Art Appraisal Blog

COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on women must be urgently addressed through the provision of digital financial literacy and access.

This technical brief explains how Namibia was able to successfully execute its emergency program with remarkable efficiency, distributing a one-time benefit to 747,000 screened applicants, requiring only 72 hours to process each application. The case highlights the value of having invested in an integrated digital National Population Register, housing the Civil Registry and the ID Production System with a very high coverage, and linking it with other government electronic databases.

Despite efforts from governments across the globe, the poor lack awareness of social protection and welfare delivery programs. This blog explores the intricacies of government communication using case studies. It also discusses mastering the elements of planning, research, content, and outreach channels to develop an ideal communication strategy.

Nations worldwide have responded to COVID-19 through 1,100 social protection programs to help 1.8 billion-plus people. Yet recipients are largely in the dark about the programs and do not know how to access funds. This blog examines the importance of better communication around social protection programs, particularly for the vulnerable population.

Since the onset of the pandemic, the low- and moderate-income (LMI) segment had a direct impact on their day-to-day life. We reflect through Kabita, an LMI customer in Bangladesh, on the barriers LMIs faced during the pandemic and how DFS nudged them towards building resilience.

The report discusses what the LMI segments know, understand, and feel about the COVID-19 outbreak and examines its effect on them. The report also highlights actionable recommendations for policymakers to design suitable interventions that can help the LMI segment cope better in this difficult situation

MSC conducted a research study to assess what the low- and middle-income (LMI) segments in Uganda understand about COVID-19 in terms of awareness, preventive measures being taken, gender dynamics at play in their households, and the use of digital financial services during this time. We present our findings in this report.

The COVID-19 Exclusion Working Group has focused its efforts on improving the design and deployment of emergency social assistance programs to make them work better for women.

This note describes how the Indian state of Bihar addressed the policy challenges to implement a cash transfer program for migrants and the lessons it holds for India and globally.

Increasing women's economic empowerment is an important motivation for expanding access to digital financial services for women.