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Content type: Examples
19th November 2021
Myanmar’s Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan (CERP) includes more than 50 measures over a 15-page document. With only two items being assigned a specific budget, the Economic Recovery Plan appears largely aspirational.
Beneficiaries and relevant areas to target are picked from data from township officials, recent surveys, the 2014 census, civil society organisations and local news sources. The Union government stated they have released a list of 16 criteria used to target transfers. At the time…
Content type: Examples
19th November 2021
The National Commission Action for Sierra Leone is providing one-off cash transfers to households in response to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cash recipients are being selected through field action from NaCSA and other governmental bodies. A scoring matrix based on ten assessment areas of potential vulnerability is used to consider whether a person is eligible to receive this disbursement. A score of more than seven vulnerabilities means an individual is eligible for support. Having…
Content type: Examples
19th November 2021
In 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Mozambique, the government started implementing the National Response Plan of Social Protection which aims to pay cash transfers to 1,582,179 beneficiaries. These cash transfers are done via mobile phone through the service Mpesa.
Throughout the roll-out of the programme, there have been reports of people being threatened and harassed over the phone by thugs demanding that benefit claimants hand in the phones to which the benefit is linked. It is not…
Content type: Examples
19th November 2021
In 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Mozambique, the government started implementing the National Response Plan of Social Protection which aims to pay cash transfers to 1,582,179 beneficiaries. These cash transfers are done via mobile phone through the service Mpesa.
Since then, there have been reports of people having registration and access difficulties, such as having wrong phone numbers associated with their names, and hence not being able to claim their benefits.
Adding to this,…
Content type: Examples
19th November 2021
Kwenda is a social protection program started in Angola in May 2020 to support people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and it is expected to last for 3 years. The program is backed by 420 million USD funding from the World Bank and has 4 distinct components.
In July 2021 the Angolan government announced that they were in a phase of ‘data validation’, where government teams visit neighbourhoods with ‘systemically generated’ provisional lists of beneficiaries. The government describes these…
Content type: Examples
17th November 2021
As a result of the challenges emerging from Covid-19 to disburse financial assistance, the government of Paraguay decided to change its food security programme, Ñangareko, from an in-kind benefit to a bank transfer consisting of a one-off payment of PYG 500,000 (= +/-73USD).
The Ñangareko Programme is aimed at those affected by Covid-19 which are stated to include the most vulnerable, informal workers, persons without a RUC (the unique taxpayer registry number) or social security, and who don’…
Content type: Examples
17th November 2021
A new COVID-19 Cash Transfer Programme for ID Poor Households was launched in June 2020 to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable groups of the population, including the needs of children aged 0-5 years old, persons with disabilities, the elderly, persons living with HIV/AIDS, and those identified as poor (ID Poor 1 and ID Poor 2) through the existing national ID Poor programme.
Those households identified as eligible beneficiaries need to register with an administrator at commune level,…
Content type: Examples
11th November 2021
The Jordanian government implemented at least 8 different social protection measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The successful implementation of rapid response projects across social insurance, social assistance and refugee protection was an incredibly important means of protecting low-wage workers and communities facing vulnerable and precarious situations. Within 6 months of the first Covid-19 cases in Jordan, social security measures were put in place to support an estimated 960,…
Content type: Examples
11th November 2021
In January 2021, the World Bank agreed to loan the Lebanese government $246,000,000 to finance an "emergency social safety net" project in response to Covid-19 and Lebanon's ongoing economic crisis.
As part of the project, the Lebanese Government must provide cash-transfers to approximately 147,000 Lebanese households. To be eligible to receive cash transfers, households must be
* Lebanese,
* assessed as living below the World Bank's "extreme poverty line", and
* belong to "pre-defined…
Content type: Examples
10th November 2021
A welfare benefit being rolled out in Nigerian in response to Covid-19 reportedly relies on highly data-intensive techniques.
The Rapid Response Registration Cash Transfer Project was set up by the Nigerian government to provide support to poor Nigerians located in urban and semi-urban areas that were not receiving any other form of welfare support.
According to statements by the Nigerian vice-president, the Rapid Response Register uses "scientifically validated methods of satellite remote…
Content type: Examples
10th November 2021
A third-party, privately-owned electronic wallet platform is being used to disburse welfare benefits in Honduras.
