Social protection

In the context of development aid and climate policy, social protection usually describes public and private initiatives that provide income or consumption transfers to the poor, protect the vulnerable against livelihood risks, and enhance the social status and rights of the marginalized, with the overall objective of reducing the economic and social vulnerability of poor, vulnerable, and marginalized groups (Devereux and Sabates-Wheeler, 2004). In other contexts, social protection may be used synonymously with social policy and can be described as all public and private initiatives that provide access to services, such as health, education, or housing, or income and consumption transfers to people. Social protection policies protect the poor and vulnerable against livelihood risks and enhance the social status and rights of the marginalized, as well as prevent vulnerable people from falling into poverty.