WORLD BANK GENDER THEMATIC POLICY NOTE SERIES: EVIDENCE AND PRACTICE NOTE ACCELERATING GENDER EQUALITY THROUGH SOCIAL PROTECTION Afrah Al-Ahmadi, Alessandra Heinemann, Lindsay Mossman and Laura Rawlings OVERVIEW Social protection interventions are essential to realizing the objectives of the World Bank Group’s Gender Strategy (2024-2030). A large body of empirical evidence demonstrates that social protection interventions advance and protect human capital; promote women’s access to jobs, assets, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship; and provide opportunities for enhancing women’s leadership and decision-making. More recent impact evaluations have begun to examine the role of social protection in tackling more complex outcome areas, including curbing gender-based violence (GBV), shifting harmful social norms, and building women’s resilience to crises and shocks, be they related to climate, the economy, health, or fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). Alongside these evaluations, lessons from operational experiences show promising results. Beyond boosting outcomes for individuals, social protection benefits can accrue at the community and national levels, contributing to economic growth, crisis preparedness, and reduced poverty and inequality. Despite strides in extending social protection, nearly half of the global population lacks adequate coverage. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by inadequate income security and unemployment benefits, due to structural gender inequalities resulting in lower formal labor force participation rates, gender pay gaps, and caregiving burdens. Policies and programs are needed to tackle these structural gender inequalities, especially in low and middle-income countries. The lack of sex-disaggregated data in many regions and countries hampers efforts to understand and address gender gaps in social protection, while persistent gaps in social insurance reflect high levels of informality and low female labor force participation. Efforts to close these gaps include expanding coverage for informal sector workers, reimagining social insurance arrangements, scaling up “cash-plus” programs and strengthening social care services, alongside promoting the collection of sex disaggregated data. This note examines what it will take to maximize the use of social protection to accelerate gender equality: • Expand coverage of gender-smart programs that address structural disparities in labor force participation and income security • Leverage “cash-plus” approaches to support livelihoods and human capital development as well as address GBV and harmful social norms • Enhance women’s access to finance and economic empowerment • Invest in adaptive social protection delivery systems tailored to the needs of women and girls, including in FCV settings • Harness social protection systems to expand the supply and uptake of social care services and build skills and support for the care economy and social service workforce • Engage with the private sector in adopting gender-responsive practices • Enhance the availability of sex-disaggregated data. OCTOBER 2024 Nyani Quarmyne/International Finance Corporation TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 THE ROLE OF SOCIAL PROTECTION IN ACCELERATING GENDER EQUALITY – EVIDENCE AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE 3 Boosting women and girls’ human capital and addressing GBV through social assistance 3 Expanding and enabling economic opportunities for women 6 Building resilience through adaptive social protection in the face of crises and the impact of FCV 9 CHALLENGES TO SCALING UP SOCIAL PROTECTION’S GENDER EQUALITY IMPACTS 12 Coverage 12 Informality and gender disparities in social insurance 12 Social Care and Services 14 Social norms 15 Data 16 LOOKING AHEAD: LEVERAGING SOCIAL PROTECTION TO ACCELERATE GENDER EQUALITY 18 REFERENCES 21 This thematic policy note is part of a series that provides an analytical foundation for the new World Bank Gender Strategy (2024–2030). This series seeks to give a broad overview of the latest research and findings on gender equality outcomes and summarizes key thematic issues, evidence on promising solutions, operational good practices, and key areas for future engagement in promoting gender equality and empowerment. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work are entirely those of the author(s). They do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank or its Board of Directors. This thematic policy note was written by Afrah Al-Ahmadi, Alessandra Heinemann, Lindsay Mossman and Laura Rawlings. The team thanks Aline Coudouel, Sara Troiano, and Wendy Cunningham for their helpful peer-review comments, and Miglena Abels, Colin Andrews, Loli Arribas-Banos, Gustavo Demarco, Himanshi Jain, Sundas Liaqat, Matteo Morgandi, Yuko Okamura, Claudia Rodriguez Alas, Nian Sadiq, Mauro Testaverde, Emil Tesliuc and Giorgia Demarchi for their valuable input. Lastly, the authors thank Leslie Ashby for providing excellent editorial assistance. 2 INTRODUCTION Social protection a is an important tool in addressing poverty, vulnerability, and inequality, and is increasingly recognized as playing a unique role in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Social protection encompasses a range of policies, programs, and interventions. They are designed to protect individuals against vulnerabilities and risks along their life cycle, build human capital of those living in poverty, enhance access to economic opportunities, and protect against collective risks, such as climate shocks and pandemics. As outlined in the World Bank’s Social Protection and Jobs (SPJ) Sector Strategy 1, these goals are achieved through a range of instruments in the social insurance, labor and economic inclusion, social assistance, and care domains. Beyond the returns to individuals and households, the benefits of social protection can also accrue at the community and national level, by contributing to poverty reduction, economic growth, and greater equality. Increasingly, social protection is recognized as a tool to advance gender equality and empower women and girls across domains, including health, nutrition, education, skills, and employment. Addressing gender inequalities across various development dimensions remains a formidable challenge, particularly in low and middle-income countries and fragile, conflict, and violence (FCV) settings. While some progress has been made in reducing gender inequalities in income and human capital, it has been uneven, marked by significant regional variations and even reversals, particularly in FCV settings. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated gender inequality, eroding past gains in many countries. In 2023, it was estimated that globally, 10 percent of women were living in extreme poverty. It is projected that by 2030, an estimated 342 million women and girls, or 8 percent, will still be living on less than $2.15 a day, two-thirds of whom will be in Sub-Saharan Africa.2 Two-thirds of global maternal deaths occur in Western and Central Africa and Eastern and Southern Africa. Girls also trail behind boys in secondary education completion in these regions. According to the World Bank’s 2023 Women, Business and the Law report, Arne Hoel/World Bank a Social protection refers to the policies and programs that help individuals and societies to manage risk and volatility, protect them from poverty and inequality, and help them to access economic opportunity. Social protection instruments include: (1) non-contributory social assistance, such as cash transfers, school feeding programs and social pensions; (2) contributory social insurance, such as pensions, unemployment insurance and parental leave; (3) active labor market programs and policies, including wage subsidies, employer-driven training programs, informal training, labor intermediation, behavioral and knowledge interventions, and complementary services to stimulate service utilization; and (4) economic inclusion programs, which typically integrate several complementary components, most commonly cash transfers combined with skills training, coaching, linkage to markets, and access to financial services. A wide range of care services is offered within social protection, including child, disability, and elder care. 1 Vincent Tremeau/World Bank women worldwide have just three-quarters of the legal rights norms, behaviors, and power imbalances that contribute of men, over 1 billion women lack access to finance, and to gender inequality. This evolution reflects the importance women are 21 percent less likely than men to use the internet. of gender dynamics in social protection and a commitment to promoting gender equality and empowering women and Crises, climate change, and FCV situations exacerbate girls within these programs. The World Bank’s operational existing gender inequalities. The COVID-19 pandemic has experience demonstrates a growing role of social protection disproportionately impacted women and marginalized groups interventions, especially social assistance and cash-plus economically and increased rates of gender-based violence programs, contributing to more complex outcome areas, (GBV). FCV settings perpetuate harmful gender norms due such as shifting social norms toward greater equality, to institutional failures, amplifying gender inequalities and empowering women, building their resilience to FCV GBV, especially in situations of forced displacement. Women situations and climate change, and curbing GBV.4 and girls in crisis settings face heightened challenges in terms of health, education, and employment. They experience The World Bank’s Gender Strategy (2024-2030)5 aims increased caregiving responsibilities, job losses primarily in to tackle both formal and informal barriers to gender informal and precarious sectors, and heightened rates of inequality, including power imbalances that often affect violence. