Putting Child-Sensitive Social Protection Programmes into Practice: Experiences from South Asia

In light of the positive effects that social protection can bring about in addressing deprivation among children, Save the Children developed a South Asia Child Sensitive Social Protection (CSSP) Initiative in 2010 in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The aim of the initiative is to reduce child vulnerability and poverty by ensuring that social protection measures lead to meaningful investment in children’s welfare and wellbeing. CSSP is based on the understanding that social protection is essential to address child poverty and deprivation stemming from household shock, stress, chronic poverty, and insensitivity towards children. Results and findings from the initiative to date indicate that many of the vulnerabilities faced by poor children can be reduced by improving access to, and deliver of, social protection programmes for children and their households, while simultaneously working to foster enhanced sensitivity towards the needs and rights of children among parents and other adults responsible for the wellbeing of children.