Social Assistance and Successful Advocacy in Georgia: A social protection case study

Abstract

This case study provides information about Oxfam's social protection project that began in Georgia in 2005. Oxfam worked with the Association of Young Economists of Georgia (AYEG) to gather information about household poverty levels, and to advocate for change in the government’s social aid system. This system - income support (cash transfers) and free health care – was previously failing to reach some of the country’s poorest people.

Through monitoring, research and advocacy, AYEG and Oxfam were able to influence social policy, and as a result, the poorest and most vulnerable people’s access to state benefits. Adjustments were made to the scoring methodology, as a consequence of this work, which resulted in an additional 34,000 families being included in the national social assistance system.