DYNAMIC SOCIAL REGISTRIES FOR ADAPTIVE SOCIAL PROTECTION IN THE SAHEL: FOUR RECOMMENDATIONS Written by: Luis Iñaki Alberro Encinas, Sebastian Geschwind, and Sarah Patella SASPP Policy Note Series POLICY NOTE 13 | MARCH 2025 SASPP Policy Note Series 2 March 2025 1 KEY RECOMMENDATIONS Countries in the Sahel are facing increasingly frequent and severe interconnected shocks, particularly those related To operationalize dynamic social registries that are to climate change and conflict, exacerbating risks and updatable and scalable in shock-prone contexts like the vulnerabilities to poverty, food insecurity, inequality, and Sahel, where social protection systems are either nascent low levels of human capital. To effectively respond to these or already established, countries can consider the following crises, governments require systems enabling them to rapidly recommendations: and accurately identify sudden changes in household welfare, 1. Establish a permanent client-interface between households including by gender, age and disability. Dynamic social registries, and the social registry for on-demand data provision and as essential delivery systems, can play this role, effectively collection. To ensure a dynamic intake and registration assessing changes in welfare among poor and vulnerable process, it is crucial to establish a permanent client interface populations, those affected by climate change, and forcibly that is accessible to the most vulnerable households (such as displaced groups. those that are headed by women, or with low or not literacy, etc.). This permanent interface can be either in-person or In the Sahel, Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) is a proven digital, should be tailored to the conditions of each country, approach for governments, integrating social protection and might entail different intake modalities in different areas policies, systems, and programs to reach the poorest and (rural/urban) or for different groups. In the Sahel, an in-person most vulnerable, promoting their human capital, productivity, interface could be more suitable in the short term, while in and resilience to prepare for, cope with, and adapt to shocks1. the medium term, developing a digital interface would help Social registries are an infrastructure, or backbone of ASP sustain dynamic social registries. The interface should enable programs, serving as gateways for households into one or many a household member to initiate data collection and updates programs, and providing vital data for the delivery of support on-demand, at their convenience. This approach ensures that and services to the most vulnerable. Governments use social data remains current and relevant, thereby enhancing the registries to systematically collect and process demographic and registry’s ability to reflect changes in the welfare of household socioeconomic data for households and their members, such as members. It also mitigates the effects of data decay on the gender and age, enabling an assessment of a range of welfare accuracy of the assessment of needs and conditions. indicators that include monetary and non-monetary poverty, food insecurity, disability, and vulnerability to climate shocks. Program 2. Adopt a modular structure for socioeconomic questionnaires, administrators can harness this data to better target the most which can enhance the efficiency of data collection and vulnerable, increasing the impact of interventions. management. This approach involves defining core and complementary modules based on the re-usability of the When designed as whole-of-government platforms with variables collected, the requirements of social protection broad coverage and dynamic intake and registration, social programs served by social registries, and other context-specific registries can make ASP programs more inclusive and factors. By optimizing the questionnaire to the minimum shock-responsive2. Well-designed social registries can also variables required by programs, the process becomes more play a central role in reducing fragmentation and improving cost-efficient and logistically manageable. Modularity enables coordination among humanitarian and development efforts to the collection of core data for all households, while allowing reach intended populations, ensuring the social and economic the addition of complementary data modules as needed. inclusion of the most vulnerable, and the efficient and effective 3. Ensure interoperability with other data sources and ASP use of social protection resources. By enabling anyone to update delivery systems. It is important for dynamic social registries their information at any time, dynamic social registries help to be interoperable with other data sources and government programs include shock-affected households when they need systems, when available. This includes interoperability with support – before, during, and after a shock – ensuring vulnerable unique identification (ID) systems, program management households, men, women and children remain at the centre of information systems, grievance redress mechanisms, ASP delivery. SASPP Policy Note Series 3 March 2025 payment systems, and early warning systems. Interoperability 4. Promote systematic peer-to-peer learning on social ensures a seamless data exchange with