ESCWA Publication: E/ESCWA/CL2.GPID/2022/INF.1
Country: Arab region
Publication Type: Information material
Cluster: Gender Justice, Population and Inclusive Development
Focus Area: Governance & enabling environment, Inclusive development
Initiatives: Reforming social protection systems
SDGs: Agenda 2030
Keywords: Social protection, Households, Poverty, Databases, Aid programmes, Social security, Quantitative criteria
Social Protection Programme Rapid Assessment Framework: Quantitative analysis for evidence-based social assistance policymaking
August 2022
Social assistance programmes targeting poverty provide cash transfers and other benefits to selected households, and usually manage vast databases containing information on programme beneficiaries and beneficiary candidates. These programmes can vary, but some questions are common to all of them.
The newly developed Social Protection Programme – Rapid Assessment Framework (SPP-RAF) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) addresses these questions, by applying publicly available statistical tools to the administrative records used by the social protection programmes. SPP-RAF consists of four analytical steps: (1) beneficiary profiling, (2) targeting characteristics evaluation, (3) coverage and enrolment evaluation and (4) beneficiary evaluation. The statistical techniques used to implement SPP-RAF are replicable (the results are independent of the individual calculating them), scalable (the same tools can be used even if the programme expands), standardized (the same analytical procedure can be applied to different programmes) and adaptable (as priorities of a programme evolve, the analytical tools reflect these changes and inform policymakers accordingly). By removing the need for beneficiary surveys, SPP-RAF enables low-cost regular assessments to inform policymakers of the key points affecting the effectiveness and efficiency of social assistance programmes.
Related content
Governance & enabling environment
, Inclusive development
,
Social assistance programmes targeting poverty provide cash transfers and other benefits to selected households, and usually manage vast databases containing information on programme beneficiaries and beneficiary candidates. These programmes can vary, but some questions are common to all of them.
The newly developed Social Protection Programme – Rapid Assessment Framework (SPP-RAF) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) addresses these questions, by applying publicly available statistical tools to the administrative records used by the social protection programmes. SPP-RAF consists of four analytical steps: (1) beneficiary profiling, (2) targeting characteristics evaluation, (3) coverage and enrolment evaluation and (4) beneficiary evaluation. The statistical techniques used to implement SPP-RAF are replicable (the results are independent of the individual calculating them), scalable (the same tools can be used even if the programme expands), standardized (the same analytical procedure can be applied to different programmes) and adaptable (as priorities of a programme evolve, the analytical tools reflect these changes and inform policymakers accordingly). By removing the need for beneficiary surveys, SPP-RAF enables low-cost regular assessments to inform policymakers of the key points affecting the effectiveness and efficiency of social assistance programmes.
