Working and discussion papersNovember 2019Rebecca Holmes, Nicola Jones and Pilar DomingoAn information fair in Shihore, Gujarat, bringing together local women and their elected leaders. Photo: UN Women/Gaganjit SinghThe past decade has seen progress in advancing gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment through social protection. However, significant challenges persist. Coverage gaps for women of working age, and for children and adolescents, remain high. Addressing gender inequality is often seen as synonymous to targeting women as a vulnerable group, or in their role as mothers or caregivers. And while social protection programmes could be transformational and contribute to women’s and girls’ empowerment, they rarely explicitly aim to do so.This paper moves beyond discussions around technical policy design and implementation features to understand the political economy factors that either support or hinder a gendered approach, and to identify entry points for action. It explores the factors that affect decisions around resource allocation, legal change and policy formulation using Rosendorff’s ‘three Is’: the institutions (formal and informal), the interests of key actors, and the ideas framing social protection strategies and programmes.We find that progress in advancing gender-responsive social protection is more likely where:there is a combination of pro-poor and inclusive national government institutions and influential political elites championing gender-responsive social protectionadvocates influence informal decision-making arenas and sub-national political institutionsthere is a broad coalition of skilled and resourced actorsthe framing of social protection goes beyond seeing women as mothers and carers and instead as recipients of social protection in their own right.Read the research The politics of gender-responsive social protectionDocumentpdfInfographic: gender-responsive social protection systems Infographic: gender-responsive social protection systemsInfographic | September 2020Infographic highlighting how to build gender-responsive social protection systems. Find out moreRelated Linking social protection and water security to empower women and girlsWorking paper exploring key linkages between the social protection, water and gender sectors.Working and discussion papers27 November 2019Financing gender-responsive social protectionThis webinar explores the main challenges, opportunities and initiatives underway on financing gender-responsive social protection.Public event6 June 2019The politics of gender-responsive social protectionThis webinar explores the political economy drivers and barriers to promoting gender-responsive social protection.Public event7 March 2019See more:gendersocial protectionpolitical systemspoliticsgovernanceGlobal
Infographic: gender-responsive social protection systemsInfographic | September 2020Infographic highlighting how to build gender-responsive social protection systems. Find out more