dynamic social registries. Establishing and scaling dynamic social registries registries, allowing them to verify, complement, and update in the Sahel can be accelerated through systematic cross- self-reported information. This interconnectedness allows country learning and cooperation. Robust peer-to-peer for better coordination and alignment of support among technical exchanges can enhance national capacity to design various government systems and actors, improving ASP cost and implement dynamic social registries. Strengthening effectiveness. knowledge exchange platforms through regular South-South fora - within the region as well as with countries outside the region - will be crucial to identifying workable solutions to strategic and operational challenges for dynamic social registries, regardless of their level of development. 2 INTRODUCTION This policy note consolidates the highlights of a study3 funded coverage and are continuously updated, they provide vital data by the Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Program (SASPP), and information enabling ASP programs to support household exploring the role and operationalization of dynamic social welfare and resilience and to respond to shocks efficiently and in registries in low-income and shock-prone contexts, including a timely manner. Dynamic social registries support ASP programs in the Sahel. The study is based on innovations in dynamic social in expanding their ‘Reach’ — the potential coverage of programs registries in low- and middle-income countries, identifying what — to deliver assistance to poor and vulnerable households during works and key considerations in the design and adaptation of normal times and when a shock occurs. In times of shock, ASP social registries toward their dynamic updatability and scalability programs must rapidly expand both vertically — by increasing in contexts marked by high exposure and vulnerability to shocks, support to those already enrolled — and horizontally — by high levels of poverty, and/or low levels of digital penetration. reaching shock-affected households not previously enrolled. In addition, the timing and speed of intervention delivery Besides the regular support Adaptive social protection (ASP) is important since an early response can better mitigate the offers through safety nets and productive inclusion, ASP negative effects of a shock. systems and programs also enable governments to deliver timely support to those most affected by climate and other The expansion of program reach requires having relevant and shocks, helping households adapt their livelihoods to the up-to-date data on poor and vulnerable households. Dynamic impact of these events, and build their resilience and capacity social registries are designed to be continuously updated to cope with future crises. ASP is uniquely positioned to reach through on-demand updates, and by combining different data the poorest and vulnerable at scale, particularly in regions that sources collected via a range of direct and indirect data intake are highly exposed and vulnerable to widespread crises, such as methods. Dynamic social registries are also useful in reaching the the Sahel. The four building blocks of ASP – data and information intended beneficiaries of regular safety nets, economic inclusion systems, programs, institutional arrangements and partnerships, programs, and others. By enabling households to report changes and financing – have been identified as critical to the sustained in their welfare on-demand, dynamic social registries ensure delivery of ASP by national institutions. Data and information that the information of already registered households is up-to- systems, of which social registries are a central component, are date and relevant for a vertical expansion. Similarly, through crucial to deploying social protection programs at scale. on-demand intake and triggered registration campaigns during or after a shock, households that have newly fallen into poverty ASP programs require social registries that are designed to be can be considered during horizontal expansion (figure 1). When inclusive of the poorest and capable of accurately reflecting social registries are dynamic, they facilitate dynamic inclusion so the rapidly changing conditions of household welfare in anyone can be considered for social protection programs at any the data they capture. When social registries offer sufficient time through an open and continuous intake and registration4. SASPP Policy Note Series 4 March 2025 FIGURE 1. Dynamic Social Registries for Vertical and Horizontal Expansion Adaptive Social Protection Programs Dynamic Social Registries Benefit Vertical amount expansion PREPARE Households Vulnerability pre- On-demand or assessment Temporarily in social triggered updates increased registry benefit amount COPE Immediate needs assessment RECOVER Regular social Horizontal Households On-demand or Post-shock Regular protection expansion not in social triggered intake registry assessment benefit (s) system amount parameters Core beneficiaries Those not in recepit of Population of social protection regular benefits but affected system by shocks Dynamic intake and Adaptive assessment of Vulnerable, transient Nonpoor, Nonpoor, registration needs and conditions Chronic poor