“IFPRI Egypt Webinars” is a special edition of the IFPRI Egypt Seminar Series funded by USAID. This webinar took place under the title of “COVID-19 and social protection: from effective crisis protection to self-reliance”

1. Social Safety Nets in the
Global Response to COVID-19
Daniel O. Gilligan
Deputy Director, Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division
International Food Policy Research Institute
Washington, D.C. | September 22, 2020

2. Governments have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic
with a surge in social safety net programs
Ugo Gentilini et al. found 1179
new safety net initiatives in
>200 countries
In 119 countries, nearly US$
800 billion is being spent on
safety net measures for
COVID-19
Source: Gentilini et al. Sep 18, 2020

3. Why use social safety nets to respond to this global
health crisis?
 Health effects of the pandemic are widespread, but negative economic
effects are broader
 The poor are especially vulnerable
o more frequent pre-existing health concerns
o more informal sector and service jobs
o less able to forgo work, may do riskier work
 The infrastructure of social assistance is often already in place
 Research shows that this works: a meta-analysis showed that safety
nets increase food security, assets and savings (Hidrobo et al. 2018)
Credit: Laura Zimmerman

4. How should safety nets be designed to respond to COVID-19?
1. Adapt delivery methods when transfer programs are interrupted by COVID-19
2. Eliminate conditions on assistance (e.g., school attendance) temporarily
3. Strengthen and expand targeting
4. The form of assistance matters (food/cash), but fast delivery is more important
5. Respond to the crisis with the future in mind: make approach nutrition- and
gender-sensitive; be mindful of graduation; expand mobile payments
6. Strengthen fiscal support for the social assistance response
See Gilligan, Daniel O. June 2020. “Social safety nets are crucial to the COVID-19 response. Some lessons to boost their effectiveness.” IFPRI blog.

5. Evidence from Egypt’s Takaful and Karama Program
 The Takaful program increased monthly household expenditure by
7.3% and food expenditure by 8.3%
 Suggests that Takaful and Karama can be effective at helping
vulnerable households avoid the worst economic effects of COVID-19

6. Thank you
d.gilligan@cgiar.org