World Bank [to 3 May 2014]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all

Extending Protection to the Poor Where the Needs are Greatest
Challenge The 2008-11 global economic crisis highlighted the importance of good social safety nets for reducing poverty and vulnerability. Countries with effective safety net programs used them to respond to the crises and disasters, while countries without such programs had to rely on ad hoc and less effective responses. Yet it is precisely in the poorest countries where the gap in the provision of SSNs is largest. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, four out of five poor families have no access to any safety nets program. However, it takes time and political will to build good safety nets. Crises or post-disaster situations are worst times to develop new safety nets. Effective and cost-effective programs need a process of refining and fine-turning systems and capacity. For countries that already have some programs in place the challenge is to overcome fragmentation, to integrate individual programs into coordinated, national systems. It is important to hold safety nets to high standard…