Social Protection and Disability: Policy Lessons from Vietnam

残疾人在世界贫困人口中所占比例高得不成比例。认识到残疾与贫困之间的相互关系，导致脆弱性增加和社会排斥，残疾已被标记为实现联合国千年发展目标和消除世界贫困的关键发展问题。因此，低收入和中等收入国家越来越多地将残疾人纳入政府社会保护方案的主流。然而，很少有人评价这些方案对残疾人士的效力。这表明在为决策者提供信息和最大化项目影响以改善残疾人士生活方面存在相当大的知识缺口。本研究评估了越南两项政府残疾人士社会保护方案的有效性，其中包括现金转移方案和免费医疗保险方案。越南提供了一个很好的研究案例，因为它结合了高质量的生活水平数据，其中包括最新的国际残疾分类，以及相对先进的残疾人社会保护法律和行政框架。对全国住户调查数据进行严格的定量分析，并与来自政府、残疾人组织、残疾人士及其家人的主要利益相关者进行定性访谈和焦点小组讨论，以评估针对残疾人士的计划和提供经济保护以防止贫困的有效性。研究结果将通过越南主要利益攸关方参加的一系列讲习班进行讨论和传播。这一广泛的用户参与战略旨在使研究包容残疾，并协调讨论如何在政府社会保护方案中最好地针对残疾问题。这项研究将为其他试图将残疾纳入社会保护方案的低收入国家提供重要的政策教训和建议。

People with disabilities (PWDs) represent a disproportionately high proportion of the world's poor. Recognising the reciprocal relationship between disability and poverty, leading to increased vulnerability and social exclusion, disability has been flagged as a key development issue in meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and in eradicating world poverty. As a consequence, PWDs are increasingly being mainstreamed into government social protection programmes in low- and middle-income countries. However, there has been little evaluation of the effectiveness of these programmes with respect to PWDs. This represents a considerable gap in knowledge with which to inform policy makers, and maximise programme impacts to improve the lives of PWDs. This research evaluates the effectiveness of two government social protection programmes for PWDs in Vietnam, including a cash transfer programme and a free health insurance programme. Vietnam provides an excellent case study due to the combination of high quality living standards data, that includes the latest international classification of disability, and a relatively advanced legal and administrative framework for the social protection of PWDs. Rigorous quantitative analysis of national household survey data will be combined with qualitative interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders from Government, Disabled People's Organizations (DPOs), and PWDs and their families, to evaluate the effectiveness of programmes in targeting PWDs and in providing financial protection against poverty. The findings from the research will be discussed and disseminated through a series of workshops involving key stakeholders in Vietnam. This extensive user engagement strategy is aimed at making the research disability-inclusive and coordinating discussion on how to best target disability within government social protection programmes. This research will draw important policy lessons and recommendations for other LMCs that are attempting to make social protection programmes inclusive of disability.