Bistandsaktuelt published an article on social protection in the form of cash payments to help prevent millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa from being thrown into extreme poverty because of the corona pandemic. Deputy Division Director (PHN) and Senior Research Fellow Dan Gilligan states, “We are holding our breath to see if it will really explode in a large number of countries in Africa.” Gilligan is an expert on cash benefit programs. He believes that social support measures have been important in dealing with the pandemic until now. Gilligan says that two decades of research on the effect of social support programs have shown that such programs give good results, also when it comes to helping people through crises and that social safety nets developed by African authorities over the past decade have been an effective way to raise money for vulnerable groups. (See book chapter, Social safety nets are crucial to the COVID-19 response: Some lessons to boost their effectiveness)
