While the countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union have made significant progress in reducing poverty in the past five years, poverty and vulnerability remain significant problems. More than 60 million are poor and more than 150 million are vulnerable. Most of the poor are the working poor. Many others face deprivations in terms of access and quality of public services. Regional inequalities both between and within countries are large. The highest levels of absolute poverty are found in the poor countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, but most of the region's poor and...

Sheds light on the complex, bumpy and non-linear process of how some flagship food-based social protection programs have evolved over time, and how they currently work. In particular, this volume lays out the broad trends in reforms, including a growing move from in-kind modalities to cash transfers, from universality to targeting, and from agriculture to social protection.

Provides the conceptual and analytical framework for assessing social protection and labour programs, as well as presenting a guide for individuals seeking to conduct SP performance analysis.