Gender Norms and the Implementation of Social Protection: Evidence from Ethiopia

Social protection is increasingly used as an instrument for promoting gender equality. However, there is limited evidence on how the implementation of social protection programmes affects the achievement of gender equality objectives, particularly how gender norms shape implementers’ perceptions and their interpretation and translation of gender design features. This study analyses the role of gender norms in shaping the implementation of the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) in Ethiopia, using qualitative data and a value-critical discourse analysis. Our findings suggest that when the values underpinning the gender design features aligned with prevailing gender norms, the policy rationale of those features were largely adopted. However, when these values diverged from prevailing gender norms, policy rationales were modified in ways that undermined the programme’s gender intent, and in some instances were not adopted, which may have led to implementation gaps. These findings demonstrate the need for policymakers to account for and address the complex interplay between gender norms and gender equality objectives of social protection to achieve gender-transformative change.