A social protection response to COVID-19 in developing countries

This brief was published as part of the IGC’s ongoing response to the economic challenges of COVID-19.

• At the time of writing, there were over 2.5 million reported cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 170,000 deaths. Yet an accurate picture of the impact of the virus in the developing world is missing, particularly in relation to governments’ ability to cope with the economic challenges posed.
• This brief evaluates how developing country governments and international donors are responding to COVID-19 in relation to social protection policies aimed at supporting the poorest and most vulnerable.
• The brief also looks at a range of recent literature to understand how policy interventions such as food and cash transfers can effectively support citizens through this period.
• The author makes five recommendations for policymakers on designing and delivering social protection policies to deal with the impacts of COVID-19.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are those of the authors based on their experience and on prior research and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IGC.