Read the full coverage of the Asia-Pacific Social Protection Week 2016

Credits: http://www.ipc-undp.org/

Manila, 01 August 2016: Government representatives, policymakers, researchers and practitioners gathered in Manila for the Asia-Pacific Social Protection Week (APSP 2016) to discuss recent issues affecting social protection in developing economies, showcasing success stories from countries with advanced social protection systems. The APSP 2016 was organised by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), taking place in the Philippines, from 1-5 August 2016. socialprotection.org featured as one of the partners of the event. Become a member of the platform to access the latest social protection related content from the Asia-Pacific region. 

Source: DSWD Listahanan.

The event fostered discussions about the relevance of social protection in light of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, as well as the need to finance comprehensive social protection systems. The week-long regional conference aimed to address emerging areas of social protection that are not yet widely discussed, such as social protection for informal workers and the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in social protection delivery.

Day 1 of the event involved a field trip to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for a briefing on the Philippine experience of social protection programmes, including the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR or Listahanan) and the conditional cash transfer, Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program. This was followed by a Q&A session. In the afternoon, participants visited PhilHealth Headquarters for a presentation on the national health insurance programme and its operations, including the programme for indigent people as identified through the DSWD Listahanan.

Day 2 saw the commencement of presentations and discussions at the ADB Headquarters in Manila. Opening remarks were provided by Bambang Susantono, Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, ADB. He emphasised how governments can afford and should implement social protection programmes, which play an essential role in development, especially in times of financial crisis and disaster relief. As such, social protection should be expanded to cover all—especially ‘missing’—people. What’s more, governments should invest in social protection given the challenges facing aging populations who do not have adequate pensions. He went on to recognise that in order to make social protection sustainable, duplication needs to be avoided and effective coordination of programmes needs to be achieved.

APSP invites you to continue reading the full coverage of the event here:

- Read full coverage of Day 2 of the APSP Week

- Read full coverage of Day 3 of the APSP Week

- Read full coverage of Day 4 of the APSP Week

- Read full coverage of Day 5 (Final) of the APSP Week