Protection

In development and humanitarian work, protection involves seeking to achieve both the upholding of human rights and the protection of civilians’ lives, dignity and integrity from the effects of violence, coercion and deprivation in times of conflict or crisis. As protection is an obligation of states as signatories under international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international refugee law, the role of non-governmental actors is usually to raise awareness of rights, support rights-holders to claim them and duty-bearers to meet them, and to provide humanitarian assistance in situations of unmet needs.

Raising Africa recognizes that much of what we do could be considered protection and that social protection supports our aim of sustainably assisting the extreme poor. Raising Africa supports the assertion that it is in the interests of the extremely poor that Raising Africa should initiate some pilot work on social protection with a view to developing a policy. We also recognize that social protection can be affordable and that ‘welfare’ can be a sustainable and effective means to assist the extremely poor.

Raising Africa accepts that the primary duty bearer is the state. To assist the state to develop models and to be able to advocate would require considerable technical support, substantial resources and vastly improved knowledge. Raising Africa will support the engagement in social protection and the organizational objectives, but does not foresee the development of a large scale pilot during this strategic planning period which contains a number of other major strategic changes in terms of location, partners and programmes.

Raising Africa will consider the social protection needs and services available to the most marginalized by undertaking a mapping exercise on the actors, research and initiative and ensuring that we build knowledge and understanding and begin to identify appropriate opportunities for intervention.

Strategic Objective 1: Raising Africa will consider the social protection needs and services available to the most marginalized by undertaking a mapping exercise on the actors, research and initiative and ensuring that we build knowledge and understanding and begin to identify appropriate opportunities for intervention.

Strategic Interventions

• Undertake a mapping exercise of social protection actors, initiative and research in Uganda.

• Contribute to social protection working groups in Uganda.

• Use our understanding of who the ‘extreme poor’ are in any given programme area to support the case and approach of social protection initiatives.

• To contribute and support to advocacy for social protection as part of our pro-poor advocacy work.