Webinars by topic

Cash transfers

Cash transfers have featured ever more prominently at the heart of emergency responses. They are a fast, efficient and flexible tool that can respond to diverse needs, acting as a safety net for the poorest and most vulnerable people in society. Over the years, many of our webinars have focused on this kind of social protection intervention, with speakers discussing the impacts of cash transfers on the lives of beneficiaries and exploring ways to adapt and coordinate with different programmes.

Childhood Development

According to scientific and economic evidence, investments in early childhood development not only benefit the children of today but have a direct impact on the stability and prosperity of nations in the future. These webinars discuss the role of social protection in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and exclusion and promoting long-term prosperity for children and their families. Cross-cutting topics include parent benefits, breastfeeding support, school feeding, and several social protection programmes affecting children and young people.

Financing social protection

In recent years, social protection has become an increasingly popular topic among the international community. Nevertheless, the demand for knowledge-sharing and capacity-building has been on the rise as policymakers, practitioners and researchers still face important challenges particularly related to financing programmes. In these webinars, experts present case studies from around the world and explore fiscally sustainable social protection systems, contributory and non-contributory programmes, alternative financing pathways, among other topics.

Food and nutritional security

Evidence shows that social protection is a key component in the fight against hunger, as it can enhance food security and help address the social and economic determinants of malnutrition. For example, social protection programmes can provide access to more and better food, allow poor households to diversify their food consumption, and directly support and improve agricultural livelihoods. These webinars showcase interventions from all over the world, promoting relevant discussions on the topic.

Gender

These webinars bring together practitioners and experts from the field of social protection and gender. Discussions are centred around gender-sensitive social protection and its impacts on important issues such as: gender-based violence, gender equality, access to employment, food security, motherhood, child marriage, and others. Speakers also explore cultural contexts and policy analysis and implementation in different regions.

Humanitarian assistance

These webinars focus on how social protection systems can be responsive to shocks and crises and support the delivery of effective humanitarian assistance. Speakers explore the main factors related to social protection and humanitarian assistance through case studies from various countries, highlighting opportunities, challenges and key considerations. The session also promotes debates on the feasibility of replicating successful linkages between social protection and humanitarian assistance in different contexts, taking into account political willingness, system maturity and funding.

Inclusive growth (productive inclusion)

The contribution of social protection to the achievement of long-term human development, sustainable livelihoods and inclusive growth is an important topic of discussion among policymakers, practitioners and researchers. In times of crisis and economic hardship, the poor and vulnerable populations are usually hit far worse, and in this context, economic inclusion programmes can assist people in need to access jobs in the formal and informal sector, contributing to promote their livelihoods. These webinars explore the different programmes being implemented worldwide that focus on productive inclusion, including employment guarantee schemes, asset transfers, support for skills training, livelihood programmes, among others.

Information systems

Developing integrated information systems is a crucial step in building a national social protection programme. These systems allow for the efficient management of information within the social protection sector and facilitate access to important data from other sectors such as education, health, agriculture and disaster risk management. Efficient information systems reduce the workload of staff by centralising and optimising processes, making it easier to filter potential problems such as data errors and benefit fraud, and increase transparency of policy decisions. These webinars include discussions on the challenges and benefits of different systems, as well as innovations and best practices.

M&E

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools help policymakers assess whether social protection programmes are achieving their main goals. Robust M&E frameworks support the growth and improvement of programmes by providing feedback on their performance and identifying shortcomings and gaps. Speakers in these webinars present and analyse different tools, providing insights into the most up-to-date methods and practices.

Migration

Migrant populations are often exposed to a series of vulnerabilities, especially during times of crisis. Many migrants lack basic social protection coverage in their destination, being excluded from national schemes. When they are not excluded, they may encounter difficulties in accessing benefits, whether in their home countries or their country of residence. Among other issues, these webinars focus on the experience of migrants and explore case studies of countries that have expanded their social protection programmes to ensure their inclusion.

Old-age

In every society, elderly people are particularly vulnerable to social and economic disasters. Social protection programmes that target this age group are crucial in ensuring income security and access to essential services, including health and care services. In many countries, public pension systems became a foundation upon which a baseline income security was built. In these webinars, the panellists discuss the role of social protection measures in addressing the needs of elderly people around the world, presenting case studies and taking stock of challenges and opportunities.

Rural development

In rural settings, social protection helps manage risks that are often inherent to agricultural livelihoods. Social protection programmes can assist rural populations in adopting more productive, sustainable and climate-smart technologies, diversifying and increasing their incomes and gradually building productive assets. These webinars focus on the impact of development and the role of social protection in rural areas.

Shock-responsive social protection

Widespread poverty and vulnerability, combined with exposure to social, economic or climate-related shocks, creates a demand for emergency assistance. These webinars feature key experts and practitioners discussing ways to make social protection programmes more shock-responsive. Speakers explore successes and challenges faced by different countries and regions as they build a pathway towards more effective and efficient emergency responses.

Social protection delivery

The success of a social protection scheme depends heavily on effective and appropriate delivery. These webinars present lessons learned from practical experiences and research in the delivery of social protection. Cross-cutting topics include accountability and transparency, the role of technology, programme design and tools, among others.

Social protection systems

Well-designed and well-implemented social protection systems can decrease inequality, enhance human capital and productivity, build resilience and end the vicious cycle of poverty. To assist people in improving their livelihoods, social protection systems must be able to integrate diverse initiatives and coordinate with different sectors to ensure access to health care, education, employment, food security and so on. In these webinars, speakers explore the main aspects of social protection systems from all around the world, from coverage to delivery systems, as well as their impact on the labour market, gender equality, health issues, among others.

South-South Cooperation

South–South cooperation is a term that describes the exchange of knowledge, resources, and technology among developing countries, also known as countries of the global South. In these webinars, experts share information about policies, tools, innovations and main challenges related to social protection systems and programmes adopted by developing countries around the world. These webinars also provide a space for the community of practitioners to share best practices and discuss solutions that can be scaled-up through cooperation.

Universal Health Coverage (UHC)

Access to universal health coverage has been a key topic of debate among social protection policymakers and practitioners worldwide, since it means that all individuals and communities would be able to receive the health services that they need without suffering financial hardship. In these webinars, experts and practitioners contribute to the discussion by presenting findings from different countries and regions, sharing experiences and analysing key challenges and opportunities for the expansion of health care coverage.

Universal Social Protection

Social protection has gained relevance and garnered increasing interest over recent decades. Despite these advances, many challenges still remain regarding the creation of inclusive, cost-effective and sustainable social protection systems and their linkages with inclusive growth. The achievement of universal social protection is closely aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, being key to sustained inclusive economic and social development for individuals, communities and nations. As the topic of universal social protection is gaining momentum worldwide, these webinars provide a space for experts and practitioners to explore the topic by providing insights into research, case studies and diverse experiences.