Redistributive Social Protection. Mapping Study

Over the past decade, social protection has come to feature more and more prominently on international and national development agendas. One key challenge that the quest for social protection currently faces, is the domestic resource mobilization to finance social protection. This paper intends to contribute to addressing this challenge by exploring the different dimensions of redistributive social protection and by analyzing how donors are currently engaging with this issue. Recognizing that social protection, as an instrument for redistributing wealth, comprises of 3 different dimensions - a socio-political, a financial and a technical dimension - the paper analyses different determinants for the redistributive nature of a social protection system. An analysis of different financing options shows that the important role of the structure of wealth and the administrative capacity at country level requires a tailored approach based on a long term perspective to ensure sustainability. An analysis of possible delivery mechanisms for social protection reveals differences in the redistributive and/or transformative potential of social insurance, social assistance, employment promotion and protection and social services. An evaluation of different socio-political processes is hindered by a lack of information but does indicate that political will, elites, and civil society have a strong impact on social protection systems. Looking at donor policies and practices, a shift away from isolated programs and towards supporting national social protection plans is visible, but to what extent the redistributive nature of social protection is an explicit concern remains unclear. This is true also in the Belgian case, although it is mentioned in the Belgian strategy toward middle-income countries and addressed indirectly though the co-financing of civil society organization that work on social protection in developing countries. Further case study research could provide additional insights.nrpages: 54status: publishe