International Council on Social Welfare

ICSW

Global Cooperation Newsletter

July 2016

This issue of the ICSW Global Cooperation Newsletter is being publishedin the wake of the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education andSocial Development, held from 27 to 30 June in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
The Conference, convened by the three partner organizations -International Association of the Schools of Social Work (IASSW),
International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) and International
Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) -- brought together 2,581
participants from 83 countries, who in total made 1,540 presentations
addressing the priority theme of the Conference, namely, ”Promoting theDignity and Worth of People”. Apart from the Conference, the ICSW has
also convened its General Assembly and the Board meetings.
The outcome document of the Conference, the Seoul Declaration,
prepared by the partner organizations and adopted by acclamation, ispublished in this edition of the Newsletter.
The present edition of the Newsletter also continues a recently
established tradition of highlighting regional activities of ICSW-affiliatednational member organizations. This time we are profiling the North-East
Asia region, where the Joint World Conference was held. That part of theworld is well known for some spectacular economic achievements byseveral countries and territories located in the region. We deem it
important also to bring to the attention of our readership someinteresting experiences and practices from the region, as described bysome participants of the Conference
The Editor

INSIDE

Seoul Declaration from IASSW, ICSW & IFSW

2Approaching a Better World for All

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Seoul Declaration fromIASSW, ICSW & IFSWThe three partner organisations dealing withsocial policy, social work and social work
education are committed to the Global
Agenda for Social Work and Social
Development in promoting a just andinclusive world and a sustainable
environment in harmony with communities.
We started our work together three days ago,sharing the outcome of our second report of
the Global Agenda. The priority theme ofrespect and dignity for all people highlighted
that involving the people with whom we workin the initial planning phase, using theprinciple of co-production, is critical in
helping people achieve positive change intheir lives.
Social Justice is achieved when the person or
the people at the centre of that quest forsocial justice agree this has been achieved,
not when the standard is imposed fromoutside by politicians, commissions or the
media. We have to be clear in answering thequestion ‘whose social justice are weseeking?’
We believe that human dignity is upheld
when people have at least the basic income,are well nourished and have decent housing;when education and medical care areavailable to all and when social policies focus
on providing adequate and secure livelihoods.
As social workers, social development
practitioners and educators we believe thathuman dignity is upheld when genderequality becomes a reality and the unevenburden of care giving on women and girls is
at a minimum reduced.

July 2016
Embedded in human rights and social justice,which includes environmental justice, thethree organisations recognise that people andthe planet are both important for sustainable
development. As stakeholders we should
respond to environmental impacts, in its
widest definition, in a manner that would
promote sustainable communities and save
our planet.
There is a need for social work and social
development theories and models that
respond to disasters by challenging structural
injustices, advocating for peoples’ socioeconomic rights, influencing policies that
affect them, and holding multinational
corporations and governments accountable
for adopting and implementing low-carbon
strategies. It requires a political agenda
within a human rights-based framework, anda holistic model which is rooted in social,economic and environmental justice.
We acknowledge the role of the global
partnership of the three organisations in
preparing social workers, their educators andsocial-development practitioners forpromoting harmony between theenvironment and communities to ensure asustainable future for both humanity andplanet earth.
We express concern about the risinginequalities, rising xenophobia and social
exclusion across the world as globalization inits neoliberal guise deprives people of hope,decent paid employment, housing, educationand health-care services. This constitutes aviolation of people's rights, dignity andworth.
We urge the governments of all countries towork with all of us to ensure that these basic
human rights are met.

As we move into the third pillar of the Global
Agenda we add another theme to ourportfolio of building a more just and inclusive
world.

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Approaching a Better World for All:
Experience and Challenges in Poverty
Alleviation in North-East Asia Region
While the North-East Asia region has
witnessed rapid economic development inrecent decades, poverty and inequality are
imminent problems that many people
experience every day. Disadvantaged people
lack development opportunities and financial
security, while the social protection system isoften not well developed. In order topromote exchange and discussions on public
policies and strategies for tackling poverty, a“Symposium on Social Protection and Poverty
Alleviation in Affluent Societies in the AsiaPacific Region” was organized by the Hong
Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS)
during the 2016 Joint World Conference inSeoul. This article summarizes key messagesof the presentations by following invited
speakers (bracketed hyperlinks to theirPowerpoint files):
1.

2.
3.

4.