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, countries have women and girls disproportionally. To achieve enduring taken steps to enhance social protection systems, utilizing gender equality, there must be collective action to influence technology to swiftly expand coverage and prioritizing social transformative changes in laws, policies, and programming protection at the political level. The pandemic has spurred grounded in a deeper understanding of the interaction a critical re-examination of these systems, with a renewed between different actors and stakeholders at the individual, emphasis on addressing gender inequalities and advancing household, community, and institutional levels. women’s empowerment. This note outlines how social protection contributes to the Social protection programs have become more gender- objectives of the World Bank’s Gender Strategy, which are responsive, by considering and addressing the different to end GBV and elevate human capital, expand and enable needs and constraints faced by men and women. economic opportunities, and engage women as leaders. This Traditionally, cash transfer programs have targeted women note presents evidence and operational experience on how primarily to achieve objectives related to children’s social protection can boost gender equality and women and human capital and in consideration of women’s role in girls’ empowerment outcomes and discusses challenges the effective allocation of financial resources within the that need to be addressed to maximize the impact of household. More recently, approaches have shifted from social protection interventions at scale. Recommendations simply addressing gender disparities in access to services are offered on ways to further amplify gender equality to seeking to influence restrictive and/or harmful social outcomes.b b This thematic note does detail interventions to improve women’s labor force participation. These are covered in a separate note. 2 THE ROLE OF SOCIAL PROTECTION IN ACCELERATING GENDER EQUALITY – EVIDENCE AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE Simone D. McCourtie/World Bank Boosting women and girls’ human capital with information or complementary measures that seek and addressing GBV through social to promote certain behaviors, build skills, facilitate job placement, support income-generating activities, and, assistance sometimes, shift social norms toward greater equality. A vast body of evidence from impact evaluations For example, complementary measures routinely bring demonstrates that social assistance is an effective tool to women together to underscore the value of sexual and reduce gender inequalities in human capital, boost women’s reproductive health and investments in child development economic empowerment and access to financial and other and girls’ education. Researchers have cautioned against the services, and reduce GBV.6 Today, most World Bank-financed unintended consequences of complementary measures social assistance benefits are paid directly to women on that lack an understanding of the local context and social behalf of their households. Evidence suggests that paying dynamics. Such measures can exacerbate women’s time cash transfers to women leads to greater empowerment.7 poverty and reinforce traditional gender roles.8 However, Social assistance enhances food consumption and promotes recent evidence and operational experience (Box 1) find that access to health, nutrition, and education services, and/or when well designed, complementary measures can have improves service uptake. Increasingly, social assistance is positive impacts on gender inequalities, including building delivered as ”cash-plus,” meaning payments are bundled women’s social capital and reducing GBV.9 BOX 1. EMPOWERING WOMEN AND GIRLS IN ZAMBIA THROUGH A MULTI-LAYERED CASH-PLUS AND ECONOMIC INCLUSION INTERVENTION Zambia’s Girls Education and Women’s Empowerment Project (P169975) illustrates how social assistance programs can empower women and girls by complementing cash payments with “plus” components that are tailored to their specific needs. The project’s core element is a regular and predictable cash transfer to extremely poor and vulnerable households. This includes households with adolescent girls, who receive a stipend to cover the cost of secondary school and complementary measures, including life skills training and school clubs. Adult women receive an integrated economic inclusion package, including an asset transfer, life and business skills training, coaching, and support to form savings groups. Mobile phones are made available to the poorest women, and payments are transferred into women’s mobile wallets to improve financial inclusion. The project also seeks to shift unequal social norms by engaging husbands and norm holders in the community to support women’s economic activities and empowerment. Measures are also in place to curb GBV for women and girls and improve access to GBV survivor services through referral pathways. 3 Social protection has a strong track record of boosting finds that the effects of cash transfers in reducing violence household nutrition and education outcomes, including against women and children are overwhelmingly positive.13 for adolescent girls. Social assistance improves nutrition outcomes by increasing budgets for food, with related There are three impact pathways through which social impacts on diet composition, quality, and intake.10 School protection can affect the prevalence of violence against feeding interventions have been shown to improve nutrition women and children. The first pathway is thought to and education outcomes, particularly primary school curb violence by reducing poverty and food insecurity in enrollment for girls and internally displaced populations, households. By providing a regular source of income, social and school completion.11 Social assistance can offset costs protection reduces poverty-related stressors and improves associated with school attendance, such as tuition fees, emotional well-being, thereby reducing violence within transport, and school supplies. This promotes service the household. The second and third pathways operate uptake, especially for girls. Conditional and unconditional through women’s empowerment and increased social cash transfers have been shown to boost enrollment for capital resulting from the receipt of the cash transfers and both girls and boys, increasing school attendance and participation in accompanying measures, which seem to retention.12 curb GBV and amplify women’s empowerment over the long term. For example, an impact evaluation in Bangladesh finds A growing body of evidence finds that social assistance sustained decreases in IPV four years after the end of a cash reduces violence against women and children, even transfer intervention that included accompanying measures when the cash transfer was not designed with violence related to nutrition.14 Some promising interventions to prevention in mind. Research to date has mostly focused address GBV include educational and awareness campaigns on the impacts of cash transfers on intimate partner violence to challenge traditional gender roles, strengthen community (IPV).c A few studies have examined the impacts on violence engagement, and promote women’s agency and decision against children and adolescent girls. Overall, the evidence making within households and beyond (Box 2). BOX 2. ADDRESSING GBV IN SOCIAL PROTECTION OPERATIONS IN SOUTH SUDAN, ZAMBIA AND CAMEROON Community discussion groups in South Sudan were noted to be effective in addressing social norms that perpetuate GBV. The approach included community outreach and meetings, use of information, education, and communication (IEC) materials in community dialogues, engaging both men and women, and creating women and girls’ friendly spaces for weekly sessions. The topics covered during group discussions included GBV concepts and definitions; forms of GBV, causes, and consequences; reporting GBV; power and social norms; and child rights. The implementing staff was also trained on GBV prevention, response, and reporting. Assessments were undertaken to evaluate changes in beliefs. In Zambia, community-level champions were mobilized to promote social norms change. Social and behavior change communication on GBV were disseminated in schools, including sensitization of teachers and school staff. Engagement with men was strengthened by inviting husbands to participate in orientation and family vision sessions on changing norms, care work, positive relationships, conflict management, and GBV prevention. Examples from Cameroon include radio intervention for community awareness and sensitization, as well as mapping and training of local influencers. It was also noted that educating school children and adolescents about gender issues and social norms that perpetuate gender inequality is key to transforming entrenched gender norms. c Intimate partner violence refers to violence committed by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. While IPV can be experienced by men, the majority of IPV is committed against women, particularly the most extreme forms that lead to serious injury and death. IPV is the most common form of domestic violence, although the latter also includes violence against other household members, such as children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. 4 Dominic Chavez/World Bank Cash-plus approaches in social safety nets are increasingly Cash-plus initiatives may include conditional cash transfers explored to enhance the long-term effectiveness of cash that require recipients to participate in activities like assistance. Cash-plus approaches go beyond the provision attending school or health check-ups, along with additional of financial assistance, combining cash transfers with support like vocational training, financial literacy programs, complementary services aimed at enhancing beneficiaries’ and access to social services (Box 3). By addressing both overall well-being and promoting long-term development. immediate financial needs and the underlying barriers to These programs integrate components such as healthcare, economic and social advancement, Cash-plus approaches education, nutrition, and economic inclusion, empowering help individuals build resilience, improve human capital, vulnerable populations to break the cycle of poverty. boost economic inclusion and achieve sustainable progress. BOX 3. CASH PLUS INTERVENTIONS TO PROMOTE HUMAN CAPITAL ACCUMULATION, ECONOMIC INCLUSION AND ADDRESSING HARMFUL SOCIAL NORMS – EGYPT TAKAFUL AND KARAMA PROGRAM Egypt’s Takaful and Karama Program (TKP) is a Cash Transfer Program that provides unconditional and conditional cash transfers, targeting 27.7% of the poorest households in the country. By December 2023, it reached 4.67 million households, benefiting around 17 million people, with women comprising 74% of direct recipients of the social assistance. The program delivers “Cash Plus” interventions aiming at promoting human capital accumulation and economic inclusion of beneficiary households. It also raises awareness on social issues such as gender-based violence (GBV), child marriage, and harmful social norms. A key intervention of this Program is Waai (“awareness” in Arabic), a behavioral change platform launched in 2020 as part of the TKP, Waai focuses on 12 interlinked social messages, including combating GBV, child marriage, female genital mutilation, and advancing women’s economic empowerment. Through community interaction and focus group discussions with TKP beneficiaries, Waai identified social norms and barriers that hinder women’s economic participation and gender equality, leading to the creation of its “plus” approach. This strategy is delivered through 15,000 social workers, volunteers, and media outlets, with the support of community and religious leaders to reinforce positive messaging. Additionally, Waai connects beneficiaries to other national social protection programs, including subsidized health insurance, food subsidies, the 1000-day nutrition program, and FORSA, TKP’s economic inclusion program, thereby promoting social and economic empowerment while addressing key gender and social issues. 5 Expanding and enabling economic For example, an evaluation of an economic inclusion opportunities for women program in the Sahel region finds that the program was cost-effective and improved several dimensions of women’s Economic inclusion programs boost the income and assets empowerment, as well as women’s resilience to climate of the world’s poorest individuals and households through shocks. The program significantly improved economic coordinated interventions, like cash or in-kind transfers, indicators, such as consumption, food security, savings, and skills training and coaching, access to finance, and links income from women’s activities. It also enhanced mental to market support. The State of Economic Inclusion 2021 health, social cohesion, and women’s empowerment, with Report highlights the rise of these programs, including participants reporting increased decision-making power, in FCV situations. Women’s economic empowerment is a stronger sense of social worth, and greater trust within a key driver of economic inclusion programs, with nearly their communities. At the community level, the program 90 percent of programs surveyed in the report having a enhanced gender attitudes and perceptions regarding gender focus. women’s economic participation. Building pathways for women’s economic inclusion has Given their multi-faceted nature, economic inclusion become a central tenet of social protection programs. programs offer a unique platform to tackle various While social assistance boosts income,15 cash transfer dimensions of empowerment simultaneously (Box 4). programs increasingly promote economic inclusion This includes personal initiative training, which works through a coordinated set of complementary interventions, with women individually on their socio-emotional skills including asset transfers, skills training, coaching, market and aspirations, and couples’ training, which works with linkages, and financial services. Productive economic households to build more supportive relationships with inclusion programs have been rigorously evaluated and spouses. Larger community initiatives work with leaders found to be effective across contexts.16 Most economic to shift social norms toward greater equality and prevent inclusion programs target women and include a strong backlash. Recognizing the potential of economic inclusion focus on women’s empowerment.17 Impact evaluations that programs for women’s economic empowerment, the World examine effects on different dimensions of empowerment Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) Gender find promising results, even in contexts of conflict and and Development Special Theme included a related policy fragility (Box 4).18 commitment for the first time in 202219 aimed at scaling productive economic inclusion of women.d BOX 4. BUILDING WOMEN’S CLIMATE RESILIENCE THROUGH ECONOMIC INCLUSION IN NIGER The Niger Adaptive Safety Net Project (P173013) provides households with cash transfers and accompanying measures to boost parental investments in girls’ human capital and early childhood development, as well as training on maternal and reproductive health and birth spacing. In addition, women receive an economic inclusion package, including an asset grant, training, and mentorship. The program includes video screenings and facilitated community dialogues to underline the importance of women’s economic activity, control over assets, and equal role in household decision making.20 A recent impact evaluation finds that the program improved households’ climate resilience, welfare, and food security, driven by large effects on revenue from women’s income-generating activities and economic diversification.21 Women’s empowerment and psychological and social well-being significantly improved. The impact evaluation also confirms the intervention’s cost-effectiveness. d IDA 20 Policy Commitment: Incorporate specific productive economic inclusion components (e.g., producer cooperatives/associations, digital finance/savings and service delivery, entrepreneurship support, social care services, regulatory frameworks, and/or links to market support) for women in at least 30 IDA social protection/jobs, agriculture, urban, and/or community development projects. 6 Digital social assistance payments reduce gender barriers Public works programs have undergone a significant to bank account and mobile phone ownership, increasing evolution to build women’s skills in growth sectors, access to the internet and financial inclusion and control. including the green, digital, and care economies. Social assistance is associated with higher investment by Labor-intensive public works usually provide temporary women in savings and productive assets.22 Increasingly, social employment for the poor by engaging them in creating assistance benefits are paid digitally into women’s bank or or maintaining public assets. In rural areas, public works mobile money accounts, thereby improving women’s account focus increasingly on land management, which includes ownership and enabling them to retain greater control over environmental and agricultural projects involving the transfers.23 Where women lack their own mobile phones, irrigation, afforestation, soil conservation, and watershed social assistance schemes provide phones or partner with development. These types of works can help reduce and mobile operators to make phones available to the poorest mitigate climate change-related risks and, thus, increase women, providing access to the internet and financial community resilience. Public works are also frequently services. Many social assistance schemes also provide deployed in reconstruction efforts after natural disasters. financial literacy training so that women can make full use of Increasingly, public works provide childcare at worksites to their bank accounts. Contact with financial services providers enable women’s participation, following a successful pilot in can expand financial inclusion beyond the provision of a safe Burkina Faso, which demonstrated improved employment store of money, by providing access to services and credit. and financial outcomes for women.25 More recent programs, For example, in Cote d’Ivoire, the Productive Social Safety such as Rwanda’s expanded public works program, provide Net program, launched in 2015, has empowered women home and community-based childcare as employment and fostered self-employment by reaching households options in addition to traditional public works, such as road with digital cash transfers and complementary support maintenance. Participants are trained to provide childcare such as life skills, financial literacy, and income-generating services to other households in the community, thereby activities. A core feature of the program is the creation of increasing the availability of quality childcare, enabling savings and credit associations, predominantly composed parents to work outside the home, and strengthening of women, which have transformed women’s leadership children’s human capital. An urban public works program and challenged social norms within communities. Even after in Kenya uses public works to digitize services and build the program’s direct interventions ended, these associations digital skills among young men and women. remain essential platforms for women’s financial inclusion, community engagement, and economic development.24 Sudipto Das/CGAP 7 Paula Bronstein/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment Although the gender gap in school enrollment has been In countries with better-developed labor markets, active closing, these gains have not yet translated into gains in labor