From policy commitments to effective implementation of gender-sensitive social protection programmes

The webinar "From policy commitments to effective implementation of gender-sensitive social protection programmes" was hosted by the socialprotection.org platform on 2 March 2017. This is the final webinar of the Gender-Sensitive Social Protection Webinar Series, organized by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Throughout 2016, we discussed various topics that included a review of the evidence of the extent to which social protection programmes have been “gender sensitive” and empowering to women and girls. We also raised the importance of care-sensitive social protection interventions, including the care services for children and the elderly, and their importance in reducing women’s time poverty, and improving their employment prospects and wellbeing. We also explored the benefits of linking together social protection and financial inclusion schemes for women’s economic empowerment, as well as their challenges. The series benefited from the knowledge of the leading experts in the area of social protection and gender, who brought to the fore their practical experiences from Latin America, Asia and Africa. 

In this final session we would like to inspire a thorough discussion on what gender-sensitive social protection could look like, and what scope there is for its effective implementation. The first presenter, Maja Gavrilovic, will introduce a new capacity development tool developed by FAO to guide social protection practitioners on how to integrate gender into cash transfers and public works. The tool builds on the lessons learned and experience from different programmes around the world.

Second, Maxine Molineux will discuss on the feasibility of implementing gender-sensitive social protection programmes in the context of current policy environments, particularly in Latin America.

Finally, Pamela Pozarny, our discussant, will reflect on the challenges that exist for implementing innovative programme design and explore the practical strategies that can be used to resolve these.

With this seminar we conclude our series on gender and social protection. We hope to be back soon with another series to continue fostering and sharing knowledge on these topics. Please join us!

Questions to be addressed include the following: 

1. What are the innovations in gender-sensitive design of social protection programmes? 

2. Drawing on emerging policy developments in social protection, how conducive is the policy environment for promoting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment? 

3. What challenges exist in implementing innovative programme design provisions and how these can be effectively counteracted? 

4. What is FAO doing to promote gender-sensitive social protection programming at a country level: introducing FAO’s capacity development initiative.  

Speakers: 

Prof. Maxine Molyneux, UCL Institute of the Americas

Maja Gavrilovic, Social Protection Specialist, Social Protection and Gender Team, FAO

Discussant:

Pamela Pozarny, Senior Rural Sociologist and Senior Researcher, FAO

Moderator:

Raquel Tebaldi, Research Assistant, IPC-IG

 

This webinar was the sixth of the Gender-Sensitve Social Protection Series, which was organized by IPC-IG and FAO. Please join the Gender-Sensitive Social Protection Community if you are interested in following the most recent discussions on the topic.