How can cash transfer programmes work for women and children? A review of gender- and child-sensitive design features

Abstract

"This paper aims to outline good strategies and practices in designing and implementing gender- and child-sensitive cash transfer programmes (CTPs) based on international experience. The paper's focus on single programme features underlines the significance of considering anticipated effects on women and children during each step of programme design, implementation and evaluation. The objective of this literature review is to contribute to a better understanding of how CTPs can—at worst—reinforce gender inequalities and neglect children's needs, and to show ways to prevent these outcomes by enhancing women's and children's empowerment. In addition to presenting strategies that have shown positive impacts across different programmes and countries, this paper also demonstrates how the same feature can have varying effects in different contexts and thus emphasises the importance of considering situational circumstances in designing and implementing each step of a CTP". (...)