Social protection is now considered a development milestone and an important tool in combating poverty. Interventions can include, for example, health insurance, public works programs, guaranteed employment schemes, or cash transfers targeting vulnerable populations groups. This innovative volume is designed to develop understanding about the role and contribution of social protection globally and to share innovative practice and policies from around the world. It explores how to cover an entire population effectively, especially those who are at risk or who are already in a situation of deprivation, and in a sustainable manner. Divided into two parts, the book begins by exploring the theoretical underpinnings of social protection, discussing the social work and social development perspectives and concepts that currently shape it. The second part is comprised of case studies from countries implementing successful social protection initiatives, including Brazil, India, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Indonesia, and reveals how the impact of a successful social protection intervention on poverty, vulnerability and inequality can be dramatic. This volume is an important reference for advanced students and researchers from a range of disciplines including social policy, social work, development studies, geography, planning, economics, sociology, population health and political science.

This exciting and innovative Handbook provides readers with a comprehensive and globally relevant overview of the instruments, actors and design features of social protection systems, as well as their application and impacts in practice. It is the first book that centres around system building globally, a theme that has gained political importance yet has received relatively little attention in academia.

The Routledge International Handbook of Social Development, Social Work, and the Sustainable Development Goals answers the question: What is the contribution of social development and social work to the Sustainable Development Goals? The success of these goals requires implementation, and each of the 17 objectives for sustainable social progress have a social dimension. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before them, were born of a larger social development movement which over the last 25 years has become increasingly mainstream in the fields of international development, sustainability, and social work. These practitioners are essential to the implementation of the SDGs. This handbook examines how the SDGs are being implemented in diverse contexts. No previous work has surveyed social development and social work’s contribution to the SDGs nor represented voices from the Global South on the SDGs. This book broadens the current literature by focusing on key sites throughout the Global South and featuring underrepresented voices from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These regions are vitally important to assessing the SDGs, as this is where innovative social development projects are occurring, and where social workers are playing a leading role in achieving the SDGs. The book is divided into eight parts: • Context of Social Development, Social Work, and the SDGs • Perspectives on the SDGs • Case Studies on Engagement with the SDG Agenda • Case Studies on Ending Poverty • Case Studies on Health and Well-Being • Case Studies on Gender Equality • Case Studies on Climate and Sustainability • Case Studies on Governance, Peace, and Justice It comprises 35 newly written chapters by 74 authors. It will be of interest to a broad interdisciplinary audience of scholars, educators, and students in the fields of social development, social welfare, social work, social policy, human rights, international relations, political science, international affairs, sustainability, community development, area studies, and development studies.

Social work has always been concerned with the development of society as the basis for achieving the well-being of individuals, families and communities. Interest in this important aspect of social work is now seeing a resurgence, not only in the ‘developing countries’ of the global South, but also in the global North. This innovative book provides an introduction to the area. Using concrete examples taken from practice around the world, Social Development in Social Work address questions such as: How should social development be understood as a core aspect of social work practice? What is the significance of economics, politics and the environment for a developmental approach in social work? How may a comparative understanding of social welfare practices, programs and policies enhance social development in social work? In what ways does social development contribute to international and domestic social work? What skills, knowledge and theory do social workers need to practise in this field? Arguing that social development should be at the centre of contemporary social work practice and theory, this book is ideal for social work students and academics with an interest in social development, international social work, social justice, social policy and community social work.

The Social Protection Floor Initiative promotes universal access to essential social transfers and services. Presently 80% of the global population does not enjoy a set of social guarantees that allows them to deal with life’s risks such as unemployment, ill health, and natural disasters. This book explores the importance and necessity of social protection, including key concepts, universal principles and human rights, the need for context-specific policies, the role of adaptive climate change, and country examples. Social protection refers to a set of essential transfers, services and facilities that all citizens everywhere should enjoy to ensure the realization of the rights embodied in human rights treaties. The Social Protection Floor aims to facilitate and accelerate the introduction or strengthening of sustainable context-specific social protection systems. Experiences from countries around the world that have implemented components of the Social Protection Floor provide evidence of its feasibility, affordability, and impact. The promise and success of social protection is important for transformative change, social inclusion, and alliance building, and raises critical questions about current neoliberal austerity measures. This book calls for a comprehensive, multi-dimensional, integrated and innovative policy mix that recognizes the interdependency between demographic shifts, employment, labour migration, social protection, economic development, and the environment.

All recent books on international social work mention Africa only briefly and few engage with the broader field of development studies. This book focuses solely on the unique African context engaging with issues relating to social work and development more broadly thus enabling a deeper examination and more complex and nuanced picture to emerge. Unlike most academic works, this book highlights multiple practitioner voices, with authors or co-authors that have recently been or are currently practising social workers. As an edited book, it draws from both academic research as well as lived practice experience, supported by strong theoretical positioning and guidance in introductory chapters, drawing on African literature, wherever possible. Looking at case-studies from Lesotho, Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Namibia, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Zambia and Tanzania and covering established areas of practice such as child protection; working with older people; working with people with disabilities; mental health; and mainstream services targeting women as well as emerging areas of developmental social work practice, such as humanitarian assistance in post-conflict situations; work with immigrants and refugees; and the training of community-based workers, this book takes a future-oriented perspective that aims to move beyond well-worn critiques to envision constructive and sustainable futures for social work and social development in Africa from a critical perspective.

Walking through social development’s key theoretical principles and practice strategies, this book shows how it promotes peoples’ wellbeing not only in the Global South, where it first emerged, but in the Western countries as well. It covers: Definitions and an historical evolution of social development Key theoretical debates around social well-being, human rights and social justice Social development practice such as human capital interventions, community development and cooperatives, asset building, employment creation policies and programmes, microenterprises and social planning among others Future challenges; global poverty, international aid and trade, and global inequality, conflict and injustice. Complete with international examples drawn from around the world, Social Development: Theory and Practice demonstrates how social development theory translates into practical application. This book is essential reading for students in development studies, social policy, public administration and social work, and for policymakers and development practitioners everywhere. James Midgley is the Harry and Riva Specht Professor of Public Social Services at the School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley.

A new generation of innovative social protection strategies is emerging in southern Africa. Although cash transfers are most prevalent, some country strategies include combinations of interventions such as food, livelihood inputs and support, asset building, public works and social services. The strategies vary in their commitment to social rights, their institutional and funding arrangements, the reach, scope and design of the programmes, and the behavioural conditions attached to grant access. The proliferation of national social protection in the Global South has been widely supported by governments, international agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).This book offers researchers and policymakers much to think about when considering the rapid growth of social protection in southern Africa, the challenges this presents and the opportunities it offers for social development and economic growth. Hence, the book is a contribution to scholarship and policy debate on how to solve intractable social development problems in Africa and elsewhere.This book was originally published as a special issue of Development Southern Africa.

This thought-provoking book examines the role of social protection in reducing inequality and enhancing social justice. It assesses social protection’s impact on inequality in different parts of the world and shows that if carefully designed, adequately funded and effectively implemented, it can make a significant contribution to reducing income, gender and other forms of inequality. In this way, it can promote egalitarian ideals and enhance social justice.

Written by internationally renowned author and scholar James Midgley, Social Welfare for a Global Era provides a comprehensive framework for examining social welfare from a global perspective. Drawing on a large body of literature and his own extensive knowledge of the field, Dr. Midgley offers students, scholars, and practitioners an up-to-date account of the complex ways social well-being is enhanced in the global era, including the major welfare institutions that provide a cultural context for social welfare policy and practice.