Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the findings of a scoping study that aimed to explore evidence relating to reforms of social protection systems- social insurance (SI) and social assistance (SA) systems, particularly in terms of coverage of population and benefits adequacy in the post 2011 MENA region.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses the findings of a scoping study that aimed to explore evidence relating to reforms of social protection systems- social insurance (SI) and social assistance (SA) systems, particularly in terms of coverage of population and benefits adequacy in the post 2011 Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Social protection is considered as an important component of the social contract between states and their citizens to address the basic needs of the population in areas such as access to food, health, education and housing through subsidies, social insurance, price control and free provisioning across the MENA region. The purpose of this review is to determine what is known from the existing literature about how governments in the MENA region responded to political turmoil in 2011 in relation to the reforms of social protection systems. This scoping review follows the framework of Arksey and O'Malley, involving defining a research question, study identification and selection, charting, interpretation, summarizing, and reporting. The paper concludes by examining the implications of the scoping study for current public policies towards inequality and poverty.