Investing in Social Protection for Inclusion, Resilience, and Efficiency (INSPIRE) Project

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The Additional Financing (AF) will bridge the reforms supported by the original INSPIRE project and other World Bank-financed operations with the next generation of Social Safety Net (SSN) reforms. It leverages the World Bank engagement in social protection sector in Ukraine, helping to sustain the provision of social benefits to over 2.6 million people during the war, enhancing existing systems and programs, and contributing to longer-term post-war recovery efforts. Twenty-nine types of benefits financed by the project provide social relief to low-income and energy-vulnerable households, vulnerable families, children, and students, as well as persons with disabilities. The AF will support structural improvements of the social assistance system to be achieved through (i) piloting a new Basic Income Benefit (BIB) program, which represents a major shift in social policy by combining various benefits into a single, efficient, shock-responsive, and inclusive program; (ii) further expanding the Guaranteed Minimum Income – Ukraine's main anti-poverty social assistance program - to support low-income families during the transition to the BIB; (iii) improving the administration of benefits; (iv) introducing rent subsidies and people-centric social services to strengthen support for Internally Displaced Persons; (v) and enhancing access to affordable childcare for vulnerable families. This comprehensive and cohesive reform package will help accelerate and scale up the modernization of the SSNs, paving the way for introducing the BIB program to significantly enhance support for vulnerable groups.