Dr. LAW Chi Kwong, Associate Professor,
Department of Social Work and Social
Administration, The University of Hong
Kong (http://goo.gl/U6dRvI)
Mr. Atsuo SHIBUYA, Executive Director,
Japan National Council of Social Welfare(http://goo.gl/KfG5Sp)
Dr. Hyeok Chang KWON, AssistantProfessor, Department of Social Welfare,Gyeongnam
National
Universityof
ScienceandTechnology(http://goo.gl/YxTpga)
Dr.
Hou-Sheng
CHAN,
Professor,
National Chi-nan University & National
TaiwanUniversity(http://goo.gl/2evyV6)

Hong Kong: The Importance of Collaboration
between Government, Civil Society andAcademics in Poverty Alleviation
From Hong Kong experience, the institutional
setup is vital in combating poverty. A
significant milestone in poverty alleviation
was the establishment of the Commission on
Poverty (CoP), which indicates that poverty
has become one of the priority policy areas of
the Government. The first CoP was set up in2005 but was later abolished in 2007. The
second CoP was formed in 2012, which has
since then played a major role in reviewing
various relevant polities and proposing new
public programmes. The two CoPs havelaunched a range of policy tools, pilot
programmes and government funding,including the announcement of the official
poverty line in 2013 to keep track of thenumber and characteristics of the poverty
population and monitor the effectiveness ofvarious social and poverty alleviation
programmes. There is also a US$2.5B
Community Care Fund under the CoP, which
is tasked to implement measures on a pilot
basis to provide assistance to people facing
economic difficulties, with a hope that suchmeasures could eventually be incorporated
into the Government’s regular and long-term
assistance and service programmes. The CoP
has just completed a 6-month public
consultation on HK’s retirement system, inorder to identify measures to address theelderly poverty problem and improve theexisting retirement and social protection
system.
On the other hand, the roles andcontributions of civil society and academics
cannot be neglected. Civil society
organizations and academics started toresearch into poverty problem in 1990s,
when there was massive economic
restructuring, people couldn’t benefit fromthe economic growth, and the income gap
was widening. The Hong Kong Council ofSocial Service (HKCSS) formulated its own

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poverty line in 2000 and announced poverty
data annually. Such poverty data were
widely quoted in society, including in theLegislature, and consequently the poverty
line was adopted by the Government in 2013as its official poverty line. Related research,
public education and advocacy efforts haveresulted in higher social awareness andsupport for poverty alleviation, and publicpressure on the government to re-establish
the CoP in 2012. More corporate donors andprivate foundations are also willing to fundand participate in new initiatives to address
poverty issues and create employment
opportunities for vulnerable groups including
people with disabilities.

The collaborative efforts of the government,
civil society and academics are most essential
for combating poverty and developing new
policies and measures for disadvantaged
groups in Hong Kong.
Japan: Promotion of Self-Reliance throughthe new Independence Support System
In the review of its public assistance system,
Japan has developed new measures for theneedy, in which the Independence Support
System has been adopted as a second safety
net for providing comprehensive support toneedy individuals who are not qualified for
public assistance. The System is operated by
local governments and entrusted
organizations aiming at integrating the needy

July 2016
into the community with dignity andpreventing discouragement and isolation from
community and government support.
At the individual level, the System respects
the independence and dignity of the needy.
The needy will be reached in the early stage
with one-stop consultation services
encompassing life and employment support.
A tailor-made support plan will be devised foreach individual covering various aspects suchas finance, employment, daily living, social
life, etc. according to individual needs, while
supportive measures will be provided basedon individual desires and decisions. At thecommunity level, the System aims at
developing community networks toencourage people to support each other andidentify those in needs. Community
resources will be mobilized to provide allround support, seeking to create more job
and community-participation opportunities forpeople.
Yet, the System is still new to local
governments and the community. Further
promotion of the System is required so as tocreate synergy and collaborative efforts when
implementing the supportive measures.
Strengthened collaboration between laborand the welfare sector is required to provide
more comprehensive support to people.
Republic of Korea: Seeking Balance in thePension System for the Ageing Population
The Republic of Korea can be considered as
the world’s most rapidly ageing country, witha high elderly poverty rate of 48.1%, about
3.3 times higher than the national average in2013. Various old-age income-security
schemes have been adopted to maintain thestandard of living of the elderly, including thepartially funded social insurance, called the
National Pension Scheme (NPS), and thesocial assistance programme, called the Basic
Pension. NPS is supposed to covers theentire workforce between 18 and 59 in age.
Contributions are made by both employers

