The capacity of existing non-contributory social cash transfer schemes to support poor and vulnerable households before and during the crisis is discussed in section four. Section five presents avenues of reform to strengthen the effectiveness of social protection in Central Asia and concludes with potential areas of involvement of the CARRA process. In hindsight, the impact of the global economic crises in the countries of Central Asia was relatively mild (Slay, 2011). Countries in the region are expected to return to their growth path at latest during 2011 as projections from the International Monetary Fund indicate (IMF, 2010b).