informal, poor, informal resilient formal Source: Based on Bowen et al. 2020; Guven, Himanshi, and Joubert 2021. © Curt Carnemark / World Bank SASPP Policy Note Series 5 March 2025 WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A SOCIAL REGISTRY IN 3 THE SOCIAL PROTECTION DELIVERY CHAIN? By collecting and consolidating socioeconomic data on Well-designed social registries help to tackle the inclusion potential beneficiaries, with people’s informed consent, and coordination challenges often faced by social protection social registries support the “Assess” and a part of the “Enroll” systems. Social registries support the efficient delivery of social phases of the Social Protection Delivery Chain (figure 2). Social protection programs by standardizing data collection and the registries facilitate the processes of intake and registration, characterization of poor and vulnerable households to prioritize assessment of needs and conditions, and determination of potentially eligible households according to the relevant eligibility potential eligibility based on households’ data and program- criteria. When social registries serve multiple programs (figure specific eligibility criteria. Eligibility and enrolment decisions are 3), they can address some of the coordination challenges arising made by the administrators of social protection programs, and when multiple actors intervene on the same population groups not typically by social registry administrators, as these decisions without sharing information - often associated with institutional are based on policy objectives, budget allocations, targeting fragmentation - and generate efficiencies for both program criteria and operational priorities. But those decisions are made administrators and applicants by centralizing and streamlining using, among others, the information contained in the social data collection. When designed to be dynamic and inclusive, registry (some programs have further conditions for eligibility, social registries can address some of the barriers and capacity beyond what is contained in the social registry). constraints that may exclude certain households and individuals from accessing social protection programs and services. FIGURE 2. The Social Protection Delivery Chain ASSESS ENROLL PROVIDE MANAGE Eligibility Determination Beneficiaries, Exit decisions, Assessment and of benefits Notification Provision of compliance, notifications, Intake and of needs and enrollment and service and benefits and / updating and and case Outreach registration conditions decisions package onboarding or services grievances outcomes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 RECURRING 8 9 CYCLE PERIODIC REASSESSMENT Source: Lindert et al., 2020 SASPP Policy Note Series 6 March 2025 FIGURE 3. Social Registries for Multiple Programs Cash Social Enroll Provide Manage Legal Transfers Pension Services & other Assess Allowances needs and conditions Productive Labor & Inclusion Employment 1 M RA Enroll Provide Manage G O PR Health Social 3 PROGRAM 2 Benefits Services Social PR Registry O GR AM Enroll Provide Manage Emergency Education 3 & Training Assistance Energy In-kind & Other Programs Subsidies Housing Benefits Source: Lindert et al., 2020 4 WHY DO DYNAMIC SOCIAL REGISTRIES MATTER IN THE SAHEL? In the Sahel, to date, most social registries are static, at times poverty due to climate shocks, such as floods or droughts, fragility combined with limited coverage5. Countries often pre-define and conflict, or other covariate or idiosyncratic shocks. fixed registration quotas and undertake administrator-driven ‘census-like’ efforts to collect and update household data in Outdated data can significantly affect the targeting accuracy cycles, typically with three or more years in-between each cycle. of social protection programs, reducing their impact. Broad While this approach is common during the initial deployment of estimates suggest that approximately two percent of records social registries, it presents significant medium-term challenges. within a database become outdated every month8. For illustrative It may not be cost-effective to sustain large-scale registration purposes, this would mean that nearly 50 percent of a static campaigns every few years and this can also lead to exclusion and social registry would be obsolete within 2 years, and the entire inclusion errors between cycles, as household conditions change database within 4.2 years. Simulations for Bangladesh’s National constantly6. For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, 29.7 percent Household Database indicate that 15 percent of households of the population is estimated to move in and out of transient change their composition within the first year of data collection, poverty, while 33.3 percent remain chronically poor between 36 percent by the end of year three, and 49 percent by the end household surveys, which are collected every 5 years on average7. of year five9. As household conditions change and data becomes This issue is exacerbated in shock-prone contexts like the Sahel, outdated, this results in higher rates of inclusion and exclusion where households are often just ‘one shock away’ from falling into errors, where nonpoor households may be incorrectly included in SASPP Policy Note Series 7 March 