The Single Voucher is a one-time subsidy delivered through an electronic voucher that can be exchanged for food, medicine and /or medical supplies.
The benefit is disbursed in the form of a voucher that can be used in authorised establishments, namely supermarkets, pharmacies, grocery stores throughout the country. According to a Powerpoint presentation by the WHO and Honduran…
Content type: Examples
10th November 2021
A welfare benefit introduced by the Peruvian government not only relies on unclear eligibility criteria, but has been shown to exclude many.
Peru's Stay at Home bonus targets 2.7 million poor and non-extreme poor households. Those eligible are identified through the National Household Register, which categorises households into different bands. Among other factors, households categorised by the Register as being in poverty are deemed eligible to the benefit. However, the criteria used to…
Content type: Examples
10th November 2021
In 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Mozambique, the government started implementing the National Response Plan of Social Protection which aims to provide cash transfers to 1,582,179 beneficiaries.
The selection of priority areas to enroll people was based on a multimethodological approach using the MultiDimensional Poverty Index mapping that combines social and economic indicators. The index relied on the data gathered in the recent census, as well as high resolution satellite imaginary…
Content type: Examples
10th November 2021
Kwenda is a social protection program started in Angola in May 2020 to support people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and it is expected to last for 3 years. The program counts with 420 million USD funding from the World Bank and has 4 distinct components.
Besides aiding with the effects of the pandemic, the Angolan government additionally sees KWENDA as a way to increase banking and digital inclusion for populations. This digitisation includes the creation of a centralised database under…
Content type: Examples
9th November 2021
As a response to the current pandemic, Malawi has set an emergency welfare support programme aiming at delivering cash for a three to four months period to vulnerable households. The International Labour Organization and the World Food Programme have designed a mechanism to select which neighbourhoods most needed support. The mechanism was created based on data analysis, consultations with local councils and satellite data to identify "poverty hot spot." Beneficiaries can contact a call centre…
Content type: Examples
4th November 2021
As part of a collaboration with Unicef and the World Bank, the Malagasy government launched Tosika Fameno. Tosika Fameno is an unconditional cash transfer programme aiming to support 189,400 households affected by the pandemic. The benefit aims to address the needs of citizens in vulnerable situations from the town of Antananarivo, Moramanga, Toamasina and Fianarantsoa, where lockdown measures were put in place.
However, the way beneficiaries were chosen could raise questions when it comes to…
Content type: Examples
29th October 2021
The 20 years since the 9/11 attacks have fundamentally changed the way the New York Police Department operates, leading it to use facial recognition software, licence plate readers, and mobile X-ray vans, among other surveillance tools for both detecting and blocking potential terrorist attacks and solving minor crimes. Surveillance drones monitor mass protests, antiterrorism officers interrogate protesters, and the NYPD’s Intelligence Division uses antiterror tactics against gang violence and…
Content type: Examples
29th October 2021
Clashes between police and lockdown protesters have spawned reports of police brutality in Greece. Mobile phone footage of one such protest in March 2021 suggested that the police are using drones to surveil the protests, and some of those remanded have complained that they’ve been beaten and subjected to threats and sexual harassment while in custody. Disinfaux Collective has identified an individual caught on video throwing a petrol bomb as “either a police officer of the DRASI unit… or,under…
Content type: Examples
29th October 2021
The Myanmar military are stopping people in the street, checking through the data on their phones, and taking them to jail if they find suspicious messages or photos. At least 5,100 people were still in jail many months after opposing the February 1, 2021 military takeover. The spontaneous searches also deter individuals from continuing to post on social media or lead them to create new accounts they hope will evade detection, and avoid crowded streets where police or soldiers are likely to be…
Content type: Examples
29th October 2021
July 2021 saw violent protests that left 72 people dead and 1,300 in prison after former president Jacob Zuma was jailed for failing to appear before a constitutional court’s inquiry into corruption during his time in office. In response, the South African government deployed the military onto the streets in the provinces of Gauteng and Kwazulu Natal, and began monitoring social media platforms and tracking those who “are sharing false information and calling for civil disobedience”. President…
Content type: Examples
29th October 2021