market policies and labor market institutions secure, paid employment. Reaching girls during adolescence play a critical role in supporting women’s labor force is critical because decisions and behaviors established during participation and employment. Social protection instruments this period can have long-term consequences. Adolescence include wage subsidies (that can be used to incentivize the for boys typically ushers in greater mobility and autonomy, hiring of women), employer-driven training programs, but for girls, it often comes with increased restrictions: fewer behavioral and knowledge interventions, and, increasingly, opportunities and less freedom to exercise choices. During the provision of complementary services to stimulate this formative period in their lives, it is important to provide the uptake of employability services. Historically, youth adolescent girls with the tools they need, such as technical employment programs have sometimes struggled with and vocational training, business skills training, life skills low enrollment and high rates of attrition among women. training, and employment services, to become economically Training programs are being adapted to address women’s and socially empowered young women (Box 5). and girls’ specific constraints, including improving safety, BOX 5. HELPING ADOLESCENT GIRLS TRANSITION TO PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT Findings from the Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI)26 showed that the program reached more than 16,000 girls in Afghanistan, Haiti, Jordan, Lao PDR, Liberia, Nepal, Rwanda, and South Sudan. The strongest evidence on outcomes comes from Nepal and Liberia. The Employment Fund program in Nepal, which targeted adolescent girls from poor and marginalized groups, significantly improved employment and earnings, especially non-farm employment. Most participants had never worked outside of agriculture, and their vocational training options spanned professions that were more profitable and non-stereotypical for women. About two years after the training, the program significantly increased employment and earnings, particularly for female participants. Non- farm employment among participants rose by one-third, with many women finding jobs in the fields in which they trained. Monthly earnings increased by 45-67 percent, with stronger impacts for women due to their lower initial earnings. Life skills training introduced for women in the 2011 cohort contributed to gains in these women’s empowerment, particularly in control over earnings. Liberia’s Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women program significantly increased participants’ economic activity, earnings, and savings. Those trained in business skills were twice as likely to find employment as those in vocational skills. The program raised incomes by 47 percent compared to the control group, with the largest gains for participants with some education. Savings increased by 50 percentage points, with participants saving an average of $35 more than the control group. These economic impacts were sustained over time, with continued employment and savings effects. Additionally, participants reported improved confidence, entrepreneurial belief, and well-being. 8 preventing and responding to sexual harassment, and In FCV settings, gender inequalities are exacerbated by providing childcare.27 These programs are also trying to the breakdown of both formal and informal institutions.32 tackle occupational segregation by encouraging women FCV-affected countries are often characterized by having to consider stereotypically male-dominated trades.28 For weak governance systems, limited state capacity, market example, a youth inclusion project in Benin showcases failures, and exclusionary political processes—all of which successful women entrepreneurs who have crossed over hinder the delivery of basic social services and economic to historically male-dominated occupations, to assuage opportunities. When opportunities exist, women and young women’s concerns about breaking perceived norms girls are often left on the sidelines. Moreover, entrenched related to occupations for women.29 Development policy discriminatory gender norms increase women’s likelihood loans (Box 6) have begun to tackle institutional barriers to of experiencing violence, including GBV, and limit their women’s labor market participation, such as labor regulations economic participation. Importantly, these effects are not that increase the implicit cost of hiring women compared to confined to FCV settings alone; they can have regional and men, or that discriminate against women’s employment in global spillover effects, especially in cases of cross-border male-dominated sectors. displacement. The presence of refugees may strain the local economy of host countries and potentially lead to tensions Building resilience through adaptive social between refugees and host communities. protection in the face of crises and the Women are often disproportionately vulnerable to climate impact of FCV change due to their higher likelihood of being among the poorest, their reliance on climate-sensitive resources, and The World Bank estimates that by 2030, up to two-thirds their limited capacity to participate in adaptation efforts. of the world’s poorest people could live in FCV settings and Climate change impacts women by increasing household that, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 20 million responsibilities, limiting land ownership and decision- more people are living in extreme poverty in FCV countries. making power, and reducing water availability, leading to Global crises like COVID-19, climate change, and conflicts time poverty. Additionally, climate-induced resource scarcity have resulted in setbacks to gender equality, stalling and even increases the risk of girls being withdrawn from school or reversing decades of hard-won progress. While some regions forced into early marriage or harmful labor due to economic have seen partial recoveries, others continue to experience stresses resulting from climatic disturbances. deterioration as new crises emerge. Women and children are especially vulnerable to increased poverty, discrimination, Adaptive social protection (ASP) is a vital tool for building and GBV in FCV environments. Recent estimates suggest the resilience of poor and vulnerable people to a range that progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development of large covariate shocks. By investing in their capacity to Goals requires mitigating FCV’s impacts on gender equality.31 prepare for, cope with, and adapt to shocks and crises, ASP prevents individuals and households from falling deeper into BOX 6. REFORMING REGULATORY BARRIERS LIMITING JOBS FOR WOMEN IN EGYPT30 Women’s labor force participation is particularly low in Egypt and remains concentrated in a few sectors, leaving a huge untapped potential for the labor market. Nearly 10 percent of women have been harassed on public streets, seven percent on public transportation, and 18 percent have been subjected to domestic violence. In addition to the need for a shift in the mindset and behaviors of individuals and communities, better-crafted and enforced regulatory and legislative reforms are necessary to remove legal restrictions to improve women’s participation in the workplace and to enhance their access to finance. A barrier to increased female labor force participation in Egypt and other countries in MENA is the role of women as main (or sole) care providers of family members such as elderly and family members with disabilities -- in addition to children. While the care economy is experiencing changes worldwide, some regulations are obstacles to increased female labor force participation. Egypt’s Inclusive Growth for Sustainable Recovery Development Policy Loan reformed regulatory barriers limiting jobs and working hours for women in certain sectors of the economy. It also introduced measures to improve access to finance for women, by enacting legislation prohibiting discrimination in access to credit. Prior actions also included the introduction of standard operating procedures related to incidents of GBV. 9 poverty and exclusion (Figure 1). In Fiji, the Social Protection training in income generation, have improved economic COVID-19 Response and System Development Project opportunities for over 778,000 people, including refugee and (P175206) includes a community-focused cash-for-work host community women. In Burundi, the “cash for jobs” project program called Jobs for Nature. The program provides women has provided social safety nets for 77,590 women, including and youth with short-term employment opportunities and refugees and host community members. Nigeria’s national skills training in wetlands protection, riverbank rehabilitation, social registry, covering 61 million individuals, facilitates coastal bank protection, or biodiversity enhancement. It aims access to social protection services, while a digital payment to create employment and build skills while also addressing system has allowed over 9.6 million beneficiaries (51 percent climate resilience needs. The program is delivered with the of whom are women) to securely receive cash transfers. In support of Fijian village cooperatives and civil society groups, the Democratic Republic of Congo, an impact evaluation of including women’s and youth groups. a public works program reveals that women’s participation in the program can boost the likelihood of savings and Acknowledging the compounded challenges women and involvement in income-generating activities even after the girls face in FCV settings, ASP interventions often prioritize program ends. Women demonstrated a greater increase women and girls as a primary target group and adopt in running businesses (12 percentage points) compared to multi-pronged approaches to address gender-based men (7 percentage points), highlighting the