Social Protection & Poverty Reduction Consulting
The social protection sector, although still very much at its infancy, is fraught with many challenges in Nigeria. More broadly, there is absence of an overarching strategy informing the design and implementation of existing programmes. This is worsened by the inability of decision makers to garner adequate political traction to effectively push the social protection agenda. In addition, programmes are faced with design and implementation issues (largely ad- hoc, fragmented and haphazard), resulting in poor service delivery, limitations in available instruments, low coverage, weak to non-existent monitoring and evaluation and a host of other inefficiencies. Summarily, there is a general lack of strategic direction and clear framework of action, coupled with incoherent and weak institutional coordination by various actors and programmes.
The result? More people being escorted into poverty and desperation, despite huge investment of resources by all actors.
Implementation of programmes although well-intentioned, will fail to achieve large scale sustainable impact if concerted effort towards more strategic thinking and planning, rigorous and context appropriate design and implementation, continuous monitoring and evaluation and broader systems and institutional reforms are not vigorously pursued by all actors.
SEISMIC provides support to decision makers and development partners working in the social protection sector. Specific areas of support include:
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Tailored programmes to build the knowledge & capabilities of decision makers and implementers
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Development of social protection strategy & framework
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Design, implementation & evaluation of vulnerable group programmes
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Pension reforms and advisory
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Design, deployment & evaluation of social safety nets and other pro-poor programmes
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Social protection strategy paper
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Poverty reduction strategy paper
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Child protection