Registries and targeting

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Directing social assistance to the right people at the right time

Governments around the world are investing in social protection to reduce poverty and to protect their populations against various risks and shocks, from life-cycle events to pandemics and disasters. Given the great diversity of schemes, and the often uncoordinated arrangements for administering them, it is a major challenge to ensure that the right forms of support reach the right people at the right time.

Digital information systems capable of managing and integrating large amounts of data can greatly improve the targeting of social assistance. Such systems often rely upon registries which contain demographic and socio-economic information about people who are already receiving social assistance (‘beneficiary registries’) – or who could be eligible in the future (‘social registries’). Different programmes can access the information in these registries to identify eligible beneficiaries according to their chosen criteria. If they hold the right types of data, registries can facilitate both poverty and categorical targeting.
Germany works closely with partner governments to strengthen the implementation of social protection schemes and to develop social protection systems which are inclusive and adaptable in the face of changing risks. On this page you will find articles, studies and events which describe German-supported interventions related to registries and targeting mechanisms.