"World Bank / Jordan: Poverty Targeting Algorithms Harm Rights,"

An automated cash transfer program in Jordan developed with significant financing from the World Bank is undermined by errors, discriminatory policies, and stereotypes about poverty, Human Rights Watch said in a report released [13 June 2023].

The 74-Page report, "Automated Neglect': How the World Bank's Push to Allocate Cash Assistance Using Algorithms Threatens Rights," details how an automated cash transfer program in Jordan commonly Known as Takaful (a word similar to solidarity in Arabic) profiles and ranks the income and well-being of jordanian families to determine who should receive support - an approach known as poverty targeting. The program has since been renamed the Unified Cash Transfer Program. Poverty-targeted programs, which the World Bank has funded in Jordan and seven other countries in the Middle East and North Africa, are depriving many people of their right to social security even as they go hungry, fall behind on rent, and take on crippling debt.

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The World Bank and the Jordanian government should phase out targeting cash transfers based purely on oncome and socio-economic status, Human Rights Watch said. Instead, it should establish a universal social protection system, ensuring that everyone receives income support at key moments throughout their lives...

In response to these findings, the Bank wrote that information systems and technology can facilitate the delivery of social protection programs, but “are not substitutes” for interactions between institutions and people. It added that Takaful “has proven to be amongst the most redistributive and cost-effective poverty reduction programs currently active in Jordan.” The Bank is working with NAF to refine the targeting algorithm and expects to disclose this evaluation in July 2023.