Almost all countries have adapted their social protection systems to support households and mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The responses have differed widely and included both the development of new social protection programmes and the expansion and adaptation of existing programmes.

The research “Towards shock-responsive social protection” examines how the social protection programmes, processes, and delivery systems in the six Maintains countries have been used to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, and to understand the factors that have enabled successful responses, as well as the factors that have constrained them.

The webinar presented the main findings from the research and facilitated a discussion between Maintains researchers, FCDO Kenya, and SPACE to situate the findings within the broader context within study countries and the global literature on shock-responsiveness from before COVID-19 and lessons from social protection responses to COVID-19 in other countries.

Panellists:

• Alexandra Doyle, OPM
• Jana Bischler, OPM

Discussants: 

• Anthony Njage, FCDO Kenya
• Valentina Barca, SPACE
• Madhumitha Hebbar, Maintains

Moderator:Rodolfo Beazley, Maintains