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Conditional cash transfer program and women's empowerment: a case study in the Sidi Bouabdelli-Tiznit province, Morocco

thesis
posted on 2023-05-26, 13:37 authored by Omar Ben Haman
Conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) or Tayssir have become the most popular government welfare paradigm for Morocco in this new millennium. The main objective of these programs is to lower poverty levels within a short-term period by distributing cash and improving school attendance. This study addresses the relationship between CCTs and planned social inclusion-promoting social development objectives in rural areas of Morocco. Specifically, this study aims to understand how Tayssir. develops social inclusion by exploring three themes: firstly, how Tayssir creates social spaces for women’s empowerment; secondly, how it addresses issues in children welfare; and finally how it encourages the participation of children in rural primary schools. The qualitative research, which was conducted between May to July 2017, utilised a case study methodology that involved mothers, between the ages of 33 and 65 years, from rural villages who benefited from CCTs. The research was carried out using a participant-observation approach, and by conducting in-depth interviews with respondents. The study found that CCTs had promoted increased empowerment for rural women, particularly in terms of mobility and accessibility. Besides this, the financial assistance which was transferred to women motivated rural children to attend school. Furthermore, the study discovered that cash transfers were solely spent on school expenditure, thus indicating that CCTs contributed to improving child welfare. However, despite the positive effects of Tayssir, some negative aspects were observed, such as the curbing of women’s participation in CCTs due to cultural barriers. The gap between school attendance and performance was also evinced in this qualitative research. Thus, this research raises some questions for development planning on the issue of social inclusion. Among these questions are the effectiveness of cash transfer programs in addressing women’s empowerment, children welfare, and school participation as well as the question of sustainability beyond state support. CCTs as a mechanism for social inclusion is important, however there is still much that can be learned from it. The findings will serve as a future reference on the subject of social policy, development studies, and gender studies. Also, policy-makers and bureaucrats can build on this body of knowledge by looking at the short-term effects of CCTs on women and their relation to community development.

History

Pagination

232

Department/School

School of Social Sciences

Publisher

University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur

Repository Status

  • Restricted