ec.europa.eu (26.10.2020)

As part of Team Europe's response to COVID-19 in Malawi, the European Union has allocated €39 million to mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding will address the increasing needs of vulnerable parts of the population in the field of nutrition and social protection, including pregnant women and children.

liberianobserver.com (28.01.2021)

The Government through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) will begin cash transfer pilot Project to fifteen thousand households in rural Montserrado County. The total amount to be distributed according to the government is US$3.4 million. This initiative is led by the Ministry’s Social Cash Transfer (SCT) Program under the Liberia Social Safety Nets Project sponsored by Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the World Bank.

nation.africa (02.11.2020)

The National Gender and Equality Commission is rooting for stakeholders to address the multiple challenges rural women are facing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Each beneficiary of Inua Jamii program receives Sh2,000 stipend per month, which NGEC wants extended to rural women. 

the-star.co.ke (04.11.2020)

Some 24,000 vulnerable families in Mombasa will each get Sh4,000 monthly stipend enough to cover half of the monthly food and nutrition needs for a family of four under a new partnership between the national government and the World Food Programme. The cash-based support arrangement targets families in informal urban settlements that have lost income due to Covid-19.  The cash and additional nutrition support for women and children will be provided for three months.

devdiscourse.com (23.03.2021)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $73 million loan to improve social welfare support for the poor and vulnerable, especially women and children, to mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Mongolia.

DAWN.COM (22.03.2021) Many countries including Pakistan are actively engaged in developing a new set of social policies and widening the social safety net not only to help calamity-hit poor but also those vulnerable to technology disruptions in a post-covid-19 world

This report comparatively reviews the national social security measures in response to COVID-19 crisis, analyse their effectiveness and long-term consequences, and discuss future challenges in improving the social security system. The report covers seven countries in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine.

Official Gazette Jordan (16.04.2020) The Tadamun (Solidarity in Arabic) I and II programs is a work suspension allowance targeted to both work institutions covered under social security (Tadamun I) and for those excluded from it (Tadamun II). Tadamun I applies to employers that have contributed for at least 12 months to the Social Security Corporation (SSC). Employees are entitled to 50% of their deductible monthly salaries between JDs 165 and JDs 500 (for lower salaries, the SSC will pay the difference up to the lowest amount). Employers will contribute with 20% of the employees' salaries up to a contribution of JDs 250.  For the Tadamun II program, employers can enroll their employees for work suspension insurance from May 202o to December 2020. A pre-condition is that all employers and employees enroll to all other available social insurance schemes by January 2021. The monthly benefit amount is JDs 150, of which JDs 100 are covered by SSC, and JDs 50 by the employer.

Reuters (11.03.2021) - Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved the basic text of a bill on Thursday that revives a federal cash transfer program to help millions of poor families whose incomes have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure will allow emergency stipends totaling up to 44 billion reais ($7.96 billion) to be paid to low-income Brazilians over the next four months, with recipients expected to get an average of 250 reais per month.

Voice of America (09.03.2021) Gyeonggi Province has  sent cash to all its residents during the coronavirus pandemic — on top of the stimulus payments the central government has given South Koreans.  

 Asian Development Bank  (March 2021) Digitalization has gained more prominence amid COVID-19 and has highlighted the value of big data for public sector management. The brief explains the potential benefits of big data for public services such as health, social protection, and education and how this can contribute to the post-pandemic recovery. It also assesses the key enablers and policy actions needed to realize big data benefits in the region. 

etui (March 2021) The purpose of the present study is to map key social protection measures taken during the pandemic from the perspective of fragmentation of labour market statuses, notably by focusing on non-standard workers and the self-employed as well as taking into account the gender dimension of these social protection measures. The analysis focuses on the 27 EU Member States, covering the period of the first wave of the pandemic: from the beginning of the lockdown measures (for most countries at the beginning of March 2020) until 31 December 2020.

Ministry of Economy and Finances (02.03.2021) The payment of this Bond began on December 1, 2020 and lasted until March 1, 2021. This measure consists of the single payment of Bs1,000.- and benefited people who did not receive a salary remuneration from the public sector or private until September 2020, this aid was also delivered to people over 18 years old on September 16, 2020 and under 60 years old on March 1, 2021.

assembleenationale.bf  (28.02.2021)

On Thursday 28 January 2021, the Coronathon offered medical consumables worth nearly 45 million CFA francs to the Centre for Operations of Response to Health Emergencies (CORUS). This donation is part of the fight against Covid-19 in view of the resurgence of the disease in Burkina.