2025 a program, and poor households may be incorrectly excluded. As These findings highlight the imperative for dynamic social a result of data decay, the intended beneficiaries may not receive registries capable of continuously intaking data, enabling the support they need, undermining the program’s effectiveness governments to provide support to promote the resilience and and equity10. In countries prone to climate shocks, the impact welfare of the poorest and most vulnerable and to effectively of outdated social registry data is even more pronounced, respond to crises. When social registries are dynamic, they complicating the delivery of timely and effective social protection mitigate the risks of data becoming outdated and support programs. Importantly, outdated data risk turning these registries inclusive social protection programs that maximize their impact into a “closed door” rather than a gateway to social protection by reaching and assisting the most vulnerable populations, programs for households who are vulnerable or who may fall into including in rapidly changing contexts. poverty between cycles. 5 WHAT MAKES A SOCIAL REGISTRY DYNAMIC? The two key distinctions between static and dynamic social 1. A unique gateway for households to be considered by one or registries are in the latter’s design, enabling it to intake new more social programs. data dynamically by: (a) updating data on existing households 2. Continuous updates through a permanent interface with and registering new ones on-demand; and (b) combining households, whether in-person or digital. several types of data, such as self-reported information and 3. Intake from multiple data sources, including administrative administrative records. The key features11 of dynamic social records, through interoperability. registries that ensure their suitability in shock-prone contexts include: 4. Assessment of household needs and conditions according to the eligibility criteria of programs. 5. Sharing of data on potentially eligible households with ASP programs so they can reach people with regular and shock- response interventions. © Curt Carnemark / World Bank SASPP Policy Note Series 8 March 2025 6 DATA INTAKE FOR DYNAMIC SOCIAL REGISTRIES Countries can keep social registries current by harnessing a range on-demand intake modalities. Administrative records and other of different data sources to facilitate a continuous data intake data held by different entities, or indirect data, can be pulled into (figure 4). Self-reported data, or direct data, collected directly social registries without interviewing households directly. from households can be gathered via administrator-driven or FIGURE 4. Intake Modalities for Social Registries DIRECT DATA INDIRECT DATA In-person Remote Access to a common unique idenfier Enrolled in Access to Access to an Administrator - Administrator - On-demand On-demand another social another public active mobile driven driven program service phone 1.2. 1.1. Home Temporary visits registration sites Modalities 2. Permanent 3. Temporary 4. Permanent 6. 5. Beneficiary 7. Call Detail registration digital service digital service Administrative registries Records sites window window records system Static Dynamic Lower user barriers Higher user barriers Source: Original figure for this publication SASPP Policy Note Series 9 March 2025 DIRECT DATA SOURCES In contrast, on-demand intake modalities allow households to provide or update their data whenever their circumstances Direct data relies on self-reported information collected change, facilitating dynamic inclusion. This ensures a through household and/or individual-level questionnaires, continuous flow of data into the social registry. An essential which is used as part of the process to determine eligibility for requirement for on-demand intake is the establishment of a a range of social protection programs. Considerations for the permanent client interface between households and the use of direct data collection include the risk of data bias and the social registry, either in-person or digital, so households can cost and duration of its implementation. Data bias can include initiate data collection at their convenience. For in-person data excluding household members for example underage mothers collection, local government offices often serve as the permanent or those with disability. Relying on self-reported information also client interface, such as the Social Assistance Reference includes the possibility of misreporting, whether intentional or Centers for Brazil’s Cadastro Único16, or the municipal offices for unintentional. Depending on the incentives set by programs, Colombia’s SISBEN. When connectivity is widely and consistently potential recipients may intentionally over- or under-reporting available, an open and permanent digital service window allows particular aspects of their socioeconomic conditions that households to provide their data remotely. For example, Türkiye’s cannot be easily observed by enumerators (such as income, ISAS leverages the e-Government portal to initiate the intake consumption, household size, or ownership of certain assets). and registration process online, which is later verified through Likewise, survey respondents may lack the capacity to recall the an in-person