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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how faith-based women's organizations and community watchdogs were leveraged in Nigeria’s RCCE project to deliver social protection during COVID-19. Lessons from these partnerships inform the design of gender-responsive systems for climate-related crises.

Paper long abstract:

Social protection systems are the key tools for addressing the disproportionate impact of crises on vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls, including climate-related disasters. This paper examines the UN Women-led Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) project in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic, consistent with the Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) framework. By combining unconditional cash transfers with risk communication strategies, the RCCE project provided critical safety nets to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic for at-risk women, adolescent girls, and vulnerable groups in regions also affected by climate-induced stressors such as flooding, land degradation, and human displacements

The study draws on KII, FGDs and document reviews to evaluate the RCCE’s implementation. The data captured insights from beneficiaries, faith-based leaders, and community stakeholders, highlighting the programme effectiveness and challenges. Central to the RCCE’s success was its innovative use of Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN), the Women’s Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Girls Guides, and Women Watch Groups (WWGs) as implementing partners. These grassroots partnerships enhanced distributional fairness, ensuring that resources reached the most vulnerable while fostering trust and community ownership.

The findings underscore the potential of localized, gender-responsive social protection mechanisms to address the intersection of climate change, poverty, and gender inequality. By prioritizing equity and leveraging community-driven implementation, social protection systems can foster resilience and promote fairness in climate mitigation policies. We call on policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to embrace gender-sensitive, locally adapted practices as core components of climate-responsive social protection frameworks.