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Addressing the Weak Link in COVID-19 Relief: How Improving Strategic Communications Can Boost the Impact of Social Protection Programs
In response to COVID-19, 212 countries have planned or implemented more than 1,100 social protection programs to help over 1.8 billion people. But as Arshi Aadil and Abhishek Jain at MicroSave (MSC) point out, many intended recipients don’t know about the benefits they're eligible for, or how to access these funds. They explore how governments and program administrators can improve their communication and outreach.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Impact Assessment
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Maintaining a Critical Link To Last-Mile Customers: Challenges and Opportunities Facing Financial Service Agents During COVID-19
Agents are a critical last-mile link to financial services for lower-income households and micro- and small enterprises. But as the COVID-19 crisis has spread globally, it has had a profound effect on how agents operate, introducing new restrictions – and new responsibilities. Nisha Singh and James Robinson at Itad explore the findings from a recent report that highlights key strategies for building and managing high-performing agent networks despite the challenges of the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Analysis: Building Back Better Means Designing Cash Transfers for Women’s Empowerment
Policymakers around the world are committed to building back better, and that starts by empowering women.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
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Analysis: Shielding the Poor From the COVID-19 Pandemic in India
India needs specific safety net schemes in the short term and agricultural interventions in the long term.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Why Mobile Money Growth Remains Stunted in Nigeria
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) published the Financial Inclusion Strategy (FIS) setting financial inclusion target of 80 percent realisation this year. Due to challenges within the system, the apex bank revised it last year to 95 percent by 2024. Mobile money, a veritable tool for achieving this ambitious goal, remains in the limbo because of certain factors.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Poverty Alleviation Efforts Are Shaping the Success of Environmental Targets
Social protection programs can facilitate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but can also create trade-offs across divergent social and environmental goals that can undermine their effectiveness, say the authors of new research published in the journal PNAS. This is one of the largest studies on the sustainability implications of social protection, funded by the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures at The University of Sheffield.
- Categories
- Environment
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Analysis: Why Cash Transfers Are an Efficient Method of Reducing Food Insecurity
With high levels of mobile phone and internet penetration, coupled with advanced digital technologies in the financial sector, Kenya has favourable conditions for cash transfers to the most vulnerable populations. However, corruption and lack of reliable data on beneficiaries can derail efforts to make all Kenyans food secure during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenya’s Mobile Money Use Surges on COVID-19 Prevention Measure
The use of mobile money in Kenya has surged to a new high boosted by one of the measures declared by the government in the war against COVID-19.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa