IPC-IG Policy in Focus (Vol 19, Issue 1, 2021) What´s next for social protection in light of COVID-19: country responses

Summary

The wide-ranging consequences of the COVID-19 crisis have had a huge impact on the world of social protection. The importance of providing comprehensive and adequate social protection benefits to all has become more evident than ever. From 5 to 8 October 2020, the Socialprotection.org team organised a global e-conference titled ‘Turning the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity: What’s next for social protection?’. The conference functioned as a virtual live space for the global social protection community to share innovative ideas and practical insights, and brainstorm about the future of social protection in a post-pandemic world. 

Given the success of the e-conference and to further disseminate its key discussions, the socialprotection.org platform and the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) have developed two special issues of Policy in Focus.

This first issue focuses on experiences from countries in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the overall lessons for the future, including shock-responsive and universal social protection. The second issue provides a thematic focus, delving in more depth into the main topics discussed during the round tables, such as financing, universal basic income, linkages to food security and employment, as well as gender-, child- and disability-sensitive programmes, among others. All articles were written at the end of 2020 by panellists and/or organisers of the conference. For the recordings of all sessions and more information about the conference, see: https://is.gd/EyfPGn .

The articles in this Issue 1 are: 

How countries in the global South have used social protection to attenuate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis? Charlotte Bilo, Maya Hammad, Anna Carolina Machado, Lucas Sato, Fábio Veras Soares and Marina Andrade

How might the lessons from the response to COVID-19 influence future social protection policy and delivery? Rodolfo Beazley, Valentina Barca and Martina Bergthaller

The COVID-19 crisis: A turning point or a tragic setback? Shahra Razavi

The main lesson of COVID-19: Making social protection universal, adaptive and sustainable Michal Rutkowski

Emergency Aid: The Brazilian response to an unprecedented challenge Nilza Yamasaki and Fabiana Rodopoulos

Tools to protect families in Chile: A State at the service of its people Alejandra Candia

Colombia’s experience in addressing the COVID-19 crisis Laura Pabón

Lessons learned from Jordan’s national social protection response to COVID-19 Manuel Rodriguez Pumarol,Ahmad Abu Haider,Nayef Ibrahim Alkhawaldeh, Muhammad Hamza Abbas and Satinderjit Singh Toor

Morocco’s social protection response to COVID-19 and beyond— towards a sustainable social protection floor Karima Kessaba and Mahdi Halmi

The role of Namibia’s civil registration and identity system in the country’s COVID-19 social response Anette Bayer Forsingdal, Tulimeke Munyika and Zoran Đokovic

The Republic of Congo’s social protection response before and during COVID-19: Perspectives from the Lisungi programme Martin Yaba Mambou, Lisile Ganga and Cinthia Acka-Douabele

Tackling poverty amidst COVID-19: How Pakistan’s emergency cash programme averted an economic catastrophe Sania Nishtar

Cambodia’s social protection response to COVID-19 Theng Pagnathun, Sabine Cerceau and Emily de Riel

How to overcome the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Indonesia? Fisca Aulia and Maliki