National Workshop on
National Rural Employment Gurantee in India –
Lessons from Implementation "As part of ongoing networking, advocacy and dissemination efforts of the Social Protection in Asia programme, ISST and IHD, New Delhi organized a two day National Workshop on at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore during September 8-9, 2009. The workshop brought together over 60 scholars and practitioners from across South Indian states, who shared their field experiences of the NREGS and helped in identifying recommendations for its effective implementation. Participants discussed progress of the NREGS and highlighted issues and concerns for better delivery of scheme benefits. Findings of field research studies carried out by IHD and ISST were also discussed at the workshop. Additionally over 15 papers were presented which discussed process dimensions, state-wise issues and problems of implementation and thematic aspects like reaching poor women, Dalits and innovative experiences of social audit. A brief summary of conference proceedings will be shared soon. For further details on conference programme, participants and presentations, see
http://www.socialprotectionasia.org/Conference1.asp
SPA Annual Policy Conference and Research Workshop, 1-5th June 2009, Hanoi
The annual policy and research conference of the Social Protection in Asia programme was held in Hanoi, Vietnam on June 1-5, 2009. Organised by the Insitute for Human Development, New Delhi and Insitute of Development Studies, Sussex, the conference brought together policy makers and researchers to share understanding, experiences, lessons, and barriers to the extension of social protection policies across the globe - Latin America, Southern Africa and through diverse regions of Asia. A panel of experts from Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa discussed the implications of the economic crisis for social protection needs and responses in these regions. Country specific challenges were raised, and common trends and concerns in extension of social protection across regions were identified. The conference included key note presentations from Vietnamese officials, providing an informative overview of Vietnam’s social protection challenges and policy responses. The context of the discussions also revolved around the global economic crisis and the implications for poverty, vulnerability and the future direction of social protection policies. The conference allowed for developing of a broader social protection agenda, through different learnings and experiences.
Conference programme
Workshop on Shelter Security and Social Protection for the Urban Poor and the Migrants in Asia February 11-13, 2009 - at Ahmedabad, India
The thematic workshop titled ‘Shelter Security and Social Protection for the Urban Poor and the Migrants in Asia’ was held at CEPT University and organized by CEPT University and the MHT SEWA under the SPA programme. The papers presented and discussions at this workshop explored the links between shelter security and access to various urban services, namely water supply, sanitation, transport, health care, education, social security, social assistance and livelihood security. Besides the research partners from India, China, and Vietnam, participants from the South Asian region attended the workshop.
United Nations Ministerial Conference - Social Impact of the Economic Crisis in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Turkey, 7-8 December 2009, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Organized by ILO, UNICEF, FAO and UNDP and hosted by the Government of Kazakhstan, the conference will focus on the social impact of the global financial and economic crisis in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. It will bring together the Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs and senior officials from the Ministries of Labour, Finance/Economy and Agriculture of the 13 countries, as well as high-level representatives of the United Nations system, international and regional financial institutions (IFIs), regional organizations, bilateral cooperation agencies, international employers' and workers' organizations, civil society and regional academia.
The conference will focus on the areas of employment and labour market development, social protection and food security and agricultural development and will provide a good opportunity to take stock of and share experience on effective anti-crisis polices, and the lessons learned. It will also provide a platform for refocusing the debate on how to stimulate recovery and shape longer-term strategies that can assist countries to move towards their optimal development paths.
International Workshop on “Community Mobilization through SHG Formation For Economic and Integrated Development”; 18-22 January 2009; Bangkok, Thailand
The event is organized every year to help exchange international experiences, collate and synergize the learning modules at a cross cultural level. To know more about the programme and the organization,
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Poverty Reduction, Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform; 15-26 March 2010; Bangkok, Thailand
World Bank is organizing a course that explores key elements of designing efficient and financially sustainable population policies and reproductive health programs in the context of health sector reform and Millennium Development Goals. The course will be held at the ChulalongkornUniversity in Bangkok.
Course on "International Trade and Labour Markets: Analytical Concepts, Techniques and Policy
Interpretations", ITC-ILO Campus in Turin, Italy; 3-7 May 2010,
conducted by the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITC-ILO)
The course aims at enhancing the analytical skills of participants to examine the interrelationship between international trade, labour markets and development. The course is highly relevant to officials and professionals who work, or are poised to work, on development policy issues including trade policy and trade negotiations and labour market policies.
Ministerial Conference on Social Protection; May 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh
UNESCO will co-organise this conference with the Ministry of Social Welfare of Bangladesh and within the framework of its Management of Social Transformations programme (MOST). This ministerial conference will be the third meeting to be organized in the context of UNESCO Forum of Ministers on Social Development from South Asia, launched in 2006 in Pakistan. The Forum is intended to offer a platform for social dialogue and exchange of information on social policies in South Asia, among different stakeholders, such as researchers, policy makers, activists and to facilitate social policies based on research and sound evidence.