stronger impact inequalities and barriers. In Niger, cash transfers delivered of the program on women’s economic engagement, even through a gender-smart digital payment system, alongside in FCV settings.e FIGURE 1. SOCIAL PROJECTION PROGRAMS AND SYSTEMS CAN BE USED FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION SOCIAL PROTECTION PROTECTS AND PREPARES PEOPLE TO: Social Protection ADAPT TO A WARMER WORLD MITIGATE WARMING Instrument Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) Payments for Environmental Services (PES) • Helps households build resilience and cope shocks • Help manage critical ecosystems by facilitating savings, food security and livelihood • Can reduce deforestation adaptation, and diversification. • Are also a central element of just transition Cash Transfers • Provides post-shock support to mitigate policies and post-carbon/energy subsidy impacts and avoid damaging coping strategies. reforms. • Promote food security, shock coping and livelihood diversification at the household level. • Promote the creation of adaptive assets at the • Contribute to carbon capture through Public Works community level through better management reforestation and restoration of ecosystems. of land and natural resources. • Support post-disaster reconstruction efforts. • Multidimensional programs with livelihoods and economic inclusion components support • Support policies that enhance resilience to Livelihoods/ medium and long-term resilience building labor market disruptions caused by green Economic through food security, higher productivity, transitions in both rural and urban settings. Inclusion savings, and diversification of livelihoods. • Support post-carbon just transitions in energy, • Support reskilling and job transitions in urban coal, agriculture, transport, and other sectors. Training and and rural areas for households whose livelihoods other Labor • Prepare the workforce for new post-carbon are affected by climate shocks. Market or greener jobs. Programs Source: Social Protection and Jobs Compass team, World Bank, 2023 e SPJ’s Umbrella Rapid Social Response Trust Fund – Adaptive and Dynamic Social Protection: Review of the Gender Window Grants, 2024 (in draft). 10 Migration offers both opportunities and challenges for caregiving. Addressing these challenges requires targeted women, and understanding the gender dynamics is critical policies that promote gender equality in labor markets, for effective policymaking. Women’s migration experiences protect migrant women’s rights, and enhance their access differ substantially from men’s, often due to labor market to education and skills development. Expanding such efforts segregation and limited access to formal employment. can unlock the economic potential of migrant women Migrant women are more likely to work in precarious, while reducing vulnerabilities and promoting their social informal jobs, especially in sectors like domestic work and integration (Spotlight 1). SPOTLIGHT 1. MIGRATION, SOCIAL PROTECTION, AND GENDER: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Patterns of male and female migration vary widely across countries. The feminization of migration flows has been increasing since well before the 1960s.33 Women and girls make up a relatively large share of emigrants from some regions and countries, such as Latin America, the Russian Federation and Central Asia, Central and Northern Europe, the Philippines, and Thailand. Migrant women have economic potential that should be leveraged through adequate policymaking. About one- third of migrant women in Europe come via family migration, without a prior connection to the labor market.34 Further, some legal admission schemes to high-income countries prioritize professions linked to productive sectors (such as engineering and finance) and other occupations that are highly gender-segregated. Thus, many migrant women end up working in the informal and service sectors, often as domestic or care workers, and often in precarious conditions.35 For instance, in Colombia, Venezuelan women are more likely to work in the informal sector than men36 and recent migrant women are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as men with similar education levels.37 Even when migrant women have higher levels of education, they earn less than migrant men.38 Targeted policymaking is needed to leverage women’s economic potential at destination and tackle gender and labor discrimination. Policies aimed at addressing gender differences in labor market access for migrant women exist but need to be scaled up. Civil society organizations and local governments have pursued a variety of small-scale approaches. For instance, Portugal implemented an initiative in Lisbon to provide skills and job training to women who had emigrated from Brazil and Cabo Verde.39 Other initiatives are emerging at the national level. In Jordan, recent changes in work regulations allow home-based businesses to be registered and are expected to benefit both Syrian refugee women and Jordanian women who have limited mobility to work outside the home due to childcare responsibilities.40 The Philippines has established a set of requirements to protect the rights of migrant domestic workers—mostly women—at their destination.41 Protective measures like these must be balanced with other economic considerations so that migrants are not denied job opportunities.42 Policies supporting increased access to information, vocational training, and skills-matching should be scaled up at the state and national levels to facilitate nationwide labor access and integration of migrant women. The issue of social isolation of migrant women and girls should also be tackled. Education at destination can present women with access to careers that might not be available in their origin countries. While nearly one-third of migrant women in the European Union have low levels of formal education, they are likely to have more education than migrant men. On average, they are more likely to be highly educated.43 If such migrants return home, they can disseminate practices learned abroad that can uplift the position of women in their society. Education also plays an essential role for children. For example, migrant girls across the OECD perform better than boys at all education levels,44 suggesting that there are high returns on investments in their education. One crucial component to scale up education and access to the labor market is the availability of language courses. For instance, several municipalities in Germany have implemented the “Mama lernt Deutsch” initiative, which provides migrant women a combination of German-language courses and childcare so mothers can attend classes.45 11 CHALLENGES TO SCALING UP SOCIAL PROTECTION’S GENDER EQUALITY IMPACTS Coverage Persistent gender gaps in social protection coverage call for expanded investments in gender-responsive social protection. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed global inequalities and gaps in social protection coverage, including gender gaps, worsened by economic insecurity and poverty. While there have been notable strides in extending social protection globally, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted persistent challenges in realizing the goal of universal coverage. According to 2020 estimates from the International Labour Organization (ILO), only 47 percent of the population was effectively covered by at least one benefit of social protection, leaving 53 percent unprotected. At the same time, regional disparities are alarming. Europe and Central Asia lead in coverage (84 percent), while Africa lags significantly (17 percent). Women are disproportionately affected by the lack of health care, income security, and unemployment benefits. For example, comprehensive social security benefits cover only 31 percent of the working-age population, with women a substantial 8 percentage points behind men.46 Persistent gender disparities in social protection coverage stem from women’s lower labor force participation rates, higher incidence of part-time and informal employment, Athit Perawongmetha/World Bank gender pay gaps, and the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work. Efforts to improve social protection provision for women are crucial in addressing these structural inequalities. gender equality outcomes and it involves developing While tax-financed pensions have extended income security monitoring frameworks to assess progress both locally for older women in some countries (such as Kenya, Namibia, and globally, including through an expanded use of sex- Nepal, and South Africa), challenges like low benefit levels disaggregated data. persist, especially for those solely reliant on such pensions.47 Informality and gender disparities in social Effectively addressing gender disparities in social insurance protection coverage requires policy and program design grounded in a thorough understanding of structural Significant gender disparities remain in social insurance, gender inequalities, accompanied by proactive measures resulting from high levels of informality, low levels of supported by sustained commitment and financing. female labor force participation, shorter working careers Advancing access equality in social protection coverage and the gender wage pay gap. Social insurance is based on a significant scale necessitates collective efforts and on risk pooling and includes a range of risk management substantial financing. Fiscal constraints are compounded instruments, such as unemployment and disability by debt obligations, especially in low-income and lower- insurance, parental leave, and pensions, so people can cope middle-income countries. Addressing these constraints with lifecycle events without significant negative effects on entails governments and donor agencies working together well-being. Access to social insurance is predominantly to mobilize internal and external financing and