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and employees, and the benefits are
generally proportionate to the insured period
and earnings. The Basic Pension is a noncontributory pension for the elderly, aged 65
and above, to provide supplementary old-age
income.
NPS aims to provide financial security forpeople by offering a monthly pension after
retirement. However, a good portion of theactive population aged 18 to 59 (over 30%)
is categorized as economically inactive or
ineligible. They are excluded from thescheme and cannot be supported when they
get old. As the NPS was only set up in 1988
and is immature, there are over 60% of theelderly population that are not being coveredby the NPS at present. The low level ofpayments to current NPS beneficiaries is alsoa result of the short contribution period.
The Basic Pension was introduced in 2014,
and currently about 70% of the elderly arecovered. However, the low benefit level of
Basic Pension cannot provide sufficientfinancial support to the elderly, and theelderly poverty was only slightly reduced
from 48% to 44%.
In order to promote better old-age income
security in Korea, further revisions have beensuggested, seeking a better complement
between NPS and Basic Pension, as well as abetter balance between the adequacy ofpension benefits, coverage and financial
sustainability of pension schemes, in order to
respond to the rapid ageing of the
population.

practical assistance to disadvantaged
households. The Senior Citizens Welfare Act
seeks to strengthen the financial security ofthe elderly by safeguarding their standard ofliving. The Act of Assistance for Families inHardship, on the other hand, aims at
assisting families suffering from hardship,especially those with emergency care needs.
The three pillars were recently revised tobetter meet the changing needs of thedisadvantaged. The former two Acts wererevised in 2015 and the Act of Assistance for
Families in Hardship was revised in 2014.
The revision of the Public Assistance Act in2010 was crucial for poverty alleviation in
Taiwan. First, the measurement of thepoverty line was adopted in the Act with aclear definition of monthly “minimum living
expenses”, which is important for theidentification of deprived groups. Secondly,
the Public Assistance Act has redefined thedisadvantaged households to be protected byintroducing “middle-low income households”
as a new beneficiary group under the social
protection system. The expansion ofhousehold coverage means moredisadvantaged households are protected by
the legal framework with essential support
from the government.
The beneficiaries of and expenditures for
public assistance in Taiwan have grown
sharply since the year 2000, reflecting theincreasing responsibility and determinationon the part of the government towards
poverty reduction.
Still a long way to go…

Taiwan: Significance of Continuous
Improvement in the Legal Framework
Continuous improvement in the legal
framework is significant in tackling poverty in
Taiwan. The Public Assistance Act plays a
key role in defining the responsibilities of alllevels of the government in providing shortterm, long-term and emergency financial andIn the recent two decades, North-East Asian
countries have strived to enhance the social
protection system so as to tackle poverty.
The region is still looking for more innovative
initiatives and better solutions for helping theneedy. By emphasizing collaborative efforts
in poverty reduction, the region endeavors tocreate an equal and caring world for all.

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An NPO Alliance Model of Disaster
Management – Taiwan Red Cross for
Typhoon Morakot
By Joyce Yen Feng, Pei-Yuen Tsai, Taipei
BackgroundTyphoon Morakot was a typhoon that struck
Taiwan on August 8th in 2009 and brought a
tremendous pouring of rain and led toflooding and landslide disasters in thesouthern and central part of Taiwan. It
resulted in 619 deaths and 76 people
missing. It is the most severe disaster caused
by water in the last 50 years in Taiwan.
When the typhoon struck the south part ofthe island, the Taiwan Red Cross (TRC)
immediately started rescue and relief actions,and setting up emergency shelters. And then,it offered follow-up services, including
building permanent houses, reconstructing
schools, bridges and rebuilding communities(Huang & Tsai, 2016).
The TRC’s reconstruction project has been
implemented over the past 6 years, including
emergency disaster rescue, temporary
placements, transitional placements,
construction of permanent housing,rebuilding schools, setting community-life
service stations, living assistance services,sustainable environment conservation,
providing stipends for students, developing
supplementary education in affected areas,
strengthening the community capacity toprevent and deal with future disaster, and soon. It is the largest reconstruction project of
the TRC so far.
Emergency Disaster Rescue and Relief
Stage
During the emergency disaster rescue andJuly 2016relief stage, the TRC headquarters and its
local branches and chapters collaborated todispatch relief supplies, rescue teams,
disaster relief specialists and also volunteers
to affected areas.
The TRC dispatched 730 people from therescue team to assist in rescue operations.
Lifeboats and relief supply trucks were sent
to distribute materials like jackets, blankets,
sleeping bags and stuff donated by othercountries. Over 12 thousand volunteers took
part in the disaster relief operations. At thesame time, the TRC worked with the media
and television corporations to host 2
television-marathon donation events withentertainers from Taiwan and Hong Kong,
even the former first lady participated inanswering donation phone calls. It also
connected with the international rescue
network, for instance, the United Nations andthe European Union also sent rescue teams
to Taiwan to help. Many representative
offices in Taiwan, from the United States,
Korea, and Canada, also made donations.
The Australian and Canadian governments
donated disinfection facilities. The Red Crossof Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau also
made donations to deal with the damage. For
those who have to leave their home and stayin temporary shelters, the TRC immediately
provided relief allowance to each person for
their own dispense.
In order to further the services provided to all
walks of lives in the many affected areas, the
TRC invited NGOs to form an NPO Allianceworking together to share the experience andresources. They were NGOs in the medical,
educational, information, social welfare andmany other professional fields. The TRC
collaborated with other NGOs in setting up
emergency shelters in Chiayi, Kaohsiung andPingtung. During this period, the TRC
established 5 communities and set up 398
prefab structures, including 335 temporary
housing, 55 temporary school buildings and 8
temporary office buildings, where about

