into poverty.
The overall objective of social protection is to reduce the economic and social vulnerability of the poor, vulnerable and marginalized groups. Social protection supports the poor to overcome the demand side barriers which prevents them from accessing basic economic and social services. Individuals, communities, government, non-government organisations and organized private sector can initiate the social protection interventions. Considering the extent of social inequality in Nigeria. It has become necessary that interventions address the multi-dimensional nature of poverty at intra household, household and community levels. Protective interventions aims at protecting the income and consumptions of households through dishing out social assistance programmes like cash transfers, in kind transfers, fee waivers to support access to basic and social services.
The social protection scheme must have special provisions to reach children who are vulnerable and excluded, particularly children without parental care and those who are marginalized within their families and communities due to disability, ethnicity, gender, HIV/AIDS, etc. A child sensitive social protection scheme must consider the mechanism and intra house hold dynamics that affect children including the balance of power between men and women in the family or community at large. The voices and opinions of children, their care-givers and youth must be included in the design and implementation of social protection schemes and programmes that address their needs. For social protection schemes to be sensitive to the interest of the elderly people. It must help to realizing the human right to social security for them. It must ensure income security and access to essential services like healthcare in a manner that upholds their rights and dignity. It must also realise that older women tend to face higher risk of poverty than men.
Social protection schemes have proven effective in reducing poverty and inequalities. It facilities access to health, education and other services. It promotes decent work environment and gender equality, while also contributing to strengthening people’s rights and dignity. Social protection contributes to reducing vulnerability to exclusion, marginalization and discrimination and can enable older persons participate more fully in the lives of their families, communities and societies.