ILO’s working paper on “Making social protection work for gender equality: What does it look like? How do we get there” provides for the first time, a consolidated message on the ILO’s approach to leverage social protection systems for improving gender equality. This paper was taken as a departure point for the discussants to bring their own perspectives and insights into the role that policy coherence, sustainable financing, and robust legal frameworks for social protection systems can play for gender equality at large.

The objective of this webinar was to not only to introduce the audience to ILO’s working paper; but to also situate the discussion on gender and social protection within the broader, current context of development and aid crisis. The discussants for this paper were James Heintz (Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Laura Alfers (International Coordinator, WIEGO) and Deepta Chopra (Professorial Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex). They brought their unique expertise to different dimensions and questions related to social protection, gender equality, human rights and care systems.

Speakers:

• Christina Behrendt, Head of the Social Policy Unit of the Universal Social Protection Department, ILO
• James Heintz, Andrew Glyn Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Laura Alfers, International Coordinator, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO)
• Deepta Chopra, Professorial Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

Moderator: Shahra Razavi, Department Director, Universal Social Protection Department, ILO