Ten Years of War against Poverty: What Have We Learned since 2000? What Should We Do 2010-2020? University of Manchester; 8-10 September 2010
The Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) will celebrate ten years of poverty research with an international conference hosted by the Brooks World Poverty Institute (BWPI) at the University of Manchester . This event will bring together leading poverty researchers and actors for poverty reduction to: (1) review the ‘state of the art’ in poverty reduction; (2) showcase CPRC’s key research findings on chronic poverty; (3) set the research and policy agenda on poverty research for the next 10 years (2010-2020). The conference will take place just two weeks before the UN General Assembly convenes to review progress towards achieving the MDGs.
Papers are invited that conceptually explore poverty dynamics; present empirical studies on poverty reduction; explain new methodologies of measuring multi-dimensional poverty; and/or inform policymaking in poverty reduction. The deadline for submitting abstracts and panel proposals is 31 January 2010.
For further details, please visit the conference website:
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Poverty Reduction, Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform; 15-26 March 2010; Bangkok, Thailand
World Bank is organizing a course that explores key elements of designing efficient and financially sustainable population policies and reproductive health programs in the context of health sector reform and Millennium Development Goals. The course will be held at the ChulalongkornUniversity in Bangkok.
The 51st Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) The annual conference of the Indian Society of Labour Economics is to be held on 11-13 December 2009 at Punjabi University, Patiala (India). Researchers and other professionals are invited to contribute papers on the conference themes - Labour Market Discrimination, Right to Employment, Labour Regulations in India.
Women, Employment and Poverty in Bihar
An International Seminar on the above theme is being organized by The Department of Personnel Management and Industrial Relations, Patna University, Bihar and IHD at Patna during 7-8 November 2009.
UN Report on World Survey on the Role of Women in Development
The theme for the World Survey in 2009 is "Women's control over economic resources and access to financial resources, including microfinance". Professor Naila Kabeer, one of the directors of the SPA Programme is the lead author of this report, to be launched at the UN headquarters in New York on October 26, 2009. For more details, see the UN DAW
Building Southeast Asia Peoples’ Agenda on Transformative Social Protection as a Democratic and Human Rights Response to the Crisis
The Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) organized a Southeast Asia Regional Roundtable Strategizing Meeting with the theme
"Building Southeast Asia Peoples’ Agenda on Transformative Social Protection as a Democratic and Human Rights Response to the
Crisis " on October 12-13, 2009 in Manila, Philippines. The SPA programme is involved in supporting this event.
The Impact of the Global Economic Slowdown on Poverty and Sustainable Development in Asia and the
Pacific-
A high level conference discussing implications of the global economic slowdown on the people in Asia and the Pacific, especially the poor and vulnerable, was held in Hanoi, Viet Nam on September 28-30, 2009. The event was jointly organized by the State Council Leading Group on Poverty Alleviation and Development of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Government of Viet Nam, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the ASEAN Secretariat, and was supported by a number of partner organizations. The conference also served as the 3rd China-ASEAN Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction and the 4th ASEAN+3 High-Level Seminar on Poverty Reduction. This was attended by Dr. Naila Kabeer, one of the directors of the Social Protection in Asia progamme.
Details of the programme, participants, background papers and conference presentations are available on the ADB website
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/2009/Poverty-Social-Development/default.asp
Policy Coherence in ICTs for Development
A workshop on the above theme was held in Paris on September 10-11, 2009, jointly organized by the World Bank/infoDev and the OECD. The workshop shared and highlighted best practices in coherent approaches to meeting development objectives using Information Communication Technologies (ICT).
HIV /AIDS and the World of Work: A Social Protection Perspective
An interregional training course on the above theme was held in Turin, Italy on September 7-18, 2009. It was aimed at strengthening the capacity of planners and social actors to develop and implement workplace policies and programmes on HIV/AIDS.
UNICEF Social Protection Training 2009
A participatory learning course for UNICEF Staff across the world was presented by the Centre for Social Protection, IDS on July 13-24, 2009.
World Bank Conference Social Protection Responses to the Three Waves of Crisis:Finance, Food and Fuel, South-South Learning Forum 2009
The World Bank has organised a global South-South Learning Forum to share knowledge and to stimulate South-South learning on social protection responses to address the triple wave of global economic crises i.e. finance, food and fuel at Cairo during 15-18th June 09. You may visit the programme agenda through this link http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/WBI/WBIPROGRAMS/SPLP/0,,contentMDK:22208570~pagePK:
64156158~piPK:64152884~theSitePK:461654,00.html
Third Annual Poverty and Social Protection Conference, 11-13 March 2009, Bangkok, Thailand
The Tomorrow People Organization organized their Third Annual Poverty and Social Protection Conference in Bangkok on 11-13 March 2009. The conference focused on issues of poverty and its eradication, social inequality, race relations and policy management and mismanagement with an international perspective.
contact@tomorrowpeople.org
Golden Jubilee Conference of the Indian Society for Labour Economics, 12- 15 January 2009, Lucknow.
