Although cited as one of the great success stories of development reaching large groups of the poor, social protection has been critiqued as gender-blind. This is despite decades of experience showing that the feminization of poverty and gender inequality is a major driver of poverty and that women’s empowerment contributes to poverty alleviation. This paper will illustrate the importance of a gender lens in social protection and highlight how gender-blind social protection policies risk entrenching gender inequalities. Furthermore, it will demonstrate how attention to gender in the design of social protection programmes can improve its effectiveness in achieving more inclusive development

In INCLUDE’s thematic approach to inclusive development, special attention is given to opportunities for women. INCLUDE and the Gender Resource Facility (GRF) teamed up to gather and analyse knowledge on what works best for women in enterprise promotion and social protection.