Towards shock-responsive social protection: Lessons from the COVID-19 response in Uganda

“Aside from an initial food distribution programme, the GoU had limited ability to respond to the negative economic impacts of the shock using existing social protection programmes in 2020. In fact, in the first three months of the pandemic (March–June 2020), the Senior Citizen’s Grant (SCG) was forced to pause operations while Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were developed to facilitate safe cash disbursements, which meant that even existing programme beneficiaries did not receive their normal transfers during this period.”