“The presence of non-state actors in social protection is generally acknowledged in research and
policy literature. However, who these actors are, what services they provide and for whom, the number of people assisted and the interaction, if any, with state social protection providers (or with
other non-state actors) is unclear in almost every African country. Research designed to address these questions can also provide an opportunity for researchers to delve deeper and look
meaningfully at specific aspects of non-state social protection such as equity, access, voice, accountability, quality and impact. Without the knowledge that comes from such research, it is hard to
see how social protection policies can be said to be truly comprehensive, or how public expenditure decisions regarding state social protection (with or without external financing or technical assistance) can be taken on the basis of reasonably complete evidence.”