actively dependent on having a formal sector job—a factor that can engaging the private sector. More critically, achieving scalable exclude many women. Even in countries with low levels of progress requires sustained commitments to achieving informality and mature social insurance systems, significant 12 gender gaps remain. For example, across European OECD poverty is often compounded by discriminatory inheritance countries, pension payments to women age 65 and over laws and customs, limited asset and land ownership, were, on average, 25 percent lower than for men. This reflects and marriage and/or divorce practices—all of which can the gender pay gap as well as gaps in women’s contribution limit their ability to develop and retain assets.50 Efforts to histories while they care for dependents, including children improve pension access include the use of non-contributory and the elderly.48 social pensions, the incorporation of paid leave for care responsibilities into the computation of pension levels, In addition to labor market opportunities and wage gaps, and survivor benefits to enable coverage from a spouse’s social insurance regulations can increase pension gaps, even pension.51 Some countries have introduced informal sector in the paradoxical case of rules intended to protect women.49 pension schemes, including through mandatory contributory A classic example is the lower retirement age for women pension systems.52 (prevalent in many countries), which results in shorter careers and lower pensions when compared to men with similar (but Reimagining social insurance arrangements to meet the longer) careers and income profiles. It is hard to explain why needs of informal sector workers, many of whom are women, with longer life expectancy, can retire earlier than women, is one of the priorities for the World Bank’s Social men, but the consequence is a sense of “acquired right” which Protection and Jobs (SPJ) sector strategy. Women in the has been very difficult to change in most pension reforms. informal economy are often engaged in precarious work, By contrast, most legislations worldwide do not differentiate such as domestic work, home-based work, or as contributing the vesting periods for men and women: the equality of family workers. Ensuring coverage of women informal parameters, in this case, also results in discrimination against workers requires innovative social assistance and insurance women, who may not be eligible for pensions due to the mechanisms.53 This may include expanding the scope of time they left the labor market to raise their children. This social registries and improving identification systems to effect is amplified in the case of countries without maternity ensure the inclusion of informal workers. Social protection benefits. A possible combination of equal retirement ages programs must be expanded to attract and respond to the for men and women, together with paid leave, parental leave needs of vulnerable and underserved informal workers, benefits or simply a notional computation of early childcare including through existing cash-plus and economic inclusion time “in lieu” of contribution towards the minimum pension programs. Box 7 illustrates country examples of social vesting period, could correct distortions and provide a fairer protection policies that provide unemployment protection solution for women. Extending parental leave benefits is key to redistributing Tackling the gender pension gap is critical in the context of care work and improving women’s labor force participation. aging societies. As women generally live longer than men, Most countries lack a comprehensive approach to parental elderly women tend to require pension benefits for longer benefits. Less than 45 percent of women with newborns periods after retirement and are at greater risk of old-age receive maternity cash benefits that provide income security.53 poverty. Longer life expectancy after retirement, which is an While most countries have legislation to protect workers who extraordinary achievement of medical science and healthier take maternity and paternity leave, only 34 percent fully habits, is also a challenge for the elderly, who will incur meet the related ILO Convention requirements.54 There is no increasing medical costs and care services. Women’s old-age international standard concerning paternity or parental leave. BOX 7. EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL PROTECTION POLICY AND PROGRAM INTERVENTIONS THAT ENABLE UNEMPLOYMENT PROTECTION FOR WOMEN The Grenada Second Recovery and Resilience Programmatic Development Policy Credit (P178930) supports the establishment of an unemployment insurance system that is expected to benefit women given their vulnerability to job losses. The program includes examination of the budgetary process to identify potential gender-specific impacts of public policies. The Maldives’ Sustainable and Integrated Labor Services Project (P177240) aims to improve social protection coverage and employability for workers by establishing an unemployment savings and insurance scheme linked to pensions. It will extend social insurance and active labor market programs to women, the self-employed, and informal sector workers who currently lack access to existing formal sector schemes. 13 Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment Evidence suggests that even modest paid paternity leave ability to manage adversity. Beyond specific measurable benefits can increase a woman’s probability of re-engaging characteristics, social care is needed to address a range in employment after childbirth.55 However, the creation of of vulnerabilities and includes mental health support and paternity leave benefits alone is sometimes insufficient to addressing risks of GBV and homelessness. Social care can ensure uptake. Additional measures, such as quotas or non- include residential care, home care, daycare, and other transferability of leave entitlements, are usually required to support services that enable individuals to manage adverse incentivize the uptake of paternity leave.56 Paternity leave circumstances and maintain their independence, dignity, and may also reduce hiring bias against women for employers quality of life. Many care services are provided informally in who are concerned about the cost of maternity leave. Yet the household as part of raising children and caring for the few countries offer paternity leave, and of the 50 economies elderly and persons with disabilities. There is also a social worldwide with paid parental leave, there are none in service workforce that includes a wide range of professionals South Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa.57 Where it is offered, paid such as case workers, paraprofessionals, and volunteers, maternity and parental leave is usually only available for who are in both paid and unpaid, and governmental those at the top of the income distribution employed by and nongovernmental roles. The social service workforce large private sector firms or the public sector. provides preventative, responsive, and promotive services that alleviate poverty, challenge and reduce discrimination, Beyond the obvious importance for early childhood promote social justice and human rights, and prevent and development, parental leave policies have the potential respond to violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect, and family to shift deep-rooted norms around care. Although not as separation.64 They are an essential part of social protection widespread as maternity leave policies, where they exist, systems, but have received less attention than technology- paternity leave policies are associated with better health based elements of social protection service delivery. outcomes for men, 58 including lower mortality, 59 and improved well-being and emotional attachment to their Social care responsibilities can significantly impact children.60 The combination of maternity and paternity or gender equality due to the traditional and often unequal parental leave may also reduce divorce rates61 and result in distribution of caregiving roles. Social care responsibilities long-term changes in social norms toward greater gender have historically been assigned to women. This perpetuates equality for societies as a whole62 and across generations.63 culturally rooted gender roles and can limit women’s opportunities for education, labor force participation, and Social Care and Services career advancement. Women who take on a larger share of unpaid care work may have reduced opportunities for paid Social care refers to personal care and support services employment, which can lead to economic dependency and for individuals and communities. The conditions calling reduced financial autonomy. This dynamic further widens for support include age, disability, or other characteristics gender gaps in employment, wages, career advancement, that affect the performance of everyday activities or the and pensions. 14 Supporting access to quality care services is an emerging The provision of social care services and support for the area for social protection systems to build skills and social services workforce are gaining traction as countries create job opportunities. Countries are experimenting look to strengthen their social protection systems. Social with different approaches to expand the supply of quality protection systems connect to care services in several ways. childcare, for example through public works in Rwanda, The state plays a mixed role as regulator, financier, and or childcare-related entrepreneurship opportunities in an provider of care services. While some families can pay for economic inclusion program in the Republic of Congo. These help from domestic workers or trained caregivers or from initiatives contribute to building skills and professionalizing for-profit or non-profit providers, others cannot afford such the care workforce. Not only is investment in childcare expenditure. There is an issue of equity and universality that consistent with social protection’s human capital goals, calls for public financing for those who are deemed to be in but evidence also demonstrates the positive spillover need but cannot afford care. Governments can choose to effects of improving women’s labor force participation provide this financing from the general budget or organize (Box 8) and increasing engagement in paid work among it through social insurance, as in the case of pensions, adult caregivers. 