Our approach to social protection is a human rights-based one. We consider social protection to be the primary responsibility of the State, and a manifestation of the social contracts that tie citizens and residents to their States.
Given the limited manifestations of democracy in the region, social contracts either do not exist or are extremely frail. In turn, the few social protection schemes that exist are often weak, exclusionary and politicised, leaving people unprotected from political and socio-economic shocks and multifarious crises, of which there have been many in the region.
Often during such crises, non-state actors step in to offer support. We reject the humanitarian assistance approach to social protection whereby it is primarily considered to be an aid mechanism or a service. We insist that all actors providing humanitarian assistance in times of crisis and emergency ensure that the aid they provide is complementary to the existing social protection schemes, is fully integrated where possible, and covers recipients that are excluded from existing schemes.