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2,700 people were benefited. The TRC alsoestablished several temporary camps thatprovide temporary housing, meals, social
welfare services, psychological consultation,
daycare services and livelihood assistance forthose who had to be away from their
damaged homes. In those prefabs, social
workers and volunteers made needed visits
to the residents, also lunched after-school
care services to promote the care andeducation of children. Condolence ceremonies
and condolence payments were provided tosupport for victims’ financial security as well.
In order to bring local community residents
together, the TRC also held some sportcompetitions and cultural events (Huang &Tsai, 2016).
Infrastructure Reconstruction
Infrastructure reconstruction was one of the
TRC’s major strengths in disaster rescue andreconstruction aimed at supplementing
governmental efforts. The TRC built 1,476
permanent housing units and assisted in thereconstruction process of 15 schools andrebuilt 3 public facilities. It also established
13 community reconstruction work stations
and support centers, and 21 disaster
preparedness warehouses.
In honoring and respecting local traditions
and cultural practices, TRC helped to build
the Xiaolin Plains Aborigines Museum. In
addition, the TRC also built a preschool inthat area, where aboriginal traditional culture
is taught.
Schools usually play an important role inactivating the participation of community
residents. In order to promote community
reconstruction and ensure the educationrights of children, the TRC built many schoolbuildings and teachers’ accommodations tokeep good teachers in those communities.
In addition to schools, the reconstruction ofbridges was helpful not only to restoretransportation, but also to promote tourism
and create economic benefits for the locals(Huang & Tsai, 2016).
Intangible Reconstruction
The TRC funded scholarships for 8,843
students in 425 schools so that they could
complete their education. It also helped local
residents on livelihood development, and set
up digital learning classes and CPR classes in
the permanent houses. Some of the services
were provided by local volunteers mobilized
by the Alliance with a view to empoweringcommunity people. The communities were
engaged for ecological restoration, in
collaborating with the Committee on
Agriculture to implement the forestation
development program, which created anumber of jobs for the locals and aboriginal
tribal folks.
The ‘Water Lotus Program’ was created one
year after the disaster to develop extracurriculum education in 6 areas, including
humanities, foreign languages, sports,
sustainable environment, information
technology and special demands in many
schools in the affected areas.
Several local communities’ disasterprevention and preparedness programs were
set up two years later. Those centersconducted disaster-rescue training, stored
materials for disasters, and built large
refuges for placement in response to futuredisasters (Huang & Tsai, 2016).
Formation of a NPO coalition (88Alliance) to better serve and monitor thereconstruction
The unique efforts of the TRC in response to
Typhoon Morakot were able to serve as aplatform for forming of a coalition of NPOs toprovide services for disaster victims as wellas to oversee reconstruction work. The
coalition was named the “88 Alliance for

