Abstract
The volatility of the world economy following the global financial crisis of 2008
has brought increasing attention for the need to strengthen social protections from
international actors, such as the World Bank, the International Labour Organization
(ILO) and the United Nations (UN). Social protections are policies and programmes
that mitigate the adverse effects of neo-liberal free market policies. They enable
women and men to respond to various contingencies and manage risk without
enduring levels of deprivation that are deemed unacceptable by society. Social
protection includes social assistance (non-contributory) and social security (contributory) benefits.