Forthcoming research by Save the Children Fund examines the record of “safety net” social programmes in formerly socialist countries. These state supported welfare schemes are typically associated with structural adjustment policies or other poverty programmes. Case studies from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Bulgaria look in particular at whether families’ livelihoods and access to services have been significantly impaired and whether measures to protect children have been effective. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, the World Bank-advised privatization of livestock has had devastating effects on pastoral communities, with drastic stock reductions, which have impacted food supply and livelihoods. Save the Children argues that what policy-makers think of as short-term impacts (say five or ten years of adjustment) may often have significant long-term effects as children’s health and education suffer. The report is due out in mid-September.
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Report on transition safety nets
11 August 2000
