{"id":1300,"date":"2024-11-18T09:19:37","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T09:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liberiasp.gov.lr\/?p=1300"},"modified":"2024-11-18T09:21:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T09:21:17","slug":"world-makes-efforts-to-reach-500-million-people-with-cash-transfers-in-lower-countries-by-2030","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.liberiasp.gov.lr\/?p=1300","title":{"rendered":"World Makes Efforts to reach 500 million people with Cash Transfers in low income countries by 2030"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rio de Janeiro, November 15, 2024. As part of a concerted push towards the fight against
poverty and hunger, a group of governments, multilateral development banks, and UN agencies
are announcing expanded efforts and increased cooperation with a view to reach 500 million
people with the expansion of cash transfer programmes in low and lower middle-income countries
by 2030, while working to increase their quality and effectiveness in reducing hunger and poverty;
fully embed them in national registries and social protection systems, and prioritize families in
extreme poverty, women, children, people with disabilities, and marginalized groups. This initial
group of dedicated countries and organisations is paving the way, inviting others to join the efforts
in the months ahead.
The governments of Benin, Burundi, Chad, Chile, Ecuador, Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, Oman,
Palestine, Peru, Togo, Tunisia and Zambia are leading the push in the first tranche of governments
making such commitments, announcing plans to either create or improve national registries of
beneficiaries and payment systems, as a key part of the social protection infrastructure behind
successful cash transfer implementation and\/or extend their programmes to additional
beneficiaries. A complete list of announcements is found at the end of this piece.
At the same time, the governments of Portugal and the UK are enhancing collaboration with public
organizations FAO, the IADB, ILO, UNICEF, WFP and the World Bank, as well as the non-profit
GiveDirectly, under the new Global Alliance, to scale up and systematize financial and knowledge
support to low and lower-middle income countries which would commit to implement, improve or
expand such programmes nationally.
The push on social protection benefits in the form of cash transfers is directly linked to the launch
of a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, due on November 18 at the G20 Leaders\u2019
Summit \u2013 an initiative launched by the G20 under Brazilian presidency which focuses on
supporting the adoption of national evidence-based policies and programmes directed at reducing
hunger and poverty. The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty\u00b4s Support Mechanism will
assist in the follow-up of the announced commitments and in the coordination efforts.
The case for action. Cash transfers are critical in themselves for ending poverty and hunger and
are also a critical building block of social protection and enabling other transformative impacts
through linking with both social services and economic empowerment programmes.
\u201cA well implemented cash transfer programme can bring families out of poverty. It can also improve
nutrition, education and health outcomes, while promoting climate resilience, economic inclusion,
gender equality and helping to guard against gender-based violence and child-labour. Eradicating
child poverty is possible and within reach, with effective policy solutions, says UNICEF\u2019s Regional
Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Karin Hulshof. \u201cUNICEF is therefore working with
government and development partners in all contexts \u2013 including fragile and humanitarian, to
reach 1 billion children with cash benefits by 2030\u201d.
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Togo\u00b4s experience shows the impact of such programmes. \u201cTogo\u00b4s fully digital \u201cNovissi\u201d
cash transfer programme implemented for the first time during COVID-19 has proven to
be a great success, demonstrating impact in reducing extreme poverty and benefitting the
economy\u201d, said Cina Lawson, Togo\u00b4s Minister of Digital Economy and Transformation.
With support from the World Bank\u00b4s IDA, we are doubling down on it with a new
programme to reach every qualified household and lift 1,24 million people out of poverty
by 2029\u201d.
Despite an abundance of success stories from the past two decades, low-income and
lower-middle-income countries \u2014 in which poverty is mostly concentrated \u2014 still struggle
to extend social protection to those most in need, especially due to limited fiscal space, debt and
institutional capacity regarding human resources and existing infrastructure. Recent ILO data
shows that only 32.4 per cent of the population of lower-middle-income countries are covered by
at least one social protection benefit, and just 9.7 per cent of the population in low-income
countries.
Alignment of finance and knowledge for greater impact. Under the current push, initial
technical support to countries is to be mustered from different providers, which could be used to
prepare and mobilize larger lending operations through multilateral development banks (MDBs)
and seek access to concessional funds for these operations. Part of the effort will consist of the
exploring a virtual pooling facility which could combine financial contributions from several funds
and sources to reduce transaction costs and help implementing governments kick-start larger\u0002scale social protection benefits.
