ILO (21.10.2020) This paper provides updated regional and global estimates of the costs and financing gaps for targets 1.3 and 3.8 of the SDGs relating to social protection and health care in 2020 and projections of incremental financial needs for reaching universal coverage in 2030. The paper analyses options for filling social protection financing gaps in developing countries during the crisis and beyond using domestic and external resources, including the strengthening and expansion of contributory systems. The analysis incorporates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

moroccoworldnews.com (20.10.2020) Morocco established several innovative digital solutions to increase the number of beneficiaries of social protection schemes during the pandemic.

Development Pathways (08.10.2020) COVID-19 has sparked a mass of interest in “basic income”. South Africa’s Minister of Social Development has advocated it; Spain has promised it on a permanent basis; UNDP has argued for it globally (at least on a temporary basis)... But the more you look at basic income, the less attractive it seems, at least from a social protection perspective.

BBC News (07.10.2020) Extreme poverty is set to rise this year for the first time in more than two decades, with coronavirus expected to push up to 115 million people into that category, the World Bank has said.

cgdev.org (Sept 2020) Many countries have launched unprecedented relief packages to cushion the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This short review considers some initial lessons emerging from selected countries around the use of digital technology to implement these government-to-people (G2P) social transfer programs. Information is still limited on how well the programs have functioned; in particular, there is a dearth of rapid demand-side survey evidence on the experience of beneficiaries receiving transfers and the likely magnitudes of inclusion and exclusion errors.

worldbank.org (28.09.2020) The economic impact of COVID-19 is unprecedented in size and scope. It has quickly evolved from a health emergency into an employment crisis. It also has far-reaching implications for workers beyond the immediate employment effects, as it most likely has accelerated the transformation process of jobs that had already started in the region and the world.

socialeurope.eu (24.09.2020) The pandemic has brought into focus the social contract between income and contribution which can underpin a solidaristic welfare state.

ilo.org (26.08.2020) A new ILO policy brief shows how public employment services are using technology to increase the help available to people whose jobs have been affected by COVID-19.

Ilo.org (17.09.2020) Closing the social protection coverage gap, worsened by COVID-19, will require additional sources of financing.

IPE (15.07.2020) Despite heavy opposition resistance against “breaking down the world’s best pensions system”, the Dutch parliament agreed yesterday to the switch to a new defined contribution (DC) contract which includes a lifecycle system and personal pension pots. However, many questions on implementation remain.