Jan 15, 2019

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has awarded a grant entitled “Assessment of Impact of the Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) of Malawi on Beneficiaries’ Vulnerabilities throughout the Lifecycle” to CPC Fellows Clare Barrington, PhD, MPH, and Sudhanshu (Ashu) Handa, PhD.

Over the course of its six months of funding, the $100,000 will support the researchers to identify particularly vulnerable sub-groups of beneficiaries such as orphans, female-headed households, or pregnant women, and identify ways in which the program can enhance its positive effect on their well-being. The study will design and implement focus group discussions (FGDs) with up to six types of sub-groups and explore their vulnerabilities, and ways that the SCTP can support their particular needs. Based on this analysis, recommendations will be made to the Government of Malawi on ways to strengthen the Social Cash Transfer Programme to address the particular needs of these sub-groups.

Barrington and Handa are Carolina Population Center Faculty Fellows. Barrington is an Associate Professor of Health Behavior in UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. Handa is the Lawrence I. Gilbert Distinguished Professor in UNC’s Department of Public Policy.