Asian Development Bank (June 2022) The report, part of a GIZ-ADB collaboration, reviews trends in social protection and recent pandemic responses. It discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) tools can fit into the social protection delivery chain. It reviews the functioning of the delivery chain during the pandemic to identify gaps in social protection systems along with emerging solutions that draw on digital technology. The report includes four case studies and suggests steps policymakers could take to foster an enabling environment for the use of AI in social protection.

ILO news (21.06.2022) The Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is celebrating the establishment of the country’s first ever pilot of a social security scheme working on income protection and medical care for work-related injuries. The EIS covers all ready-made garment (RMG) workers. It will compensate injured workers and dependants in case of accidents which lead to permanent disability or death.

Center for Global Development (09.06.2022) Does channeling government-to-person (G2P) payments through bank accounts encourage financial inclusion and use? This paper explores the factors that have driven the adoption of digital payments in India by beneficiaries of PMGKY, the large-scale COVID-19 relief program launched in May 2020. India’s 2013 move to pay social benefits through direct transfers into bank accounts significantly increased account ownership, but uptake of digital payments has been slower, although it has accelerated more recently through smartphone-based apps.

Pension Policy International  (16.06.2022) In order to seamlessly process, track and disburse pensions, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare will soon launch an Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled the common portal for the benefit of pensioners and elderly citizens. Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that the AI-supported portal, ‘Bhavishya’, will send automatic alerts to pensioners and superannuated senior citizens, including retired paramilitary personnel.

worldbank.org (16.05.2022) Having celebrated International Day of Families on May 15, it is now a great opportunity to reflect on the existing frameworks that support working parents at home and at work. Paid family leave has been a main area of reform in the past few years, as a significant number of countries have passed laws providing parents with the right to paid leave to care for their children . For example, Armenia became one of the 114 countries (out of the 190 measured) that introduced paid leave for fathers after its amended Labor Code came into effect in 2021.

International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) (April 2022) This Policy Research Brief analyses how digitalisation can facilitate rural populations’ access to effective and adequate social protection and economic inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean. It investigates the region’s social protection response to COVID-19 and highlights three good practices in providing digitalised social protection to vulnerable rural populations during the crisis.

Asian Development Bank (May 2022) This report shares insights on capacity building for long-term care in six countries at different stages of population aging: Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, and Viet Nam. It explores these countries’ long-term care systems and their particular circumstances and challenges. It also examines what they have in common and highlights good practices that may be helpful to other countries facing similar issues.

wtwco.com (19.05.2022)  Trial private retirement savings system to be rolled out in select cities in China in an effort to support an aging population.

worldbank.org (10.02.2022)  The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated poverty and threatened livelihoods in Liberia. The need to respond to this challenge spurred the expansion and digitization of the government’s ongoing cash transfer program. The Liberia Social Safety Nets Project launched the government’s first-ever urban cash transfer program. It provided emergency cash transfers for close to 15,000 households living in vulnerable communities in the Greater Monrovia area, which had recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Liberia.

Global Times (21.04.2022) China will soon start a new era of "private pensions" with the imminent implementation of a relevant mechanism, according to a report by the Shanghai Securities News published on Wednesday. The new mechanism, which is characterized by policy support from the government, voluntary participation and market-oriented operations, will be an important transformation of the current pension system that has a basic pension insurance and a corporate pension.