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Reconstruction of the Flooding Areas” (or the
88-Alliance) and was officially formed twodays after the typhoon disaster. The 88Alliance comprised NPO leaders, professionals
and academic experts across different
sectors. A total of 103 NPOs and fivecommercial corporations joined together. The
inclusion of commercial corporations in athird-sector alliance was unprecedented, andrepresented a novel form of cross-sector
collaboration in the local context.
According to Feng and Huang (2009),
coordination between NPOs and thegovernment was more effective than it had
been earlier, such as with the NPO Allianceduring the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake.
Interactions between the government and the88 Alliance were more intensive, leading tomore effective allocation and coordination of
resources. For instance, while the militaryforces provided temporary shelters fordisaster victims, local NPOs were immediately
enlisted to provide services and emergency
goods for temporary residents. Meanwhile,the local governments provided NPOs withbackground information on families, andchanneled financial resources to support
those efforts (Feng & Huang, 2009).
The 88 Alliance carried out 5 years ofreconstruction work after Typhoon Morakot
wreaked havoc in Taiwan, as was originallyplanned in the Morakot Reconstruction Act. It
also worked with all levels of government todevise reconstruction plans. The Morakot
Reconstruction Act emphasized local resource
mobilization, stipulating that local residents
should be empowered and that local culturaland community needs must be taken into
account. It also stated that communities
must be strengthened, for example throughpublic education and information campaigns,
so as to enhance their resilience.
Although the Disaster Prevention andProtection Act was promulgated earlier, after
the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, the 88 Alliance

July 2016sought further revision of that Act after
Typhoon Morakot, mostly related toenvironmental protection and conservation.
After finding, for example, that at least partof the reason for the huge landslides
experienced during Typhoon Morakot was
deforestation, the 88 Alliance had realizedthat environmental protection was intricately
linked to disaster prevention. Hence, it
advocated for the need to protect theenvironment, and promote proper land use asa longer-term prevention strategy.
The immediate disaster management
subsystem was dominated by the central
government, though the 88-Alliance entities
were able to participate in the decisionmaking process and influence policies toaddress community reconstruction owing to
the special status of the TRC, which played aleading role in the Alliance. Since Alliancemembers, including the social work
members, had expertise in providing
community-based services and responding tocrisis situations and included diverse
members such as lawyers, accountants,social workers, and technicians, the Alliance
was able to effectively coordinate relief
efforts, monitor public donations andallocations, and influence the policy process.
Community development and social
capital building
Thanks to the involvement of the 88 Alliance,
community development was prioritized
during the reconstruction phase. The Allianceadvocated for the right of local communities
to develop and enhance their own capacity torespond to natural disasters. That was done
so by mobilizing local resources (i.e. humanresources), such as equipping local NPOs andgovernments with the skill and knowledge tomeet the specific needs of their respective
communities. Indeed, it is generally agreed
that long-term community development
approaches to disaster prevention, response
and recovery are far more effective than

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July 2016
reactive or asset replacement approaches(Bell & Blashki, 2013; Mulligan & Nadarajah,2011). NPOs play a critical role inempowering local communities, so that they
themselves can develop sustainablecapacities to respond to future crises. As
evidenced by the 88 Reconstruction Act,
community development was further
institutionalized as part of policy change
during the reconstruction phase of Typhoon
Morakot (Chui, Feng & Jordon, 2014).
Social capital was an important characteristicof the 88 Alliance, which assisted in theirefforts to affect political change. Social
capital refers to the cumulative advantages
gained by individuals who belong to aparticular social network (Hean, Cowley,
Forbes, Griffiths, & Maben, 2003; Putman,
1995). Being part of the Alliance, smaller
NPOs were able to access the skills andknowledge of other NPOs within the Alliance,thus improving their quality of services in thelong run. In turn, those NPOs’ capacities to
respond to natural disasters and to provide
members of their communities with adequate
social support and services were very muchenhanced.
Conclusion
All the reconstruction programs were finishedby the end of 2015, but the services and local
engagement will continue.
Like all Red Cross organizations worldwide,
the TRC performed as a major civil rescue
team upon the onset of natural disasters
under its global SOP, but it also carried out
its own characteristic actions based on its
local context. The immediate summit of an
NPO Alliance platform is one such action,
providing spiritual condolence and following
the cultural ritual system to comfort thesurvivors is another. Furthermore, the TRC
and the NPO Alliance played an importantrole in collaborating with the public, private,
and civil sectors to carry out a more effective

and efficient
rescue/reconstruction/preparedness task forthe huge natural disaster. The trans-sector
collaboration not only helped with the
integration of materials and human resourcesin the chaos of the disaster, but also helped
building a rapport/relationship for the future
discussion of the related policies for postdisaster reconstruction, and rational
movements toward sustainable environments
as well.

