Social Protection and Disability: Policy Lessons from Vietnam

残疾人占世界贫困人口的比例高得不成比例。认识到残疾与贫穷之间的相互关系，导致更多的脆弱性和社会排斥，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一个关键发展问题。因此，在低收入和中等收入国家，残疾人越来越多地被纳入政府社会保护方案的主流。然而，很少有人评估这些方案在残疾人士方面的效果。这意味着在向政策制定者提供信息和最大限度地发挥方案影响以改善残疾人士生活方面存在相当大的知识差距。这项研究评估了越南政府为残疾人提供的两项社会保护计划的有效性，包括现金转移计划和免费医疗保险计划。越南提供了一个很好的案例研究，因为它结合了高质量的生活标准数据，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。将对全国住户调查数据进行严格的量化分析，并与来自政府、残疾人组织和残疾人及其家庭的主要利益攸关方进行定性访谈和重点小组讨论，以评估方案在针对残疾人和为消除贫困提供经济保护方面的有效性。这项研究的结果将通过越南主要利益攸关方参加的一系列研讨会进行讨论和传播。这一广泛的用户参与战略旨在使研究涵盖残疾问题，并协调关于如何在政府社会保护方案中最好地针对残疾问题的讨论。这项研究将为其他试图制定包括残疾在内的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.