Social protection
UNICEF Turkiye’s social protection work is both in the form of service-provision and system strengthening.
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The challenge
Many children and adolescents in Türkiye, particularly those in the most disadvantaged groups, are vulnerable to poverty and deprivation. According to TURKSTAT’s Survey on Income and Living Conditions (2021) more than 20 per cent of all households, and more than 30 per cent of children in Turkiye, are experiencing monetary poverty.
The solution
Global evidence shows that social protection systems, particularly cash transfer programmes, can reduce poverty, while improving school attendance, the use of health care, food security, emotional well-being and family livelihoods.
UNICEF Türkiye’s social protection work is both in the form of service-provision and system strengthening.
UNICEF has been implementing the cash transfers for education (CCTE) programme for refugees since 2017 – which has so far helped more than 810,000 children across the country.
UNICEF focuses on three ways of strengthening systems, trying to make social protection programmes more inclusive, integrated and shock responsive.
- Inclusivity: We are seeking to ensure all families and children are adequately protected from poverty and hardship.
- Integration: We are trying to ensure social assistance programmes combine cash services with social, educational and health services– this kind of integrated approach, such as the CCTE programme, is known as Cash+. We also help identify children who have dropped out of school, using family visits and referral measures to get them back into education.
- Shock-responsiveness: We are supporting the strengthening of social protection systems to be more responsive and resilient in the face of disasters, pandemics, earthquakes and the mass influx of people. This is based on maintaining a child-focused outlook and ensuring that no one affected by these shocks is left behind.