References
Bell, E., & Blashki, G. (2013). A Method for Assessing
Community Flood Management Knowledge for Vulnerable
Groups: Australia's 2010-2011 Floods. Community
Development Journal, 48, 1-26.
Chui, C.; Feng, J.Y.; Jordan, L. 2014 From Good Practiceto Policy Formation- The Impact of Third Sector on
Disaster Management in Taiwan. International Journal ofDisaster Risk Reduction, 10, A, 28–37.
Feng, J. Y., & Huang, C. (2009). Taiwan's Third Sector
Response to Natural Disasters - Lessons Learned fromthe 1999 Chi-Chi Earthquake to Typhoon Morakot.
Community Development Journal, 131, 296-306.
Huang, H.L. & Tsai, P.Y. (2016). Disaster Relief andRecovery for Typhoon Morakot. 2016 Joint World
Conference on Social Work, Education and Social
Development: Promoting the Dignity and Worth ofPeople, June 27-30, 2016, Seoul Korea.
Mulligan, M., & Nadarajah, Y. (2011). Rebuildng
Community in the Wake of Disaster: Lesson from theRecovery from the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka and India.
Community Development Journal, 47, 353-369.
The opinions expressed in the preceding signed
articles and materials are solely the responsibilityof the authors; the designations employed do not
imply the expression of any opinion on the part of
the ICSW Management Committee concerning thelegal status of any country, area or territory or of
its authorities.

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Welcome new member in ICSW family:
United Association of Social Welfare
Organizations (Mongolia)
United Association of Social Welfare
Organizations (the “United Association”)
joined the ICSW family in 2016 as a newnational member organization in North-East
Asia Region. It strives to make contribution
in increasing engagement and cooperation ofcivil societies in social welfare, develop
comprehensive system and change the public
attitude in Mongolia,

July 2016

Images from SWSD 2016

Nowadays, there are over 5,000 NGOs in
Mongolia, among which 3,000 NGOs are in
the social welfare sector. The United
Association was established in July 2015 tostrengthen the networking among local
welfare NGOs and with overseas
counterparts. It contributes to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

ensuring the rights and needs of those
who are working in the field of social
welfare;holding
campaigns
based
on
the
participation of individuals, families,
groups, organizations and the public;
organizing courses;
conducting surveys;
increasing the efficiency of NGOs in thesocial-welfare sector; andmaintaining close
cooperation withdomestic and overseas organization.

The United Association works with its
member organizations, which focus onchildren, seniors, people with disabilities,
women, social health, education, as well associal work and social welfare, to advocate
for better welfare policies and collaboration.
Last year, it organized conference andtrainings to enhance the social-welfare
service and engagement of NGOs. It also
conducted a survey to identify the needs ofmember organizations and formed a working
board that is responsible for fundraising.

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The useful resources and links – thefind of the month
Cash transfers: what does the evidence
say? A rigorous review of impacts andthe role of design and implementation
features.
Overseas Development Institute, London,
July 2016
by Francesca Bastagli, Jessica HagenZanker Luke Harman, Georgina Sturge,
Valentina Barca, Tanja Schmidt, Luca
Pellerano

Cash transfers have been increasingly
adopted by low- and middle-income countries
as central elements of their poverty reduction
and social protection strategies. This ODI
study focuses on non-contributory monetarytransfers, including conditional andunconditional cash transfers, social pensions
and enterprise grants. Close attention has
been paid to programme design andimplementation details that influence theways in which cash transfers work. This

review retrieves and assesses the evidence
on the effects of cash transfers on individuals
and households through a rigorous review ofthe literature over the past 15 years, from2000 to 2015.
For more details:
https://www.odi.org/publications/10505-cash-transferswhat-does-evidence-say-rigorous-review-impacts-androle-design-and-implementation

Substantive Equality for Women:
Connecting Human Rights and Public
Policy, UNRISD, Geneva, 2016
The publication is a report on the above topic
from the research-advocacy-policy workshop
jointly organized by UNRISD, UN Women andthe Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). It
stresses that the advancement of women’s
rights requires bridging the gaps between
progress at the legal and normative levels
and the realities on the ground.
For additional details:
http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/(httpPublica
tions)/0F62ED2433269407C1257FFC004EB2A7?OpenDoc
ument

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July 2016

The content of this Global Newsletter may be freely reproduced or cited provided the source isacknowledged. The views do not necessarily represent policies of ICSW.
Newsletter Editor:
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E-mail: szelenev@icsw.org,
Address:
ICSW, 5700 Arlington Ave.,
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