65 Synchronizing investments in social health care, or investments in the social service workforce. protection and childcare has tremendous potential for A separate thematic note in this series discusses gender human capital creation and utilization, as the care economy equality and care work for children, the elderly and persons holds potential for job creation.66 with disabilities in more detail. The increasing demand for long-term care threatens to Social norms exacerbate gender gaps. People providing unpaid long-term care to family and friends are more likely to work fewer hours Social norms, defined as informal rules governing socially outside the home than non-caregivers, and in some cases acceptable behavior, are a significant driver of gender to completely withdraw from paid work, particularly if they inequality in health, education, political leadership, and have heavy caregiving commitments.67 As women provide economic participation. Across many contexts, conservative the overwhelming majority of unpaid care, they are more social norms hinder women’s labor force participation and likely to be impacted by these issuews.68,69,70 Fewer working reinforces occupational segregation, limiting women’s choices. hours due to care responsibilities leads to lower income and Legal frameworks often reflect and perpetuate gender pension contributions.71 Research also shows that, due to norms, reducing women’s economic participation. Moreover, the gendered patterns of caring, caregiving affects women’s social norms often dictate women’s disproportionate burden health more than men’s health.72 Women face higher levels of care work, limiting their economic empowerment and of caregiving stressors and have fewer resources, which decision-making participation. These norms also increase affects their psychological and physical health.73,74 Research the prevalence of GBV and impede GBV reporting, as seen across OECD countries finds that older women are more in Ethiopia where survivors often face blame. In some likely to require long-term care while also being less likely countries, such as in Guinea, deeply ingrained social norms to afford it.75 also sustain harmful practices like female genital mutilation BOX 8. TACKLING CHILDCARE TO IMPROVE WOMEN’S LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION In Bangladesh, key barriers to women’s access to quality jobs include their disproportionate responsibility for caregiving and household work. In urban areas, women’s labor force participation drops dramatically upon marriage and childbirth. Childcare provision is constrained by the absence of licensing policies and regulations or standards. The Bangladesh Second Programmatic Jobs Development Policy Credit (P168724) included prior actions related to the passing of the Child Daycare Bill. This law aims to develop an institutional framework, licensing, and regulation for daycare centers intended to increase their availability and regulate the quality of care in public and private institutions. In Burkina Faso, mothers participating in public works programs are faced with a dilemma: bring their children to unsafe work environments or leave them home alone. A pilot study addressed this issue by training women to provide childcare and establishing mobile crèches at work sites. A randomized control trial study by the Africa Gender Innovation Lab revealed that these crèches tripled childcare center utilization, indicating significant unmet demand. The combination of access to crèches and participation in the public works program positively affected child development, as well as women’s labor force engagement, psychological well-being, and financial resilience. 15 (FGM) and child marriage, despite government prohibition. Data Understanding and addressing these entrenched social norms are crucial for effective social protection interventions The lack of sex-disaggregated data limits the ability of and advancing gender equality. governments to understand the size and scope of gender gaps in access to and impact of social protection programs. While some social assistance programs have introduced Many national statistical offices only collect data on coverage accompanying measures to influence change in harmful of social protection programs at the household level, with gender norms, this area requires further exploration, all household members recorded as recipients, or the same evaluation, and scale up. Cash transfers can shift norms transfer amount being accorded to all household members. over time by creating conditions that empower women Only 40 out of the 132 countries harmonized by the World within households, thereby promoting positive change in Bank’s Atlas of Social Protection: Indicators of Resilience household gender dynamics. Norms change also requires and Equity (ASPIRE) collect individual-level data on social community engagement activities, such as dialogue and protection benefits in their nationally representative reflection on gender roles and gender inequalities in household surveys. 64 surveys collect data using a mix of education, health, economic inclusion, and the prevalence of individual and household level variables (Spotlight 2). And GBV. As women achieve greater autonomy and men engage a total of 28 countries collect social protection data only at in gender equality efforts, they can become agents of change, the household level. inspiring others and disrupting established negative norms. Attempting to shift social norms requires deep expertise as it Having individual-level information enables the identification can trigger backlash against women and girls and resistance of direct recipients of a benefit, alongside more accurate from communities. Norms change interventions need to analysis of programs targeted to individuals. Better data work closely with community leaders and be monitored about the actual beneficiaries of social protection programs closely for unintended negative impacts. Nonetheless, allows for improved targeting and design and enables there is increasing operational effort to address gendered programs to address gender gaps in access and benefits. social norms through complementary measures of social Promoting the collection of sex and disability-disaggregated protection programs (Box 9)76. This work shows promise. data is key to understanding exclusion. BOX 9: OPERATIONAL EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL PROTECTION PROJECTS INCORPORATING MEASURES TO CHALLENGE SOCIAL NORMS The Benin Youth Inclusion Project (P170425) incentivizes young women to pursue male-dominated trades by providing technical training, cash transfers, mentorship, and networking support. It aims to shift norms around women’s work and alleviate the fear of negative sanctions for engaging in male-dominated sectors. The Adaptive Social Safety Nets Project in Niger (P155846) addresses social norms that limit women’s engagement in economic activity and uphold men’s control over household finances. It includes life skills training and community sensitization to shift individual attitudes and perceptions about women’s roles and engagement in income generating activities. The Productive Safety Net Program in Madagascar (P167881) uses behavioral nudges to promote savings and investment behavior among participants. Visual aids and posters are used to prompt participants to set realistic savings goals and save part of their cash transfers for productive investments. The Benin Youth Employment Project (P132667) facilitates women’s access to training facilities by providing on-site childcare services during training activities. It reduces barriers to women’s participation by offering transportation, meals, and mobile crèches for children. 16 SPOTLIGHT 2. IMPROVING THE AVAILABILITY OF SEX-DISAGGREGATED SOCIAL PROTECTION DATA The World Bank’s tool for tracking the size and distributional performance of social protection and labor interventions is the Atlas of Social Protection: Indicators of Resilience and Equity (ASPIRE). It is the Bank’s main compilation of indicators generated based on administrative program-level data and nationally representative household surveys. ASPIRE data is used to benchmark the performance of social protection programs across countries and time, as well as monitor progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 1: End poverty in all forms everywhere, specifically Target 1.3: Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable. A significant effort is underway to generate sex-disaggregated household surveys and program-level administrative data in the ASPIRE database. First, ASPIRE is reengineering its household data process to automate the generation of sex-disaggregated indicators for those program variables that capture information for direct beneficiaries. This will contribute to future analysis that will help decision makers understand the gender impacts of social protection interventions. Second, ASPIRE has developed a new administrative data collection tool that captures important program parameters, such as the sex of the payment recipient, the provision of and participation in complementary measures, and whether digital payments are used. This will accelerate learning about cash-plus measures and access to digital payments by men and women. Type of Data Collection All individual level variables Mix of HH and individual level variables All household level variables © 2024 