Social Protection and Regime Stability in Ethiopia. The Merits of Integrating Formal and Informal Social Protection Systems
Megatrends Policy Brief 15, 11.04.2023, 8 Pagesdoi:10.18449/2023MTA-PB15
Ethiopia uses formal social protection programmes as a political instrument. Some of these, however, have an adverse effect on citizens’ equitable access to resources. Integrating informal social protection platforms into the system could help reduce both societal grievances and state fragility.
Shashamane, Ethiopia, 2019: The Yawenta Children's Center provides educational, medical, psychosocial and nutritional support to children. Oftentimes, Community-based organisations like these have evolved from an informal social protection mechanism into formalized structures.
© picture alliance / Hans Lucas | Denis Meyer
India prioritizes Africa and Asia in its allocation of development projects to the Global South. Our research shows that India tends to make financial commitments in areas where China has increased its activities. This appears to be driven by commercial competition, Gerda Asmus (University of Göttingen), Vera Z. Eichenauer (ETH Zurich), Andreas Fuchs (University of Göttingen and IfW Kiel), and Bradley Parks (William & Mary) write in this Megatrends Afrika Spotlight.
Urbanisation offers great potential for Africa’s economic and social development but the rapid transformation is also putting a strain on Africa’s cities. Citizens have long demanded participation in urban governance that goes beyond elections. Although participatory processes have become increasingly evident, they are still far from being institutionalised at scale. This policy brief argues that participatory processes need to be thoroughly embedded in politics in order to move beyond particularistic gains towards a structural improvement of relations between citizens, CSOs, and local governments.
doi:10.18449/2022MTA-PB05
