Neil Palmer (CIAT) 2010

Progress in Social Protection: Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa

Despite some progress, social protection policies and programmes have struggled to take hold throughout sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Only 12.9% of the region’s total population is currently covered by at least one social protection benefit (World Social, 2017).

Social protection and a resilient future for Sub-Saharan Africa

Countries in Africa have the lowest coverage of social protection and adequate health care despite having an enormous need for such programs and policies (ILO, 2019). The availability of social protection services is mostly limited to workers and their families in the formal sector. Nonetheless, 85.8% of employment is informal, leaving communities, often concentrated in rural areas, vulnerable to economic and political shocks and other crises (Beri, 2018).