- Title
- Exit strategies in social protection and the role of the social worker : a case study of exited households from the harmonised social cash transfers in Goromonzi District, Zimbabwe
- Creator
- Muwoni, Leon
- Subject
- Social security -- Zimbabwe Social service -- Zimbabwe Households -- Zimbabwe
- Date
- 2017
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MSoc
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/8364
- Identifier
- vital:32389
- Description
- The aim of the study was to investigate the strategies utilised in exiting households from the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer in Zimbabwe and also the role of the social worker in facilitating and ensuring a smooth readjustment thereof. The study area was Goromonzi District, where the research sample and participants were drawn. The data were collected with semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. It emerged in the study that besides the financial constraints and general challenges characterising social protection in Zimbabwe, there have been some significant improvements in the livelihoods of the beneficiaries. For example the beneficiary households increased their food consumption in terms of quantity and quality, reduction of poverty among other positive outcomes. The study however noted that despite having registered some positive outcomes on the beneficiaries, the programme was designed without a clear cut exit/graduation strategy. Upon being exited from the HSCT, beneficiaries are supposed either to be supported to maintain their livelihoods or to be graduated into other social protection programmes so that the shock of being exited is minimised. In addition to the above, the study found that, graduation of social protection is hardly possible for the nature of HSCT programme beneficiaries, therefore ‘programme exit’ is the only most realistic thing to talk about in the programme. The study makes a case for curving a role for social workers in managing exit for beneficiaries of social protection programmes and helping families with the readjustment process post cash transfers. Furthermore, this study recommends that programmes should be designed either as ‘graduation’ focused programs or with a clear plan and road map of how beneficiary or programme exit would be handled. This will not only help in planning for the end-phase but also for the nature and approach for programme implementation. In addition, the study recommends that during implementation of social transfer programs, particularly cash, it is of essence to link the cash benefits with livelihood and asset building interventions to ensure sustainability. Families need to be encouraged through ‘soft messaging’ or supported to structure either group or individual savings and or investments in assets and livestock that will help cushion them in the event of sudden programme discontinuation or when faced with shocks and hazards.
- Format
- 161 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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UFH Department of Social Work & Social Development
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | EXIT STRATEGIES IN SOCIAL PROTECTION AND THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL WORKER. FINAL DISSERTATION. docx.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |