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- Convenors:
-
Becky Carter
(Institute of Development Studies)
Paul Harvey (Humanitarian Outcomes)
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- Discussants:
-
Sarah Blin
(Partage ConsultingBASIC)
Vincent Van Halsema
Abeer Al-Absi (Independent Consultant)
Rachel Slater (University of Wolverhampton)
- Format:
- Roundtable
Short Abstract:
A roundtable discussion on the opportunities for smarter investment in frontline capacities for social protection in deepening crises, sharing experiences and evidence from aid practitioners and researchers working across the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus.
Long Abstract:
Recent reviews of how humanitarian actors are approaching commitments around localisation and how development actors are engaging with frontline capacities for delivering assistance suggest important skills are being neglected and sidelined. Research by the Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) research programme (led by IDS, funded by the UK’s FCDO) has found social workers – key actors in ensuring inclusive cash and food transfers – have been overlooked in international aid actors’ social assistance approaches in protracted crisis settings such as in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Due to the increased demands of delivering large cash transfer programmes, their role in supporting vulnerable families is being sidelined. Meanwhile research by WFP and UNICEF mapping social protection frontline workers in Sub-Saharan Africa highlights broader tensions arising from formalisation and institutionalisation of social protection cash transfer programmes using voluntary and informal community support structures. Without a more central role given to the social service workforce we may miss the mark of addressing the needs of those who are most at risk (persons with disabilities, chronic illness, gender diverse and older people).
This roundtable discussion would bring to bear practitioner experience and research evidence to illuminate the opportunities to invest in social workers, and the linkages between that workforce and inclusive and gender-responsive assistance. One of the themes to explore will be how support to social workers can navigate the uncertainty that arises from shocks, through adaptive development and humanitarian approaches that can flex to sustain capacities during pervasive crises.
Discussants in person and online.