UN Secretary-General Policy Brief: COVID-19 and the need for action on mental health

Key messages:

The problem:

ilo.org (25.03.2020) This brief outlines the implications of the Covid-19 crisis for national social protection systems and highlights specific social protection responses taken in countries in the Asia and Pacific region. It builds on a more comprehensive ILO Brief which offers policy considerations regarding the role of social protection in responding to the possible impacts of COVID-19 crisis.

While the number of reported cases of the new coronavirus in India remains, concerns are already growing about the capacity of its healthcare system to deal with the potential threat.

World Economic Forum (04.10.2019) More than half of the people on Earth still don’t have full coverage of essential health services and almost 100 million people fall into extreme poverty from paying for healthcare. In South-East Asia, while some positive progress has been made in achieving universal health coverage (UHC), it isn’t happening fast enough.

worldbank.org (12.08.2019) The new e-payment system supports seamless—and cashless—transactions between the government and banking systems, allowing salaries, pensions, payments, and benefits to be delivered without manual intervention. 

adb.org (August 2019) Millions of Asia’s informal workers – such as vendors, day laborers, and others – are left out of national pension systems. Here’s what we can do to help them in their later years.

This publication provides updates on Social Protection Indicators of 24 countries in Asia, with an analysis of 2015 data on social protection programs.

blogs.adb.org (Aug 2019) Millions of Asia’s informal workers – such as vendors, day laborers, and others – are left out of national pension systems. Here’s what we can do to help them in their later years.

sdg.iisd/news (03.09.2019) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has published progress reports on social protection indicators for 24 countries in Asia and 13 in the Pacific. The two sub-regional reports analyze 2015 data on social protection programmes, building on the Social Protection Index previously developed by the ADB. Each report updates the results of analyses conducted in 2016, which were based on 2012 data for the region. The publications focus on spending for social protection, including insurance, assistance and active labor market programs.

BusinessMirror (31.08.2019) Millionsof informal workers in Asia are at risk of living out their golden years in poverty—unless countries act swiftly. In an Asian Development Blog, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department Principal Social Development Specialist Sri Wening Handayani said vendors, day laborers, and others are being left out of the national pension system. Handayani said nearly 10 percent of the population of the Asia and Pacific region are above the age of 60.