visit17. Compared to administrator-driven intake, on- information being requested or not understand the questions demand intake can better mitigate the risks of data decay and is being asked. Direct data collection may also incur high cost thus necessary for dynamic social registries. However, in low- and and time investments when relying on lengthy questionnaires middle-income countries and shock-prone contexts, it requires administered door-to-door over large geographical areas12. investing in a permanent client interface that is accessible to households and capable of accommodating their requests for INTAKE MODALITIES FOR DIRECT DATA data provision with appropriate staff and resources. Relying solely on a digital service window in a country with low internet Direct data collection relies on two broad types of intake or mobile phone penetration would create a high user barrier, modalities - administrator-driven and on-demand. Through most likely affecting vulnerable households in rural areas. administrator-driven intake, the entity managing the social registry organizes and triggers the data collection within a INDIRECT DATA SOURCES specific time-window, according to budget availability and/or operational priorities. In low-connectivity areas, data collection Indirect data collection harnesses data generated as a byproduct is conducted in-person through home visits, or by gathering of (among others): (i) transactions such as making a purchase households at temporary registration sites, such as the Registre through a digital payment mechanism, paying income taxes, National Unique (RNU) in Senegal. In high-connectivity areas, making social insurance contributions, or placing a call through if households have access to a 2G mobile phone or an internet a mobile phone; (ii) previously delivered services or benefits connection (more common in urban settings), data can be such as attending school, visiting a clinic, or receiving social collected remotely via a temporary digital service window by assistance; (iii) life events such as a birth, marriage, or death, leveraging SMS or IVR messages13 such as the rollout of STEP- among others; and (iv) remote sensing. KIN in the Democratic Republic of Congo14. In administrator- driven modalities, social registry administrators determine when Indirect data collection is more cost-efficient and less prone to and how much data is collected, facilitating planning. However, bias than direct data collection, enabling increased timeliness this method, even if periodic and involving active outreach, like and frequency of data updates. However, indirect data is usually the “busca ativa” modality of Brazil’s Cadastro Único15, is not generated at the individual level, and may not reflect information continuous. It does not allow households to provide and update on household composition, or may reflect only a limited their data as needed, such as after an idiosyncratic shock (e.g., dimension(s) of household wellbeing (e.g., access to health death of a household member or loss of employment) or co- insurance from health administrative records) and must therefore variate shock (e.g., a flood or drought). As a result, social registries be complemented with other data sources to ensure data in the that rely exclusively on administrator-driven modalities will likely social registry comprehensively reflects household composition. become static and face important data decay challenges. Furthermore, in low and middle-income countries, indirect data is SASPP Policy Note Series 10 March 2025 often limited or incomplete, especially for vulnerable households Dominican Republic, as well as Integrated Social Assistance in the informal sector which are not reflected in administrative System (ISAS) in Türkiye. Periodically integrating data from data sources such as tax records. As such, the design of dynamic beneficiary registries, other administrative records systems, social registries requires context-specific consideration of the or even from Call Detail Records (CDR)18, requires mature advantages and limitations of direct and indirect data collection. information systems and an enabling regulatory environment for data protection, cybersecurity, and data exchange protocols across government agencies. In Estonia, X-Road is the best- INTAKE MODALITIES FOR INDIRECT DATA known example of a whole-of-government data exchange When indirect data is available, a shared unique identifier platform that reduces the data-provision burden of citizens, which (foundational ID, functional ID, or other), as well as enforceable has now been emulated in several other countries including data exchange agreements are crucial to ensuring the social in Benin, Madagascar, and Namibia. Integrating indirect data registry can interoperate with other information systems from multiple sources provides a cost-efficient method to containing relevant data. Key examples include the Registro enrich social registries, yet no social registry currently relies Social de Hogares in Chile, which integrates data from 43 state exclusively on indirect data. The main applications of indirect agencies monthly (including tax records, pensions, and vehicle data by established social registries are to verify, complement, ownership), the Sistema Único de Beneficiarios (SIUBEN) in or