Social Protection for the Poor in Asia Can be Affordable and Deliver Big Gains | Asian Development Bank

Social Protection for the Poor in Asia Can be Affordable and Deliver Big Gains | Asian Development Bank: "Recent economic and financial crises, food and fuel emergencies, and the rapidly increasing frequency of natural disasters have starkly exposed the inadequacy of the region’s national social protection systems to guarantee a minimum level of subsistence and meet people’s basic needs.

The evaluation study—Asian Development Bank: Social Protection Strategy—finds convincing evidence that social protection programs, and especially well-designed safety nets that transfer resources to the poor, can reduce the depth and severity of poverty and inequality.

“Governments around the world tend to scramble to adopt social protection programs in times of crisis,” says the Director General of Independent Evaluation Vinod Thomas. “But comprehensive systems built in stable years are much more effective in coping with the human impact of future economic or political crises or natural disasters.”"

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