Social & Human Protection Programme

“NRSP aims to reach and serve the poorest and most vulnerable community members and to bring them into the mainstream of Rural Support Programme development.” NRSP is committed to advocacy and action focussed on the right to social protection, based on the assumption that the destitute and the vulnerable have the right to have their basic needs met; to be protected from hazardous working conditions, the right to a good education, the right to earn a decent living, the right to decent shelter and the right to protection from physical and economic exploitation and violence. If those needing social protection are children, they have the right to develop to their fullest potential, in preparation for lifelong well-being. These assumptions are in line with NRSP’s mandate, as articulated in the Articles of Association.

Social protection consists of policies, programmes and advocacy for the poorest and most vulnerable members of society; i.e. those requiring protection because they are unable to speak or act on their own behalf and those least likely to recover from social and economic shocks’. Loss of the major breadwinner, loss of a parent, single parent households, women headed households, a natural disaster and or the loss of livelihoods due to climatic and ecological factors and absence of any assistance, big family size slums dwellers, nomads, migrants (internal and external) these are the factors which result in the form of illiteracy, ignorance, drug addiction wide scale unemployment and violation of human rights with the child and women rights. Vulnerability affects everyone but is greater for the poor who face large risks from shocks to their income-earning capacity due to natural and man-made disasters, crime and violence, unemployment, old age, exclusion and discrimination, gender inequality. Poverty cannot be described it can only be felt. One knows more about poverty when he is hungry and cannot purchase food, he and his children want new clothes but they can’t purchase it because of low income, he’s sick and doesn’t have money to have medicine, he wants to send his children to school but can’t bear educational expenditures. etc. In short, the poor need to feel empowered with skills and voices to overcome their fear of isolation.” The ADB (2003) defines ADB as encompassing “labor markets, social insurance, social assistance, micro-insurance schemes, and child protection”.

Although social protection is congruent with NRSP’s mandate, it can be distinguished from a ‘development’ programme insofar as it (a) identifies and reaches only the poorest and most vulnerable and (b) does not require a financial contribution from the participant. This lack of requirement for a financial contribution does not preclude other kinds of contribution, such as, for example, voluntary contributions of time and knowledge. Nor does it preclude contributions some time after the recipient has been involved in a programme and is deemed to be able to contribute. Ideally, social protection in the context of development (as distinct from disaster or conflict situations) should enable some people (whether direct beneficiaries of a social protection programme or their family members) to eventually enter NRSP’s mainstream poverty reduction and development programme.

In defining eligibility for social protection at NRSP, the first principle is that of ‘no exclusion’. The only exception would be anyone engaged in practices that harm others. Indicators related to income and capacities in relation to economic will need to be developed. Anyone under 18 and over 65 would be eligible. Social protection must be understood as holistic and comprehensive. Social protection needs encompass a spectrum of possible interventions. The most vulnerable families typically have material, nutritional and social needs. Many have been stigmatized because of their poverty and dependence. Many will require systematic and fairly intensive guidance and support, if they are to become independent and to re-enter the socio-economic mainstream. NRSP’s social mobilization principle and practices will provide the best possible means of implementing a successful social protection programme.

Social protection needs are specific to stage in the life cycle. The needs of children are different from those of competent adults, and different again from those of the elderly who find themselves without caregivers. It will be necessary to ensure that dependence on safety nets is not permanent, for those able to ‘graduate’ from NRSP’s social protection programmes. For those who are able to graduate, benchmarks for the various ‘stages’ of participation (full support, economic interventions, training programmes, degrees of independence, etc.) will have to be established.

It is assumed that everyone in an extremely poor and vulnerable household will need some help. The family, then, should be treated as a unit, and the specific needs of its members be addressed.