Contribution of social protection to resilience and well-being during humanitarian crises in Africa: A qualitative study on expert opinions
Pajula, Johanna (2023)
2023
Master's Programme in Public and Global Health
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-11-20
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202310249021
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202310249021
Tiivistelmä
In recent years, humanitarian crises, such as armed conflict, forced displacement, natural disasters, and major disease outbreaks, have become increasingly frequent, protracted and complex. Climate change exacerbates these crises, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has triggered health, economic and social crises worldwide in an unprecedented way, requiring novel, quick responses. One of these response tools to these crises has been social protection; however, not enough is yet known about how social protection can contribute to people’s resilience and well-being during humanitarian crises in Africa.
The aim of this study was to explore how experts view social protection’s role in contributing to resilience and well-being in humanitarian crises, currently and in the future, in Central, Eastern, Western and Southern African countries. A descriptive qualitative study design was used to explore expert views on this. The study was done by conducting a series of expert interviews with people working in international organisations, academia and research centres. The participants were selected using expert sampling, targeting experts on social protection and external shocks. All in all, 11 interviews with 13 experts were conducted.
The data were analysed using a framework analysis technique by Ritchie & Spencer (1994). Five main themes were identified: 1) responding to crises has created agile and innovative new programmes and tweaked existing ones, 2) strengthening existing social protection systems before crises allows for speedy response and easy tweaks when shocks occur, 3) the ongoing challenges in implementation limit the coverage and functionality of social protection programmes, 4) a human-rights perspective is an essential part of well-designed social protection policies and programmes, and 5) different actors need to work together for effective response in humanitarian crises. As a conceptual framework for understanding resilience and social protection's role in the communities facing humanitarian crises, the disaster resilience of place (DROP) model was used.
In conclusion, the experts view social protection as a key when responding to crises in Africa and building people’s resilience between crises. The systems need to be strengthened before crises. More cooperation between social protection, humanitarian and other actors is needed for effective crisis response. Inclusion of vulnerable and marginalised groups in social protection programmes is essential and can be achieved with a human-rights perspective. Evidence on how social protection can be most effective in crisis contexts with the available resources is valuable when responding to current and future challenges in African countries.
The aim of this study was to explore how experts view social protection’s role in contributing to resilience and well-being in humanitarian crises, currently and in the future, in Central, Eastern, Western and Southern African countries. A descriptive qualitative study design was used to explore expert views on this. The study was done by conducting a series of expert interviews with people working in international organisations, academia and research centres. The participants were selected using expert sampling, targeting experts on social protection and external shocks. All in all, 11 interviews with 13 experts were conducted.
The data were analysed using a framework analysis technique by Ritchie & Spencer (1994). Five main themes were identified: 1) responding to crises has created agile and innovative new programmes and tweaked existing ones, 2) strengthening existing social protection systems before crises allows for speedy response and easy tweaks when shocks occur, 3) the ongoing challenges in implementation limit the coverage and functionality of social protection programmes, 4) a human-rights perspective is an essential part of well-designed social protection policies and programmes, and 5) different actors need to work together for effective response in humanitarian crises. As a conceptual framework for understanding resilience and social protection's role in the communities facing humanitarian crises, the disaster resilience of place (DROP) model was used.
In conclusion, the experts view social protection as a key when responding to crises in Africa and building people’s resilience between crises. The systems need to be strengthened before crises. More cooperation between social protection, humanitarian and other actors is needed for effective crisis response. Inclusion of vulnerable and marginalised groups in social protection programmes is essential and can be achieved with a human-rights perspective. Evidence on how social protection can be most effective in crisis contexts with the available resources is valuable when responding to current and future challenges in African countries.