update previously self-declared data. 7 CONSIDERATIONS FOR CHOICE OF INTAKE MODALITIES Given the advantages and limitations of direct and indirect and the integration of administrative records remain limited in data intake modalities, most social registries combine more such contexts since it requires greater digital readiness, among than one modality. The choice of intake modalities in a country other factors. However, some countries in the Sahel and West is influenced by factors such as previous investments in digital Africa, such as Mauritania, Senegal, and Benin, are currently literacy, decentralized government infrastructure, mobile considering investments in in-person permanent interfaces by phone coverage and digital public infrastructure19. Typically, leveraging local public infrastructure to dynamize their social administrator-driven modalities are used for initial data collection registries through an on-demand intake and registration process. during the first deployment phases of social registries, while on- In middle-income countries and data-rich contexts, countries demand modalities are preferred for keeping data up to date. such as Brazil, Chile, Türkiye, and Pakistan, have advanced In low-income countries and data-poor contexts, such as the their social registries by allowing for continuous updates Sahel, social registries have predominantly relied on in-person through a permanent interface and systematically integrating home visits and temporary registration sites to administer self- administrative records to complement and cross-check self- reported questionnaires. The use of remote data collection reported information. 8 MODULAR STRUCTURE FOR HARMONIZED QUESTIONNAIRES From a system design perspective, it is also important to often rely on different socioeconomic questionnaires of varying consider how data is organized and structured within the length to determine the eligibility of potential beneficiaries for social registry. When multiple programs independently do the associated program. However, this results in multiple data the intake and the assessment of needs and conditions, they structures that are frequently not compatible with each other SASPP Policy Note Series 11 March 2025 and may overlap. When social registries are introduced as Socioeconomic questionnaires can be broken up into whole-of-government platforms to serve a range of programs modules, allowing dynamic social registries to intake as simultaneously, they can consolidate the intake and the much data as needed for each program and improving the assessment of needs and conditions to improve coordination and efficiency of data management. Modular questionnaires can reduce fragmentation by harmonizing multiple socioeconomic be divided into core modules, populated for all households questionnaires into a single questionnaire. in the dynamic social registry, and complementary modules, which can be populated as needed depending on the specific Consolidating multiple socioeconomic questionnaires into requirements of each program served by the social registry a single harmonized questionnaire can offer efficiencies for (table 1). For instance, temporary shock-response programs households, programs, and the social registry administrator. typically only require a restricted set of variables. The SIUBEN Harmonized questionnaires reduce the burden on households by in Dominican Republic uses a specific questionnaire, the Ficha ensuring they only answer one questionnaire to be considered Básica de Emergencia (FIBE)21, to assess damages after natural for multiple programs and simplifies data management for the disasters. Modular questionnaires should remain harmonized social registry administrator. Harmonized questionnaires are and compatible by design, enabling different modules to be often robust, capturing a range of welfare dimensions20 including collected and populated on an as-needed basis depending on with a lens on gender, age and disability, but they can also be program requirements, e.g., only in certain geographic areas lengthy to enable them to serve the needs of many programs or only for certain population groups. at once. Depending on how quickly different variables become However, the length of the harmonized questionnaire can outdated, core and complementary modules can be drawn impact the cost of administering it to large numbers of from either direct data, indirect data, or a combination of households. Deploying massive door-to-door sweeps or both. For example, changes to household composition are not setting up physical registration points in communities increases as frequent and can be drawn from self-reported data, while the barriers to updating lengthy harmonized questionnaires, employment status changes more frequently and should be particularly in data-poor countries where data collection capacity drawn from administrative records when available. Using modular may be limited and costly. This is a key reason why large social data structures that combine directly, and indirectly generated registries that rely primarily on administrator-driven intake data can help to ensure that the social registry stays up to date. modalities are infrequently updated. TABLE 1. Core and Complementary Modules for Harmonized Questionnaires (for illustrative