Over 200 papers were presented at the 50th Annual conference of the ISLE, including several on social protection and related issues such as migration, decent work, social security, ageing. The papers were mostly related to experience in South Asia, including one paper on migration and social protection in South Africa. Details of the conference and the papers presented can be had from isle.ijle@gmail.com http://www.socialprotectionasia.org/newsletter_3/list-of-papers.html
Asian Social Protection in Comparative Perspective The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) and the University of Maryland School of Public Policy in association with the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) held a conference in Singapore from January 7-9, 2008 to explore social protection and social welfare programmes in Asia. Discussions encompassed how different countries deal with issues of aging, disability, drug and alcohol abuse, housing, income supports and welfare, health care coverage, old-age pensions, social services, unemployment, and the working poor. The conference enabled sharing of country experiences across the world, and also cross-national exchanges among researchers, academics, practitioners, and government officials. https://www.appam.org/conferences/international/singapore2009/index.asp
Managing Vulnerability in East Asia and the Pacific
A workshop on the above theme was conducted in Bangkok, from June 25-26, 2008, organized by the World Bank, which brought together policy makers, researchers, and staff from a number of regional and international organizations working on issues related to poverty and vulnerability. The objective of the workshop was to assess the key shocks experienced by countries in the region, their impacts on well-being, and to discuss existing and future policies to mitigate these impacts. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/0,contentMDK: 21777255
News
Asia Pacific Scholarship Consortium invites applications
The Asia Pacific Scholarship Consortium invites applications for facilitating scholarships in
postgraduate courses for individuals from Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR requiring financial support.
Scholarships will be for high quality, post-graduate study in fields relevant to development of the
Mekong Sub Region, particularly in the following fields - community health, development, education,
environment, humanities & social sciences, media, policy & administration and social work.
Experiences "Graduation Model"
CGAP and the Ford Foundation are partnering to explore how the “graduation model” can create pathways for the
poorest out of extreme poverty, adapting a methodology developed by BRAC in Bangladesh.
For more details on an overview of graduation models and also experiences of SKS and Bandhan
in India, Relief Society of Tigray in Ethiopia and Fonkoze in Haiti, see
Social Protection Commitments in the G20 Financial Crisis Communiqué
In the official communiqué issued at the close of the G20 London Summit in April 2009, G20 leaders make a strong commitment to social protection pledging over $50 billion to support social protection, boost trade and safeguard development in low income countries resources for social protection for the poorest countries.
Social Protection Forum at World Bank, Paris, 23 January 2009
The 3rd ILO-WB "Show and Tell" on Social Protection, was held on 23 January 2009 at the World Bank Office in Paris. The annual event offered a forum for international organizations to exchange information on past, ongoing and planned activities in social protection. During the exchange, the Secretary General of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) outlined the current ISSA programmatic priorities, including demographic change, coverage extension, social security reforms and the administrative efficiency of social security institutions, and confirmed that the ISSA will hold a seminar on the impact of the financial crisis on social security in April, in collaboration with the ILO.
Asian Pension systems at risk, says OECD: By Chris Giles in London
Financial Times, January 7 2009 17:34: It will soon be too late to save Asian state pension systems from running short of cash, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned in a report on Wednesday.
India's Urban Infrastructure Abysmal: Survey
The condition of urban infrastructure in India is abysmal and services to the urban poor are pathetic, according to a survey by The Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), http://70.85.144.247/index.php?option=com_ content&view=article&catid=18&id=45&lang=en a civil society organisation, involving 3,820 individuals in low and high income earning categories in six Indian cities -Jaipur, Raipur, Ranchi, Patna, Shimla and Varanasi. Despite an approved expenditure of Rs.50 billion by various state governments and municipalities under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the urban sanitation systems, water supply and waste management in these cities was in a deplorable condition, the findings indicated.
Developing a Social Protection Index for Asia ADB news release 14 May 2008
The Asian Development Bank led a project attempting to quantify social protection activities throughout Asia by creating a social protection index (SPI) using four summary indicators – social protection expenditure, extent of social protection coverage, the distributive effect of social protection and the impact on household incomes by social protection programmes. The initial focus was on six countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam), with the SPI now being 'rolled' out to 23 more countries in Asia and the Pacific. The index provides the basis for rigorous diagnostic evaluations of a country's social protection provision as well as enables international comparison and monitoring by individual countries over time. http://www.adb.org/media/Articles/2008/12486-asian-social-protections
Asia-Pacific Regional High-Level Meeting on Socially-Inclusive Strategies to Extend Social Security Coverage
A meeting was organized by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in New Delhi on 19-20 May 2008 to identify policy approaches that countries can use to extend the social security coverage of their workforce to make it more effective, with a particular focus on workers in the informal economy and unorganized sectors. This included considering initiatives from both formal, national institutions and those from the NGO/grassroots sector. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/events/sis/index.htm
Policy on Social Protection for the Rural Aged in China
Some policy initiatives have been launched in China in April 2008, and the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security has announced the aim of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee to establish a universal social security system by 2020, leaving only 12 years for the Chinese to establish a relatively mature rural social security system for the aged. www.socialprotectionasia.org/newsletter_3/News-on-aged-support-edit.html
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