Social Protection

Social Assistance

Social assistance and welfare services provide protection to society's most vulnerable groups, i.e., those with no other means of support such as single parent households, victims of natural disasters or civil conflict, handicapped people, or the destitute poor.

Social assistance interventions may include

• welfare and social services to highly vulnerable groups such as the physically or mentally disabled, orphans, or substance abusers
• cash or in-kind transfers such as food stamps and family allowances
• temporary subsidies such as life-line tariffs, housing subsidies, or support of lower prices of staple food in times of crisis

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Guidelines

• The Theoretical Background of Social Assistance [ PDF: 2,490kb | 50 pages ]
• Drafting Social Assistance Projects [ PDF: 2,882kb | 58 pages ]
• How ADB Prioritizes Vulnerabilities and Risks [ PDF: 93kb | 11 pages ]

Resource Materials

• Workshop on Social Protection
• Introduction
• Social Assistance
• Disability and Development

Projects

See ADB Social Protection Projects, 1997-2003: Social Assistance for a list of ADB projects with social assistance components.