Guidance Note

Colin, Loïc; Anne, Hilger; Lufumpa, Nakawala; Ng, Odyssia

Guidance Note

Autores

Editor

Washington, DC: World Bank

Descripción

Children born in West African countries today are expected to reach 30 to 40 percent of their potential productivity in the future, due to poor health and education outcomes. Social safety net programs that include human capital accompanying measures are well placed to encourage household level investments in child health, nutrition, education, and development and strengthen the impact of social protection programs on human capital outcomes. Human capital accompanying measures, defined as communication activities that encourage investments in human capital, are widely implemented in West Africa. However, content and implementation modalities vary across countries, and need to take into account a variety of different factors to be effective and operational. This guidance note outlines the steps and considerations for developing human capital accompanying measures in West African countries, further standardising their design and implementation. It is designed to be a starting point for practitioners. Step-by-step guidance is provided on the development of content, identification of the recipient population, identification of service providers, design of program activities, and design of monitoring and evaluation systems. Each section details key considerations, the average timeline, stakeholders involved in each decision, and good practice from similar contexts. This guidance note concludes with an examination of two case studies of human capital accompanying measures that have proven to be effective and/or impactful in The Gambia and Mauritania.