Government of Mexico (27.02.2021) The advance payment as part of the "Bienestar" (Well-being in English) of the March-April and May-June two-month periods will be delivered to more than nine million elderly people, people with permanent disabilities, as well as girls, boys, children of working mothers, for a global amount of 49 thousand 500 million pesos. In addition, the benefits increased to 2,700 pesos this year.

gouv.bj (21.01.2021)

The European Union allocates 30.5 billion CFA francs to Benin. This is in the framework of the mitigation of the consequences of the Coronavirus. These funds will support the government's efforts to respond to the health and socio-economic consequences of Covid-19. The government will not only be able to support the most vulnerable sectors of the population during this period of the pandemic, but also to maintain its macroeconomic stability.

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Japan (08.03.2021) The exceptional treatment of Employment Adjustment Subsidy is extended until 30 April 2021. The subsidy scheme covers part of leave allowances companies pay to furloughed workers. Typically up to two-thirds of the allowances were covered by the program, with the upper limit set at ¥8,370 per day per employee. But under special measures introduced in response to the COVID-19 crisis up to the full amount is covered, with the daily cap set at ¥15,000. The subsidy scheme will be brought back to normal in stages, depending on how the situation continues to develop.

Development Pathways (11.03.2021) As part of recent COVID-19-related legislation, the US Government has committed to provide a quasi-universal child benefit (an affluence-tested “qUCB”) – a monthly child cash benefit where, like in Iceland, only the very wealthiest families will not receive the full amount. This child benefit – which transforms the existing Child Tax Credit (CTC) to pay up to USD 300 per month per child under 6, and USD 250 per child aged 6 to 17 – is likely to have a positive impact far beyond the family budget.

Buying insurance through the government program known as COBRA would temporarily become a lot cheaper. COBRA, for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, generally lets someone who loses a job buy coverage via the former employer. But it’s expensive: Under normal circumstances, a person may have to pay at least 102 percent of the cost of the premium. Under the relief bill, the government would pay the entire COBRA premium from April 1 through Sept. 30. A person who qualified for new, employer-based health insurance someplace else before Sept. 30 would lose eligibility for the no-cost coverage. And someone who left a job voluntarily would not be eligible, either.

AFP (11.03.2021)  With the massive $1.9 trillion US stimulus plan approved by Congress on Wednesday, President Joe Biden is marking a dramatic shift in US social policy, with the goal of cutting child poverty in half. "The American Rescue Plan represents a powerful change in social policy in the United States," said Olivia Golden, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy. After the economy sustained deep damage from the Covid-19 pandemic, the rescue package aims to boost US growth this year, with some economists predicting an expansion of as much as seven percent.

US Stimulus Bill:  The stimulus payments would be $1,400 for most recipients. Those who are eligible would also receive an identical payment for each of their children. To qualify for the full $1,400, a single person would need an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or below. For heads of household, adjusted gross income would need to be $112,500 or below, and for married couples filing jointly that number would need to be $150,000 or below.

The Washington Post (10.03.2021) President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which the House passed Wednesday and Biden is expected to sign this week, is mammoth in scope — a number so large it can be hard to conceptualize in concrete terms. But amid a pandemic that has wrought severe economic damage around the world, many governments have made dramatic spending pledges.

reuters.com (09.03.2021) From Australia to Egypt, migrants and refugees have been especially hard hit by job losses and economic pain during the coronavirus pandemic, with many struggling to access healthcare and state aid, a survey showed on Tuesday. The survey, published in a report by the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) Global Migration Lab

reliefweb.int (2020)

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a $40 million International Development Association (IDA*) grant for the benefit of the people of South Sudan. The South Sudan Safety Net Project (SSSNP) will expand access to safety net and provide income security for low income South Sudanese, while strengthening delivery tools and local level capacities. Nearly 430,000 people will receive cash transfers in 10 counties across South Sudan, including Juba. Specifically, the project will provide cash transfers to the poorest and most vulnerable people for working on public works projects. It will also provide direct grants to those who are unable to work, including people with disabilities, the elderly and pregnant or breastfeeding women, among others, Total budge allocate is US$40 millions.

africanews.com (25.02.2021)

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has extended an Official Development Assistance loan of up to 30 billion Japanese yen ($289 million) to support Mauritius’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild its economy. The loan, signed on 24 February, is a parallel co-financing agreement between JICA and the African Development Bank under the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa (EPSA) joint initiative to spur private sector-led sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa. The co-financing arrangement will help the Mauritius government contain the pandemic, secure livelihoods, and boost the resilience of the economy.