Social protection can be defined as "policies and actions which enhance the capacity of poor and vulnerable people to escape from poverty and enable them to better manage risks and shocks" (OECD/DAC 2009, 10). The term would thus include social insurance, social transfers and minimum labour...

Verbreitete Armut ist nach wie vor eines der zentralen Probleme der arabischen Entwicklungsländer, das nicht nur auf begrenzte Erwerbsmöglichkeiten und geringe Einkommen zurückgeht. Große Teile der Bevölkerung verarmen auch deshalb immer wieder, weil sie keinen adäquaten Zugang zu...

The article’s subject is social protection in the Arab world. Giving the example of Egypt, it asks why poverty is so widespread and why – despite the country’s numerous sophisticated social protection systems – social risks are a major contributing factor to it. It concludes that reforms...

Due to the modernisation of societies, traditional social security systems are getting weaker and less reliable. The state must therefore step in and provide social protection to its citizens. Whether they effectively do or not depends on their financial and technical capacities adn on the...

When governments want to improve the social protection of their citizens, they usually try either to extend the coverage of public social insurance or assistance schemes or to promote commercial savings or insurance products. A third possibility only rarely used is to promote self-help groups...

The introductory article of this special issue looks at the genesis, characteristics and challenges of social protection schemes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It argues that social protection policies in the MENA should be seen as a key ingredient of the social contract that...