Mapbox © OpenStreetMap 17 LOOKING AHEAD: LEVERAGING SOCIAL PROTECTION TO ACCELERATE GENDER EQUALITY Photo: World Bank Social protection is well positioned to accelerate gender force participation,f which often result in women being equality, given its reach, focus on the poorest and most disproportionately represented in informal employment vulnerable populations, and goals of equity, resilience, and unpaid care work. Furthermore, developing gender- and opportunity. The growing reach of social protection, transformative interventions is crucial for challenging the especially social assistance schemes among the poorest, systemic barriers to gender equality. These interventions offers an invaluable platform to bundle cash transfers should go beyond addressing immediate needs and aim with accompanying measures, skills, and assets to elevate to address societal norms, attitudes, and behaviors that women and girls’ human capital, address GBV, expand perpetuate gender inequalities, and to promote gender economic opportunities, and build resilience in crisis and equality in education, employment, and decision making. To FCV settings. Emerging operational experience in more tackle the coverage challenge, sufficient financial resources complex outcome areas, such as shifting harmful social must be mobilized and dedicated to expanding social norms, curbing GBV, and building women’s climate resilience, protection coverage, ensuring that women and marginalized offer promising directions for future investment, operational groups are effectively supported. experimentation, learning, and developing evidence. The following recommendations can help amplify the positive Promote the economic empowerment of women and impacts of social protection for gender equality and the sexual and gender minorities. Many economic inclusion empowerment of women and girls. programs demonstrate greater impact on women’s economic empowerment, as well as cost efficiency, when delivered Expand coverage of gender-smart social protection. This through national social protection systems.77 Despite the necessitates a concerted effort not only to broaden the surge of these programs, they remain small-scale, both reach of social protection mechanisms to women and girls at a country level and globally. In addition to scaling up but also to scale up gender-transformative interventions economic inclusion programs, policies to advance economic that confront the root causes of inequality. One key area empowerment should facilitate access to secure, well-paying that requires attention is the structural disparity in labor employment opportunities, while simultaneously addressing f Increasing female labor force participation are covered in a separate thematic note 18 systemic barriers, such as occupational segregation and accurately identify and include women and girls in social discriminatory practices in the labor market. Key components protection programs, alongside enhancing inclusion and of such policy initiatives should include provisions for referral pathways for priority services tailored to their needs comprehensive skills training, enhanced financial inclusion, throughout the delivery chain. Connecting social protection deepening the use of digital financial instruments beyond schemes to GBV survivor services, especially in FCV contexts receiving cash payments and towards savings and insurance where risks of GBV are heightened, can help ensure better products, and robust support mechanisms for entrepreneurs. access to services. Considering intersecting vulnerabilities, By enacting these policies, governments can contribute to such as age, disability, ethnicity, and displacement status, is creating a more inclusive and prosperous society where also crucial for a holistic approach that meets diverse needs. women, girls and sexual and gender minorities have equal Investing in strengthening delivery systems including their opportunities to thrive and contribute to economic growth. interoperability will support the delivering of integrated services and enhance the referral system. Leverage cash-plus approaches to address societal barriers, including curbing GBV and challenging entrenched social Leverage social protection systems to expand the supply norms that perpetuate inequality. Cash-plus strategies and uptake of care services and build skills for the care can tackle gender inequalities across outcomes areas and economy. Harnessing social protection systems presents an promote empowerment. These interventions can also be opportunity to not only bolster the supply but also increase used to promote behavioral change and address social the uptake of care services while simultaneously nurturing norms, especially through community-based and local skills essential for the care economy. This involves integrating platforms. By promoting leadership, mutual support, and support for caregiving into existing social protection gender equality in employment and decision making, these frameworks, such as offering subsidies or vouchers for interventions can foster a more conducive environment childcare, elder care, and other care services and supporting for the empowerment of women and sexual and gender the professionalization of the social service workforce. By minorities. Evidence underscores the value of actively doing so, caregivers, predominantly women, are able to engaging men and boys, as well as community leaders and participate more fully in the workforce. Investing in training norm influencers, in advocating for more equitable gender programs geared toward the care sector and the social norms. Their support and involvement can help cultivate a service workforce equips individuals with the necessary conducive environment for advancing gender equality. skills and competencies, thus enhancing the quality of care provided while creating employment opportunities. Invest in adaptive social protection and interoperable Moreover, by recognizing and valuing care work, societies delivery systems to leverage synergies across programs can challenge gender norms, promote gender equality, and and sectors. An adaptive SP system recognizes and foster inclusive economic growth. Using social protection addresses the needs of women and girls, sexual and gender systems to strengthen care services and cultivate skills for minorities, and others facing intersecting vulnerabilities, the care economy not only addresses immediate caregiving including in FCV settings. This involves securing access to needs but also contributes to long-term socio-economic foundational identification, expanding social registries to development and gender equality. Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment 19 Paula Bronstein/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment Engage the private sector to adopt gender-responsive protection and the impact of social protection initiatives. By policies and practices to amplify the impact of social analyzing this data, policymakers gain insights into specific protection. This includes ensuring equal pay for equal gendered needs and challenges, enabling them to tailor work, providing flexible work arrangements and parental interventions accordingly. Moreover, routine measurement leave policies, implementing unbiased recruitment and of empowerment indicators, such as economic participation, promotion practices, offering training and mentorship decision-making power, and access to resources, provides programs for women, fostering a supportive workplace valuable insights into the progress toward gender equality culture, facilitating childcare and family support services, and the effectiveness of social protection interventions promoting women-owned businesses, reforming social in promoting women’s empowerment. This data-driven insurance regulations which result in different pensions approach facilitates evidence-based policymaking, allowing for equal salaries (such as different retirement ages for the design and implementation of targeted and and equal vesting periods for men and women), and responsive initiatives. monitoring progress through data collection and analysis. These measures not only promote gender equality within Address the knowledge gaps around the specific needs the organization but also empower women to thrive in of women and girls in FCV and migration contexts and their careers and contribute effectively to the workforce. their participation in climate change adaptation and the Collaborating with the private sector can also lead to transition to the green economy. These diverse contexts innovative approaches for sustainable funding models for present unique challenges and vulnerabilities, yet there is social protection programs. These can be achieved through often a lack of comprehensive understanding and data, as diverse avenues, including corporate social responsibility well as analysis of experiences, to inform effective policy initiatives (where companies allocate resources to support and program design. By conducting targeted research and gender-responsive social programs), public-private analysis, governments and development agencies can gain partnerships that involve co-funding social initiatives with deeper insights into the intersecting factors that influence governments, and the provision of insurance and pension the well-being of women and girls in these environments, schemes by private financial institutions, microfinance, and including socio-economic status, cultural norms, and access gender-smart financial instruments and services. to resources. This knowledge is essential for developing social protection interventions that address the specific needs and Enhance the availability of sex-disaggregated social priorities of women and girls. Moreover, integrating gender protection data and routine measurement of different considerations into strategies for adaptation to climate dimensions of empowerment. 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