By: Edwin Bett, HomeNet Africa Regional Coordinator
HomeNet Africa, in partnership with HomeNet Kenya and the African Platform for Social Protection (APSP), with support from WIEGO under the project “Building African Workers’ Power in the Digital Age”, held a two-day workshop on 18–19 February 2026. The training covered the following areas:
- Definition of social protection, key terminologies, and its nexus with health, education, livelihoods, and more
- Common myths about social protection:
a) Social protection leads to corruption and missing funds
b) Social protection is unaffordable in lower-income contexts
c) Social protection, or “free money,” may make people lazy - Importance of legal and policy frameworks in social protection
- Social protection design, including the life cycle approach, with practical lessons from Kenya and other parts of the world
- Debates around social protection transfer values
- Discussions on coverage and financing
- Debates on system efficiency and risks of “double dipping”
- Examining whether digitalization is a silver bullet for vulnerable populations with low digital literacy and basic phones (“katululu” phones)
- How the Kenyan government manages care support systems for beneficiaries requiring signed documentation
- Involvement of citizens and other stakeholders in feedback and social protection programs (Kenya Government experience)
The workshop was facilitated by the Senior Program Officer from the Policy and Partnership Unit, National Social Protection Secretariat, State Department of Social Protection, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.
