Delivery Systems for Social Protection

About Delivery Systems

Delivery Systems provide the operating environment to enable social policy program implementation at speed and scale, connecting individuals and households with institutions and providers, ensuring the distribution of benefits and services, and enabling effective monitoring and evaluation.

Context

Programs such as social Safety Nets, Pensions, and Labor Market interventions are vital in helping people manage risks and improve their lives. But their success depends on delivery systems that ensure benefits and services reach those who need them in a timely manner. These systems include outreach, registration, eligibility checks, service delivery, and ongoing support across the delivery chain, all enabled by communications, technology, and performance monitoring:

The World Bank Group has significantly expanded its support for these systems, with a focus on Digital Tools such as secure IDs, Social Registries as Digital Platforms for Inclusive Service Delivery, and digital payments. These tools improve efficiency, reduce fraud, and expand financial inclusion. For example, digital payments have helped millions—especially women—access financial services for the first time.

Countries can leverage social protection delivery systems as a springboard for integrated “one-stop-shop” service delivery platforms, providing a single-entry point for individuals and households to access services. This could be achieved by linking social registries with labor market information systems, public employment services, skills programs, case management services, financial inclusion initiatives, health and education interventions, and other relevant services.

The strength of these systems became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries with robust delivery systems (e.g. digital IDs, social registries, and digital payment platforms) were able to respond rapidly and efficiently. By investing in smart, adaptable and inclusive systems, countries can reach those who need it most, when they need it most.

Strategy

The World Bank Group is committed to reaching 500 million people (including 250 million women) with social protection and employment support by 2030. Investing in delivery systems can help build a foundation to reach people with quality services when they need help due to unforeseen crises, or as they navigate transitions related to aging, a changing climate, or technological innovations.

Key actions include:

• Leveraging standardized diagnostic toolkits to identify gaps and areas for improvement across the social protection delivery chain —including regulatory gaps, procedural bottlenecks, digital ecosystem limitations, and institutional and capacity constraints—and using the findings to help countries define reform actions and develop roadmaps to strengthen and scale delivery systems.
• Strengthening the legal and institutional frameworks that underpin national digital delivery systems, including data protection and privacy laws, digital identity governance, secure data-sharing arrangements, and regulations that enable interoperability across agencies.
• Establishing and strengthening core digital delivery systems—including social registries, beneficiary management systems, grievance redress systems, case management, and digital payments—that help connect eligible people to services and benefits based on their needs, manage the delivery of support, and provide accessible, multi-channel grievance redress mechanisms integrated into delivery systems, with digital solutions that improve transparency and response times.
• Expanding the coverage and dynamism of social registries through large-scale surveys, on-demand registration, and continuous data update channels as appropriate, while scaling digital payments through open, interoperable payment systems built to operate at scale and remain accessible to all.
• Leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure—including digital identification, digital payments, data exchange platforms, and interoperability standards—to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, inclusion, and accountability of core digital delivery systems.

The WBG will mobilize financing and provide technical assistance to scale core digital infrastructure, including social registries, payment systems, and case management platforms, through IDA and IBRD operations, broader sector investments, donor partnerships, and results-based financing linked to measurable improvements in coverage and service quality.

Results and Impact

Investments in delivery systems are changing lives. Here’s how countries are turning challenges into opportunities with innovative solutions.

In Zambia, the Scaling-up Shock Responsive Social Protection Project is addressing challenges like weak management systems and limited digital payment infrastructure. The World Bank introduced the CORE-MIS, an integrated web-based platform to streamline operations. It helped to revamp payment strategies for urban and rural areas. Urban beneficiaries gained access to multiple payment service providers with real-time processing, while rural payments were supported by an offline Android app with enhanced security features. These innovations have digitized payments for over 2 million households, improving efficiency, reducing fraud, and saving recipients time and money.

The World Bank has been a key partner in Ethiopia's digital transformation journey, addressing historical barriers such as limited mobile service coverage, the absence of digital identity systems, and restrictive regulatory frameworks. With the Bank's support, Ethiopia has modernized payment systems with agent banking and a national financial inclusion strategy.  This enabled programs like the Rural Social Protection Program to transition from in-kind or cash-based disbursements to electronic payments, benefiting over 1.1 million households by 2024, a significant leap from just 18,000 in 2015. Financial inclusion has surged, with account ownership rising from 22 percent in 2014 to 46 percent in 2021, adding 20 million new account holders, including 3.4 million mobile money users.

Despite facing extraordinary challenges,  Lebanon  has made remarkable strides in digital delivery systems with significant support from the World Bank through the Emergency Social Safety Net Project (ESSNP). Amid a severe economic downturn, the government rapidly developed the DAEM Social Registry, registering half the population within two months and disbursing $205 million in cash transfers to 93,600 vulnerable households by May 2024. Built using open-source technologies, the system ensures transparency and security with third-party cybersecurity monitoring and restricted user access. This resilient platform has become the foundation for integrating additional programs, such as the National Poverty Targeting Program, and transitioning into a comprehensive social protection information system (DAEM SPIS). Lebanon’s success underscores the importance of thorough IT assessments, a clear development roadmap, and strong governmental commitment to advancing social protection in fragile contexts.

Research & Publications

• Global Insights on Social Registries: Coverage and Beyond (2025) - This report takes stock of the remarkable global expansion of social registries — now operational in 62 countries and covering 1.1 billion people — and shows how these systems are being leveraged as digital platforms for inclusive service delivery across social protection, health, education, and beyond.
• Sourcebook on the Foundations of Social Protection Delivery Systems (2020) | Social Protection Delivery Systems Framework Presentation - The defining framing document for the delivery chain and delivery systems in social protection, this Sourcebook synthesizes global experience to provide practical, end-to-end guidance on how governments can effectively and efficiently design and manage the full spectrum of social protection delivery — from outreach and registration to payments, grievance redress, and performance assessment.
• Implementing CORE-MIS to Strengthen Social Protection Delivery in Burundi - Burundi’s shift from its initial management information systems (MIS) to the open-source CORE-MIS (powered by open IMIS) offers valuable insights in terms of implementation approach for other countries. Key benefits include cost efficiency and enhanced government ownership. The transition also underscores challenges with previous MIS; notably vendor lock-in, which restricted flexibility and operational capacity.
• Social Registries for Social Assistance and Beyond: A Guidance Note and Assessment Tool (2017) - This guidance note defines the role of social registries within the delivery chain as integrated inclusion systems, illustrates the diverse institutional and information system architectures countries have adopted, and offers a practical assessment tool to help governments evaluate and strengthen their own social registry systems.
• Dynamic Social Registries for Adaptive Social Protection (2025) - This paper makes the case for continuously updated, on-demand social registries as a critical tool for adaptive social protection, enabling governments to rapidly identify and reach newly vulnerable populations during crises, climate shocks, and other emergencies.
• The Role of Digital in the COVID-19 Social Assistance Response - Drawing on 178 programs across 85 countries, this report examines how digital identification, payments, and trusted data sharing enabled governments to rapidly expand social assistance during COVID-19. It shows how investments in digital public infrastructure helped countries reach new beneficiaries and deliver support more safely, efficiently, and at scale.

More on Delivery Systems

• Outcomes: Social Registries as Digital Platforms for Inclusive Service Delivery
• Blog: Lebanon: Lessons from social protection delivery systems during the pandemic
• Blog: Including those in need, when they need it: Why dynamic social registries matter in shock-prone contexts like the Sahel

Our Partners in Delivery Systems

• Digital Convergence Initiative (DCI)