The South African government urged social media platforms to trace and remove posts that incite violence, share false information, and call for civil disobedience after a July 2021 series of spiralling protests sparked by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuka. A number of other African countries such as eSwatini, Senegal, Nigeria, Uganda, Niger, and the DRC have also been increasingly using tracking software, internet shutdowns, and social media monitoring during protests and elections.…
Content type: Examples
29th October 2021
Following the largest protests seen on the island in decades, Cuba’s government introduced new social media regulations that make inciting acts that alter public order a crime, and ordered ISPs to shut off access for those who “spread fake news or hurt the image of the state”. Critics believe the new rules are intended to curb dissent, as the protests spread across the island from a small town, where the first protest was convened in an online forum and spread via a Facebook livestream. Deputy…
Content type: Examples
29th October 2021
The global internet monitoring firm NetBlocks finds that Cuba has restricted access to social media and messaging platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as some Telegram servers, on the govt-owned telecom provider ETECSA during the largest protests the country has seen in decades. Access to the streaming services YouTube and Google Video was also limited. The protests focused on rising prices, curbs on civil liberties, and the government’s handling of the pandemic.…
Content type: Examples
29th October 2021
Israel is abandoning its longstanding tactic of raiding Palestinian homes for “intelligence mapping” in favour of digitised surveillance that includes a vast and sophisticated 20-year-old network of CCTV, ANPR, and IP cameras throughout the Old City in East Jerusalem (“Mabat 2000”), automated facial recognition-equipped checkpoints (provided by the domestic company AnyVision) between Israel and the occupied West Bank, and drone surveillance at Palestinian protests. The drones over weekly…
Content type: Examples
29th September 2021
Vaccinating a large portion of the population against COVID-19 is a critical step toward curbing the pandemic – within China and around the world. But setting population percentage targets without clear protections for people’s rights opens up the possibility of authorities abusing the quota to force jabs. And this is exactly what has played out in recent months across the country.
The Chinese government’s forced vaccination tactics, which go far beyond “mandates” being debated and discussed…
Content type: Long Read
15th September 2021
Image found here.
Founded in 1959, Bounty UK Limited markets itself as an information service for pregnant women and new mothers. Prior to the pandemic, it was best known for distributing “Bounty packs” of free samples of baby products to pregnant women at midwife appointments, to new mothers on maternity wards in the UK and through its digital presence via its website and app. Bounty representatives also sold new born photography packages to new mothers at the hospital bedside. Bounty entered…
Content type: Examples
7th September 2021
The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced that it would block the mobile phone SIM cards of people in five districts of Peshawar division which were not vaccinated by the deadline set of 31 August 2021.
Officials justified this decision following the low numbers of people coming to the 800 vaccination centres in the province despite many initiatives led by the district administrations and health department to improve Covid-19 vaccination rates.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/…
Content type: Examples
26th July 2021
In January 2021, the Indian Health Ministry officially allowed Aadhaar-based authentication when creating a UHID for identification and authentication of beneficiaries for various health IT applications promoted by the Ministry. This enabled the Co-Win portal, which is used to book COVID-19 vaccination appointments, to accept Aadhaar for authentication. As per Clause 2a of Co-Win’s privacy policy, “If you choose to use Aadhaar for vaccination, you may also choose to get a Unique Health ID (UHID…
Content type: Examples
29th June 2021
It is said, better late than never. Some activists and academics, hesitantly, thought the old maxim could be applied to the Centre's micro-credit facility for street vendors – which was indisputably behindhand, in the wake of the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, announced on March 24.
But, more than a month down the line since its launch, the programme is not proving to be any beneficial either.
The majority of the eligible vendors are not able to avail the Rs. 10,000 loan, under the Pradhan…
Content type: Examples
29th June 2021
On 21 April 2020, it was published in the Official Gazette of Mexico City that 4,264 non-salaried workers would be granted basic economic support in a single payment to cope with the health emergency.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion (STyFE) had the possibility to launch this programme, due to the registration it has as it is in charge of granting work licenses. That is why they decided to grant it to 4,264 people with valid or pending credentials and for whom a budget of 6,396,…