purposes only) Core module Complementary modules The core data module is populated with data for all households, Complementary data modules contain detailed data that may including, among others: be relevant for specific programs according to their eligibility Individual ID and biographics (names, sex, date of birth, etc.) of criteria, but not for others, including, among others: individuals Access to services such as health or education Household ID, household composition and location Labor market situation The minimum set of attributes required for a basic welfare Disability assessment relevant to the social registry policy objectives, Exposure to climate shocks or conflict such as consumption. Productive assets Other household or individual attributes Source: Adapted from Alberro and Geschwind 2025 SASPP Policy Note Series 12 March 2025 BOX 1: Modular Data Collection in Mauritania In 2023, Mauritania began updating and expanding its social registry by optimizing the intake and registration process using a modular data collection approach. The first stage involves administering a core questionnaire with 25 questions to all households in a commune, ensuring universal coverage. The data collected is then used to calculate a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) score, reflecting household wealth based on factors like housing conditions, assets, and livestock. These scores create a commune-level ranking, enabling quota distribution based on actual poverty levels according to the latest poverty maps. The second stage targets the poorest and most vulnerable households. The bottom 40 percent of households, based on PCA score rankings, are preselected for a complementary questionnaire. This list of households is validated by the community representatives, which can add or substitute households. A comprehensive questionnaire with 110 questions is then administered to the final list, gathering detailed socio-demographic, asset, economic activity, and housing information. This modular approach ensures inclusiveness and cost-effectiveness by focusing detailed data collection on a subset of households. The PCA score and community validation enhance accurate targeting of social protection programs, making the system more efficient, flexible, and responsive to changing needs. Source: Geschwind forthcoming. HOW CAN SYSTEMATIC CROSS-COUNTRY country participation in regular fora for South-South technical LEARNING SUPPORT DYNAMIC SOCIAL exchange - within the region as well as with countries outside the REGISTRIES IN THE SAHEL? region that have successfully innovated their social registries - will be crucial to identifying workable solutions and policies to strategic Establishing, strengthening, and expanding dynamic social and operational challenges for national dynamic social registries. registries in the Sahel can be accelerated through systematic No matter the level of development of the registry, whether for cross-country learning and cooperation. Robust peer-to-peer countries where social registries are nascent, or those where technical exchange can increase national capacity to design and established registries are transitioning toward more dynamic implement dynamic social registries that support responsive, intake and updatability, technical exchange will be essential targeted, cost-effective, and inclusive adaptive social protection during critical phases of piloting, inception, or expansion, to ensure programs. Strengthening knowledge exchange platforms and evaluation, learning, adaptation, and sustainability. CONCLUSION Moving forward, the design and implementation of dynamic social registries will require careful consideration to balance the need for timely and high-quality data with comprehensive population coverage. It will be essential to understand the trade-offs between the costs of implementing dynamic social registries and the consequences for human capital and resilience if poor and vulnerable households are not adequately supported, including in times of shock. For dynamic social registries to capture quickly changing household welfare conditions and facilitate rapid program expansion in shock-prone contexts will require establishing a permanent interface, integrating both direct and indirect data, and adopting modular questionnaires. Additionally, it will also be essential to identify opportunities for increasing the interoperability of dynamic social registries with other government systems and data sources to update and cross-reference data. Addressing the growing challenges in the Sahel presents an opportunity for social protection systems to do things differently. Making social registries dynamic is a crucial step toward building effective and efficient adaptive social protection programs that are inclusive of those who most need support, when they need it. SASPP Policy Note Series 13 March 2025 REFERENCES Ahmed, S, R Chirchir, and B Gelders. 2021. “Enhancing the Effectiveness of Social Protection Spending through Improved Social Registry-Based Targeting.” Policy Research Institute (PRI) of Bangladesh. Aiken, Emily, Tim Ohlenburg, and Joshua Blumenstock. 2023. “Moving targets: When does a poverty prediction model need to be updated?” ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS ‘23). Encinas, Luis Iñaki Alberro, and Sebastian Geschwind. 