This webinar explored the essential yet frequently overlooked contribution of frontline workers – the community volunteers, paraprofessionals, social workers and others – in the delivery of social protection (SP) cash transfer programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa. With increasing investments in SP initiatives to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — further impelled by recent global disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic and escalating humanitarian demands from climate change and conflicts — the overreliance on under-remunerated and undertrained volunteers and community structures to implement increasingly large and complex SP cash transfer interventions emerges as a pressing issue. This reliance raises concerns about the long-term viability, sustainability and expansion potential of social assistance interventions, including the broadening coverage of cash transfers, integration of cash assistance with social services and other linked sectors such as health and education, and adapting assistance for various shocks and disasters. 

Drawing on findings from a paper based on a comprehensive review of global literature and semi-structured interviews with SP specialists and practitioners from 10 Sub-Saharan African countries, and through a focused discussion with peers from the sector, this webinar used a framework to categorize the SP frontline workforce across tiers and elucidate their roles in SP cash transfer programmes whilst spotlighting common workforce-related challenges faced across contexts, as well as broader tensions between the formalisation and institutionalisation of social protection cash transfer programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa using traditional and informal community support structures. 

Opening remarks: Renata Nowak-Garmer, Social Protection & Inclusive Growth Specialist, and Chair of TRANSFORM Steering Committee, UNDP 

Co-Presenter & Moderators 

Vincent van Halsema, Social Protection Specialist, WFP 

Avantee Bansal, Child Protection and Social Policy Consultant, UNICEF Ghana 

Speakers  

Hugh Salmon, Director, Global Social Service Workforce Alliance 

Stanfield Michelo, Former Social Protection Director Zambia, Independent 

Selwyn Jehoma, CEO, Global Institute for Social Protection and Led Establishment Project for SASSA, South Africa 

Celine Felix, Social Protection Specialist – Social Protection System Strengthening, UNICEF HQ 

Judith Sandford, Consultant PSNP Ethiopia, World Bank Ethiopia