A better aligned support will enable countries to implement social protection strategies for poor
and vulnerable households, institute and operate the necessary tools, such as national registers
and digital payment systems, and shore up domestic resource mobilization to ultimately build
sustainable and adaptive large-scale cash transfer programmes. Technical and knowledge
support from development agencies, the MDBs, UNICEF, FAO, ILO, and WFP, notably, is also
core to this concerted push\u2019s ambitions, providing direct support to programmes\u2019 designs, capacity
strengthening and general institutional support to low- and middle-income countries.
The UK\u2019s Development Minister Anneliese Dodds said: \u201cPioneering cash transfer programmes,
such as Brazil\u2019s Bolsa Fam\u00edlia and Mexico\u2019s Oportunidades have shown what is possible when
much-needed funds are channelled towards the world\u2019s most vulnerable people. For the first time,
a wide coalition of countries, donors and knowledge organisations is making a concerted effort to
go even further. This will support the growth of cash transfer programmes around the world, saving
and changing lives.\u201d
Akihiko Nishio, World Bank\u00b4s Vice President for Development Finance and Director of the
International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group\u2019s concessional lending arm
for lower income countries, said: “The World Bank has fully signed up to be a partner of the Global
Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty \u2013 and it will support that ambition through the IDA 21. The
Bank will work with governments and partners to accelerate progress towards the eradication of
poverty and zero hunger. Working through a fully replenished IDA, the World Bank will work to
extend social protection to 500 million people by 2030, including millions of households living
though extreme poverty and undernutrition and which could be reached through cash transfers”.
\u201cBasic income security and access to health care without hardship are human rights but also
social, economic and political necessities to support people across their life course, especially in
the difficult times of multiple crises we are facing in today\u2019s world. Cash benefits that ensure
income security for children, active age and older people are a key component of a social
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protection floor that all members of society should be able to stand on\u201d affirms Gilbert
Houngbo, Director General of the International Labour Organisation. \u201cThe ILO supports
countries to build their national social protection systems, prioritizing floors, in particular
through technical advisory services but also through capacity building that enable
governments to ensure sound governance, administration and financial management in
their strive for reaching universal social protection.”
Early action on many fronts. Today’s commitments form part of a series of “2030
Sprints”, a concentrated effort pushed by the Brazilian G20 Presidency to motivate early
action and improved alignment from committed partners in the three pillars of the Global
Alliance (national, knowledge, finance) for six high-priority areas of its evidence-based “policy
basket”, including school meals, cash transfers, socioeconomic inclusion programs, maternal and
early childhood interventions and water access for vulnerable communities. The Global Alliance
Against Hunger and Poverty’s Support Mechanism will help following up on today\u2019s commitments
and support further joint efforts. \u2013 Read More on the broader 2030 Sprints Announcements here.
“The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is demonstrating its capacity for early action and
concrete results even before its formal launch, by bringing together political will from governments
and consistent support from finance and knowledge organizations”, says Wellington Dias, Minister
of Social Development and Assistance, Family, and Fight Against Hunger of Brazil. Dias is one of
the coordinators of the G20 Task Force which, under the Brazilian Presidency, helped design and
implement the Global Alliance. “But this is just the beginning. More governments and partners are
welcome to join in this effort in the months to come, as we need more scale and reach to fulfill our
vision. This is a sprint, but we are here for the long run”.
The 2030 Sprint for Cash Transfers is being announced as part of the 2030 Sprints
Announcements for the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, held today, November 15,
from 2 to 7pm at the auditorium in the Kobra Space in the G20 Social Summit in Rio, Plaza Mau\u00e1.
The event is open to the press and a live transmission link can be found here:
https:\/\/youtube.com\/live\/9jCw1ESr4b8?feature=share
SPECIFIC ANNOUNCEMENTS AND QUOTES BY 2030 SPRINT PARTICIPANTS
In addition to the above announcements, participants under the 2030 Sprint are today announcing
the following actions to expand coverage of cash transfer programmes in low and lower middle\u0002income countries, while working to increase their quality and targeting; fully embed them in
national registries and social protection systems, and prioritizing families in extreme poverty,
women, children, people with disabilities, and marginalized groups:
Countries announced specific national ambitions regarding implementation and
development of cash transfer programmes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n