Alleviating household poverty through emergency cash transfers
Working with the Government of Sierra Leone and development partners to support social safety nets
Freetown, Sierra Leone - Seated on a makeshift stool which is positioned right next to her market stall at Congo Market in Freetown, Isatu Kargbo smiles as her eight-year-old son Roy runs over to give her a loving embrace. Save for this love from her children, Isatu often finds little else to smile about as it has been a tall order to singlehandedly raise four children who are aged between 15 and five years old, more so during a period of a health emergency.
Isatu explains that her day at the market starts at 7am with an anticipation to sell some of the school satchels and stationery which have been the mainstay of her business for nearly 30 years. Sadly, the current COVID-19 pandemic has affected hopes and expectations of making good sales, with demand for school supplies plummeting due to school closures. By 4pm, only a few purchases would have been made and on a very bad day, she will get no sales at all.
COVID-19 has also deprived her children of their rights to nutritious food, education and protection, with possible lasting consequences.
“Because of COVID-19, sales have been very low,” says Isatu, as she explains how COVID-19 has negatively impacted usual daily sales. “There are days when I would not get any sales and there would be very little to feed my children on, expect cassava flour porridge with sugar.”
Since schools closed because of the pandemic, Roy and baby Wilhelmina have been forced to tag along to the market. While at the market with his mother, Roy is unable to catch up with education through radio lessons nor does he get the opportunity to play and be with other children as he must remain close to his mother for protection.
"I inherited this spot in the marketplace from my late mother and it is my dream that in their adult life, Roy and his siblings do not end up trying to make a living from here as well,” says Isatu as she reflects on her life journey to try and evade poverty and her determination to provide her children with a life of dignity, joy and hope.
“I dropped out of school when I was only 15 years after my mother died and I have been selling school stationery and school accessories for the last 27 years."
Poverty is widespread across Sierra Leone, a country which is ranked 181 out of 189 on the Human Development Index. Nearly 60% of people live below the poverty line with more than 65 percent of the population affected by multidimensional poverty. More than 160,000 households across the country live in extreme poverty and the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many into deeper levels of poverty as financial resources have depleted.
Recognising the heightened levels of household vulnerability due to COVID-19, the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), with support from World Bank and UNICEF rolled out a one-off COVID-19 Emergency Cash Transfer programme targeting 29,000 informal workers in urban areas. A further 65,000 households will receive assistance under the COVID National Social Safety Net (SSN) programme, which is the national flagship social protection programme for vulnerable households.
Isatu recalls how the process started with identification and targeting of potential beneficiaries, a demonstration of the meticulous targeting and verification exercise which helped to assess the level of vulnerability of recipients.
Teams of social protection volunteers from National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), Community and District monitors from the Anti-Corruption Commission and Enumerators from Statistics Sierra Leone have been busy in communities across Sierra Leone identifying the families in the most acute need of cash transfers.
The one-off emergency cash transfer of Le1,309,000 (USD$ 135) to each of the eligible beneficiaries, has helped to increase the purchasing power of vulnerable populations, who have been given the flexibility to meet their family’s needs and re-build or diversify their livelihoods.
With the cash she received, Isatu has managed to diversify her business, shifting from only selling school stationery, to also selling soap powder on her market stall.
“Because I am getting more sales, I have been able to get better food for my children and I am happy that I have also managed to prepare for them to go back to school in October,” says Isatu, as she acknowledges the difference that the money has made for her and her family.
A few yards from where Isatu is running her business, Shola Coker who has been selling pancakes and rice cakes at the market for the last 25 years, is also ecstatic about being a recipient of the cash disbursement and its impact on her business. Apart from the dwindling sales due to COVID-19, the heavy rains which beset Freetown in June damaged a part of the shed which she uses to prepare the popular snacks.
“The money was a real blessing for me as I managed to make repairs to this shed and to ensure that I continue serving these eats in a hygienically secure premise,” says Shola, whose income from this business is helping to provide her five children and two grandchildren with good food and supporting their education.
With disbursement of the first round of emergency cash transfer completed, UNICEF continues to work with the Government of Sierra Leone and development partners supporting social safety nets which will help vulnerable families with enough financial resources to re-build their own livelihood and help children to develop and fulfil their potential. In addition, an introduction of Cash Plus interventions, which would combine cash transfers with life skills training for adolescent girls from poor households, would help reduce their vulnerabilities to abuse and early pregnancies.
“While poverty affects people of all ages, the impact on children is particularly detrimental. This is because any form of poverty exposes a child to multiple and long-term risks, harm, abuse and exploitation, all of which contribute to the further deprivation of children’s rights,” says UNICEF Representative, Dr. Suleiman Braimoh. “For this reason, UNICEF applauds the achievements of the Government of Sierra Leone in reaching the most vulnerable with a cash transfer to re-build their livelihoods and protect their children from poverty at this critical time of the pandemic.”
As the day ends, both Isatu and Shola pack their belongings, eager to go back home to the love, joy and hope that they get from being with healthy, educated and protected children.
