Social Protection to reduce HIV Risks and Mitigate Impacts

Theme 2: AIDS, Community Resilience, and Social protection

RENEWAL 2009 Regional WorkshopMuldersdrift, South Africa, 4-5 April 2009

Main Projects

Economic Strengthening for Families affected by HIV and AIDS (with JLICA)

Effects of Cash Transfers and Community Mobilization on Vulnerability to HIV among young South African women (with RHRU)

What is JLICA?An independent, time-limited alliance of researchers,

policymakers, practitioners, community leaders, activists, and people living with HIV.

Dedicated to improving the wellbeing of children, families and communities affected by HIV and AIDS.

Just concluded two year programme of research and analysis conducted by four thematic Learning Groups.

Mobilised best available evidence to identify priority recommendations for policy and practice.

Generated 50+ systematic reviews and other research products: available at http://www.jlica.org.

JLICA/RENEWAL Report “What is the Potential of Cash Transfers to

Strengthen Families affected by HIV and AIDS? A review of the evidence on impacts and key policy debates” (Adato and Bassett 2008)

“Offers the most comprehensive treatment of the

topic in the literature and promises to advance relevant policy debates in a substantive manner” (JLICA Annual Report)

Developed conceptual framework for understanding the role of different approaches to social protection in the context of HIV/AIDS

JLICA/RENEWAL Report, cont.

Reviewed over 300 documents Included 20 cash transfer programs, 10 conditional in Latin

America and Asia; 10 unconditional in Southern and East Africa (all those with quantitative impact assessments)

Reviewed impacts on poverty, education, health and nutrition

Reviewed policy issues on cash transfers in the context of HIV and AIDS, including:• Targeting• Conditionality• Complementary activities and services including: health

and nutrition; ECD; livelihoods support; public works; microcredit; Education, Information and Communications; social welfare services, etc.

Lower capacities-----------------------------------------Higher capacitiesFaster to scale----------------------------------------------Slower to scaleLower inputs-----------------------------------------------Higher inputs

Secure basic consumption

Reduce fluctuations in consumption and avert asset reduction

Enable people to save, invest, and accumulate throughreduction in risk and income variation

Build, diversify, and enhance use of assets• Reduce access constraints• Directly provide orloan assets• Build linkages with institutions

• Food Transfers

• Public works• Insurance (e.g. health,

asset)• Livelihoods support• Savings and credit

• Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition• Child and adult education/skills• Early childhood development

Conditional food transfers

Transform institutions

and relationships• Economic• Political• Social

Protective Preventative Promotional Transformational

Conditional cash transfers

•Unconditional cash transfers

(Source: Adatoand Bassett 2008)

SOCIAL PROTECTION: OBJECTIVES AND INTERVENTIONS

Selected Findings Critical to rapidly scale-up social protection for families

affected by AIDS

Cash transfers are effective at protecting human capital and should be scaled up in heavily AIDS-affected countries

Heterogeneity of AIDS-affected families requires mix of social protection approaches

Cash transfers are easier to scale up quickly, and require less recipient capacity, than other interventions

Selected Findings Cash transfers should be implemented in conjunction with

non-mandatory complementary services appropriately tailored

Strengthen service supply and quality, and pilot conditionality

Gender dimensions need attention in program design

Targeting of families and children should focus on poverty, with an HIV and AIDS lens, not AIDS-affected or orphans exclusively

Influence on JLICA Policy Recommendations

RENEWAL/JLICA report provides basis of JLICA final report’s key recommendations on social protection and income transfers:

“Harness national social protection for vulnerable families as a critical lever to improve children’s outcomes in the context of HIV and AIDS”

“Use income transfers as a ”leading edge” intervention to rapidly improve outcomes for extremely vulnerable children and families”

(JLICA 2009: Home Truths: Facing the Facts on Children, AIDS, and Poverty)

Policy Outreach:Presentations of RENEWAL/JLICA

project results

OVC Working Group/USAID/PEPFAR meeting, Washington, DC, 2009

UNICEF, GTZ, JLICA, RIATT/CABA-WCAR-ILO Symposium Satellite session, ICASA, Dakar 2008

WFP Special Session on Nutrition and Food Security in HIV context, ICASA, Dakar 2008

Session on Children and AIDS, XVII IAC, Mexico City, 2008 WFP/FAO/RENEWAL Satellite session on Food Security,

Livelihoods and HIV, at the XVII IAC, Mexico City, 2008 International Children & HIV/AIDS Symposium, Mexico City

Presentation of results, cont.:

African Union Regional Experts Meetings on Social Protection, Kampala, Cairo, Dakar.

National Institute of Mental Health meeting on Children Rendered Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, NIMH, Rockville, MD.

International Symposium: Meeting Children’s Needs in a World with HIV/AIDS, Harvard University, Boston

USAID Seminar, Washington, DC, 2007 Keynote presentation at the DFID/JLICA/IATT meeting on

Cash Transfer Programmes and Children Affected by HIV and AIDS, London, 2007

Several publications underway