UNICEF /UNDP (2022) Responding to climate change, reducing poverty, and supporting social inclusion must be addressed together to build resilient economies and societies. As the recovery from COVID-19 continues, governments need to invest in addressing social and economic inequalities while actively promoting new, sustainable, and climate-friendly livelihoods and income-generating opportunities for all. 

Addressing the related challenges posed by climate change and inequalities are essential elements to accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Government budgets are the most significant instruments to do so, including aligning policies and incentives and ensuring sufficient financing for just transitions. 

Ahram OnlinePrime (26.08.2022) Minister Mostafa Madbouly has announced that the country's newly introduced social protection package to help Egyptians cope with the global repercussions of Russian-Ukraine war will go into effect in September.

European Commission (02/08/2022)  These new rules  set out minimum standards for paternity, parental and carers' leave and establish additional rights, such as the right to request flexible working arrangements, which will help people develop their careers and family life without having to sacrifice either. These rights, which come in addition to existing maternity leave rights, were achieved under the European Pillar of Social Rights and is a key milestone towards building a Union of Equality.

Daily Post Nigeria (12.08.2022)  The Federal Government said the introduction of digitalized cash transfer payment will help in addressing some lapses while operating the analog payment system. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, disclosed this at the official flag-off of the grant for vulnerable groups as well as the digitized payment for conditional cash transfer held in Dutse, Jigawa State.

The government should start investing on long-term programs to manage the increasing number of senior citizens in the country, particularly on health-care and employment opportunities, the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) executive director said

International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) (01.08.2022) The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the foundations of the economy and provoked devastating social effects in all the countries in the world, being Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) one of the most affected regions. This report updates the regional overview of the response measures to the pandemic, details cash transfer programmes and analyses their coverage and discusses the challenges in adopting these innovations during the response to the first outbreak of the virus in Latin America and the Caribbean.

International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) (01.08.2022) There is a global trend to automate and digitalise the cash payments of social protection programmes, and there has been a shift towards diversifying payment means in some African countries such as Zambia, Namibia, Togo, Tanzania, Malawi, Comoros and Mozambique. In Mozambique, the COVID-19 pandemic response has tripled the social protection system’s coverage, from 520,000 to approximately 1.6 million households. In the past few years, the country’s emergency response has driven improvements in digital payments.

modernghana.com (14.08.2022) The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) says it will soon embark on a mass registration exercise, especially among those in the informal sector to shore up its membership. The prime objective is to ensure many Ghanaian workers are enrolled onto the scheme as against the current situation where only 1.7 million out of the remaining millions of the workers are active members of SSNIT.

worldbank.org (July 2022) Reports that one of the most persistent patterns of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s labor market remains the large share of healthy and capable working-age populations excluded from the labor force and employment, particularly among women and youth aged 15 to 24 years not in employment, education, or training (NEET). The lack of inclusivity proves most apparent in the lost potential of women, whose labor force participation, averaging about 20 percent, remains the world’s lowest. The limited public and formal private sector employment and prevalence of informality has had many repercussions on both the quantity and quality of jobs created for the region’s increasingly ambitious and competent population. The COVID-19 pandemic recovery in terms of jobs and unemployment for the majority of the population will prove slow and difficult. Includes a case study on an online learning platform to deliver accessible, quality education in Jordan.

lemonde.fr (12.08.2022) Alors que les 85 ans et plus vont croître de près de 90 % entre 2030 et 2050, la gériatrie reste le parent pauvre d’un système hospitalier déjà à bout de souffle et le maintien des personnes âgées chez elles réclame toujours une vraie politique nationale de prévention de la perte d’autonomie.

forbes.com (11.08.2022) The number of unemployed young people around the world is set to hit 73 million in 2022, a slight improvement from the year before, but still well above global youth unemployment rates before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the United Nations, which found young people have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus health crisis.

ilo.org (11.08.2022) Incorporating the most recent labour market information available, Global Employment Trends for Youth sets out the youth labour market situation around the world. It shows where progress has or has not been made, updates world and regional youth labour market indicators, and gives detailed analyses of trends and issues facing young people in the labour market.

GovInsider (12.08.2022) Reliable, well designed digital ID and payment systems can be an important social and economic leveller. But governments must be inclusive and citizen-centric in rolling them out, according to the World Bank.

TechRepublic (05.08.2022)  There are 2.9 billion people worldwide who do not have internet access or the opportunities to engage in the digital economy. Despite the technological advancements, the digital divide continues to affect all aspects of life, from banking to healthcare, education, communications and media.

worldbank.org (27.07.2022) The world has changed in the last two years. Governments in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) face the massive challenge of rebuilding post-pandemic economies. But one thing is certain: Women in the region were hit the hardest during the COVID-19 lockdowns. A recent report elaborated by the World Bank and UNDP, Uneven Recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean, shows that the gender gap in job participation in LAC continues to be highly elevated. Back in 2020, a previous report using High-Frequency Phone Survey (HFPS) data showed that women in LAC had been 44 % more likely to lose their jobs than men.

European Commission (19.07.2022) Amongst other findings, the report shows young people were among the most negatively affected by job losses during the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also shows that the recovery was slower for them than for other age groups. Possible explanations are linked to their high share of fixed-term contracts and difficulties in finding a first job after leaving school, university, or training.

timesnownews.com (11.07.2022) With Europe having the highest ageing population and Africa becoming the land of the youngest people, a rapidly escalating older population can collapse economies and exhaust healthcare systems.

Pension Policy International (14.07.2022) The calls come as the government publishes its response to a consultation which gathered feedback from industry, potential providers, consumer groups and future users on what data should be included and how this should be displayed to people. Bringing pensions into the digital age, dashboards will allow savers to see what they have in their various pensions – including their State Pension – in a single place online, at any time they choose.

worldbank.org (2022) Is Coronavirus (Covid-19) a “game changer” for cash transfers? This tantalizing question has animated a large body of recent literature and over 60 virtual panels. This paper offers some clues to address the question by bringing together data, evaluations and practical experiences generated over the course of the pandemic. In particular, the paper flashes out differences between Covid-19 and other crises; it lays out an anatomy of global responses and offers novel data analysis around stylized international trends; synthesizes fresh empirical evidence on response effectiveness based on over 40 evaluations; discusses country-level operational practices as emerging from an array of high and lower-income contexts; and distills key insights with possible future implications.

blogs.worldbank.org (13.07.2022) Over the past 30 months we have been carefully tracking countries’ unprecedented social protection responses to Covid-19. But what are we learning from such wealth of experiences?  A new paper – Cash Transfers in Pandemic Times: Evidence, Practices, and Implications from the Largest Scale Up in History – combines analysis of large datasets with a review of about 300 pandemic papers, evaluations, and practical experiences while focusing on a particular form of social protection – cash transfers. Before turning to the ten lessons for the future featured in the report, let’s first reflect on the past. 

ifpri.org (2022) Numerous studies that draw extensively on rigorous impact evaluations have documented substantial short-term impacts of social protection programs, especially cash and in-kind social assistance, on food security and asset formation, as well as on education, health, and dietary diversity. However, evidence on the impact of social protection systems designed to sustainably reduce poverty by responding to large-scale shocks is more limited. 

nature.com (22.06.2022) In 2012, the government of Niger began giving some of its poorest citizens free money. Over the next few years, around 100,000 participating households received 24 monthly payments of roughly US$16 — which more than doubled their typical spending power. The programme was based on decades of evidence from carefully controlled trials, suggesting that simple cash infusions can transform lives. And Niger is not alone: cash transfers have become a popular tool as governments try to alleviate poverty.

ilo.org (June 2022) This regional companion report is intended to complement the ILO’s World Social Protection Report 2020–22. It includes a section summarizing the status of social protection worldwide, followed by a section highlighting key social protection developments, challenges and priorities for this region from a life-cycle perspective.

 (June 2022) In 2021, The Hamilton Project has been doing a deep dive into social insurance in the United States. Our capstone analysis shows that social insurance plays a critical role for workers and families – both in times of crisis, as exhibited by the pandemic and ensuing economic recession, and in normal economic times. The social insurance system also helps buffer the economy when growth falters, supporting consumer purchasing power when income growth is weak. 
To aid policymakers as they shift focus from providing immediate relief to building back the economy for the long term, we explore the role of social insurance and highlight policy proposals for reforms that would make vital and lasting improvements to the U.S. social insurance system.