This report is a synthesis of nine case studies on the governance characteristics and policy implications of non-state social protection services in six countries in Africa—Ethiopia,
Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. A key indicator of the relevance of a social protection service is whether it pulls beneficiaries out of abject poverty and graduates them as empowered and self-supporting members of society. In the six study countries, beneficiaries of NGOs stop receiving benefits not because they are better off, but because an NGO’s funding cycle ends. CBOs offer mostly rescue services that treat a chronic symptom and not promotive services that affect a cure. Despite this, the poor and vulnerable maintain their membership in CBOs because that is the only viable rescue plan available.
