Workshop discusses Social Safety Net Programmes in Iraq

By IPC-IG
Photo: Canva

Rafael Osorio, Senior Research Coordinator at the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) and Senior Researcher at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea) presented the key design features of child-sensitive cash transfer programmes and provided feedback on the new Social Safety Net (SSN) Guidelines prepared by Iraq’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), during a workshop entitled “Reform of Social Safety Net Programmes in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq”. The event was organised by the Iraq Country Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF Iraq) and MoLSA, to discuss the importance of robust cash transfer design in light of the ongoing reforms of the SSN programme in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). 

Mr. Osorio’s presentation was part of the technical assistance provided within the scope of the project “Supporting the development of a comprehensive model for an incentivised child-sensitive cash transfer in Iraq”, a partnership signed by the IPC-IG and UNICEF Iraq in January 2022. The purpose is to support the design, implementation and evaluation of an incentivised top-up cash transfer within Iraq’s SSN (Iraq’s national cash transfer programme), with a focus on pregnant women, under-5 and school-age children. 

The researchers Charlotte Bilo (IPC-IG), Joana Costa (Ipea/IPC-IG) and Maya Hammad (IPC-IG) also participated in the event, together with other international partners supporting the Government of KRI in the reform process.