2025. “Dynamic Social Registries for Adaptive Social Protection.” Washington DC: World Bank. Barca, Valentina, Corinna Kreidler, Sebastian Silva-Leander, Saidou Ouedraogo, Lavinia Blundo, Rodolfo Beazley and Ana Ocampo. 2023. “The challenge of coordination and inclusion: use of social registries and broader social protection information systems for capturing multiple vulnerabilities in West Africa”. UNICEF & WFP. Barca, V, and M Hebbar. 2020. “On-Demand and Up-To-Date? Dynamic Inclusion and Data Updating for Social Assistance.” Social Protection. GIZ. Bowen, Thomas, Carlo Del Ninno, Colin Andrews, Sarah Coll-Black, Ugo Gentilini, Kelly Johnson, Yasuhiro Kawasoe, Adea Kryeziu, Barry Maher, and Asha Williams. 2020. “Adaptive Social Protection: Building Resilience to Shocks.” Washington, DC: World Bank. República de Colombia, Consejo Nacional de Política Económica y Social. 2016. Declaración de Importancia Estratégica del Sistema de Identificación de Potenciales Beneficiarios (SISBEN IV), República de Colombia. Dang, Hai-Anh H., and Andrew L. Dabalen. 2018. “Is Poverty in Africa Mostly Chronic or Transient? Evidence from Synthetic Panel Data.” The Journal of Development Studies 55 (7): 1527–47. Fan, Wenfei, Floris Geerts, and Jef Wijsen. 2012. “Determining the Currency of Data.” ACM Transactions on Database Systems 37 (4): 1–46. Geschwind, Sebastian. Forthcoming. “Balancing Inclusiveness, Quality, and Costs: The Innovative Modular Intake and Registration Strategy of Mauritania’s Social Registry.” Washington, DC: World Bank. Guven, Melis, Himanshi Jain, and Clement Joubert. 2021. “Social Protection for the Informal Economy: Operational Lessons for Developing Countries in Africa and Beyond.” Washington, DC: World Bank. Karippacheril, Tina George, Luis Inaki Alberro Encinas, Ana Lucia Cardenas, Martinez, Conrad Daly, and Satyajit Suri. 2024. “Playbook on Digital Social Protection Delivery Systems: Towards Dynamic Inclusion and Interoperability.” Washington DC.: World Bank Lindert, Kathy, Tina Karippacheril, Inés Rodriguez Caillava, and Kenichi Nishikawa Chavez. n.d. 2020 “Sourcebook on the Foundations of Social Protection Delivery Systems.” Washington, DC: World Bank. Mukherjee, Anit Nath, Laura Ximena Bermeo Rojas, Yuko Okamura, Jimmy Vulembera Muhindo, and Paul G. A. Bance. 2023. Digital- first Approach to Emergency Cash Transfers: STEP-KIN in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Washington, DC: World Bank. SASPP Policy Note Series 14 March 2025 ENDNOTES 1 Bowen et al. 2020 2 Lindert et al. 2020 3 Alberro and Geschwind 2025 4 Karippacheril et al. 2024 5 For an overview of emerging trends with regards to the development of social registries in West Africa, see Barca et al. (2023). 6 In Colombia, between the 2011 and 2015 survey cycles of its social registry (SISBEN), the wellbeing of 65 percent of households improved sufficiently to be reclassified as non-poor, while 17 percent of households fell into poverty (República de Colombia, 2016) 7 Dang and Dabalen 2018 8 Fan, Geerts and Wijsen 2012 9 Ahmed, Chirchir and Gelders 2021 10 Aiken, Ohlenburg and Blumenstock 2023 11 Lindert et al. 2020 12 Barca and Hebbar 2020 13 SMS (Short Message Service) allows the sending and receiving of short text messages between mobile devices. IVR (Interactive Voice Response) enables automated interaction with a telephone system through voice commands or keypad inputs. 14 Mukherjee et al. 2024 15 The “busca ativa” or active search process in Brazil’s Cadastro Único proactively identifies and registers extremely poor and vulnerable households through territorial outreach, mobile brigades and home visits and partnerships with local organizations. https://www.gov. br/mds/pt-br/noticias-e-conteudos/desenvolvimento-social/noticias-desenvolvimento-social/busca-ativa-garante-a-entrada-de-mais- de-3-21-milhoes-de-domicilios-no-bolsa-familia 16 The CRAS (Centros de Referência de Assistência Social) Social Assistance Reference Centers in Brazil are integral to the Cadastro Único. The C. RAS centers play a crucial role in registering households into the Cadastro Único, updating their data every two years, and ensuring they receive the social services and benefits such as Bolsa Familia. 17 Ortakaya, et al., 2023 18 CDRs provide metadata about phone use, including date, time and duration of calls, type of call (national, international), call cost, volume of mobile data usage and mobile money transactions, among others. 19 Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) refers to the digital platforms, including the institutional and legal frameworks around them, that enable the provision of essential society-wide functions and services. This typically includes systems for identification and authentication, data exchange, and payments. 20 For a comprehensive review of household and individual-level attributes that can be collected by social registries see Table 4.1 of the Sourcebook on the Foundations of Social Protection Delivery Systems, World Bank, 2020 21 https://www.superate.gob.do/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Guia-Tecnica-Bono-de-Emergencia-6.pdf SASPP Policy Note Series 15 March 2025 © 2025 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. 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