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December 2015: Introduction to socialprotection.org

December 2015

Introducing socialprotection.org’s first newsletter marking the 3 month anniversary of the platform! The aim of this monthly newsletter is to highlight the platform’s content, members and latest developments. 

Over the past 3 months, socialprotection.org has amassed over 500 members from over 90 countries, affiliated to more than 40 institutions. The platform has also compiled a Publications Search that directs access to over 1300 of the latest and most relevant publications related to social protection. We invite you to gain further insight into our latest developments in our November 2015 Progress Report.

socialprotection.org is an unbranded knowledge exchange platform aimed at facilitating South-South learning on social protection policies, particularly across middle and low income countries. The initiative is hosted by the IPC-IG, supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and developed in collaboration with a number of leading institutions on social protection, including the Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B), of the Development Working Group of the G20.

Highlights

socialprotection.org was introduced to the participants at the kick-off meeting of the "European Union Social Protection Systems Programme", on 16-17 September in Paris. The initiative, which is co-financed by the EU, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Finnish Government, is managed by the OECD Development Centre and the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

Mario Gyoeri (IPC-IG, Researcher) introduced socialprotection.org to participants at the 2015 SASPEN conference dedicated to the “Sustainability of Social Protection”. The event took place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 20 to 21 October 2015.

Alicia Spengler (IPC-IG, Project Analyst) and Raquel Tebaldi (IPC-IG, Research Assistant) presented the platform at the 7th Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B) meeting on 24 November in New York. The Board approached the IPC-IG in 2013 to develop and host socialprotection.org to facilitate knowledge sharing among low and middle income countries.

Alicia Spengler (IPC-IG, Project Analyst) and Raquel Tebaldi (IPC-IG, Research Assistant) presented the platform at the 7th Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B) meeting on 24 November in New York. The Board approached the IPC-IG in 2013 to develop and host socialprotection.org to facilitate knowledge sharing among low and middle income countries.
Publications Search
Michelle Mills (UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti) shared Social Cash Transfers and Children’s Outcomes: A Review of Evidence from Africa, which reflects on the impact of social cash transfers, particularly through the Transfer Project. This report recognises that social cash transfers have contributed to an improvement in the standard of living of the poorest and most excluded populations.

Countries will agree to adopt a new climate agreement at the Paris Climate Conference (COP21), taking place from 30 November to 11 December 2015. In light of these developments, we invite you to explore this publication dedicated to Social Protection and Climate Change by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

For further insight into the post 2015 development agenda, see Social Inclusion, Poverty Eradication and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). The paper argues that there are three key interrelated areas critical to poverty eradication and inclusive development: universal social protection; meaningful participation; and social and solidarity economy.
 
Member Search

Over the past 3 months, socialprotection.org has amassed over 500 members from over 90 countries affiliated to more than 40 institutions. We invite you to join this network by becoming a member of the platform! Becoming a member will allow you to have access to the platform’s Social Space feature, allowing you to follow the content and activities of fellow members. Check out the Member Search to see who you can connect with on the platform!
 
Triashtra Lakshmi (DFAT) is this month’s featured member. She has shared a multitude of insightful content on the platform including this learning tool addressing Key Aspects To Consider When Setting Up An Integrated System For Data and Information Management, by Oxford Policy Management (OPM).
 
Stakeholder Search

socialprotection.org’s Stakeholder Search holds a directory of stakeholders related to the field of social protection. We invite you to include your institution in the Stakeholder Search by accessing the Share tab. 
If you are interested in child sensitive social protection, we suggest that you join The Child Allowance Online Community. This Online Community allows members to engage in in-depth discussions related to child allowance programmes and child-sensitive social protection.
 
Discussion Forum

Contribute to our Discussion Forum which provides an open space for members to discuss a variety of topics! It has four sub-forums dedicated to Platform Administration, News/Events, Institutions/Networking and Research/Policy.
 
Events

Our Events database provides a calendar of upcoming events related to social protection. Access it to find out about what is in store for 2016! If you know about an upcoming event, include it in the database by accessing the Share tab.
 
From 28 to 29 January 2016 The 8th Social Protection Policy Makers Conference will take place in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania addressing linking economic policies and job creation initiatives to social security development in East and Central Africa. The conference is organised by East and Central Africa Social Security Association (ECASSA) and hosted by its Tanzanian member institutions through the leadership of Tanzania Social Security Association (TSSA). 
 
Surveys

We invite you to participate in the socialprotection.org Member Feedback and Suggestions Survey. Your input will ensure the future development of the platform meets your needs!
Virtual Campus
socialprotection.org has hosted three webinars as part of its Child Allowance Webinar Series, which saw the participation of over 100 audience members! The Series has thus far show cased presentations from national representatives of the South African, Uruguayan and Mongolian governments with the support of the IPC-IG, ECLAC, Development Pathways and UNICEF.
 
Check out the live recordings of the webinars as well as related documents in our Virtual Campus:
- Webinar Series on Child Allowance - The South African experience with the Child Support Grant
- Seminarios Web sobre Transferencias Infantiles - Asignaciones Familiares de Uruguay (Spanish)
- Webinar Series on Child Allowance - Mongolian experience with the Child Money Programme
 
Learning Tools
 
See the Transfer Project’s Measurement of Interpersonal Violence in National Social Cash Transfer Evaluations Learning Tool, which discusses different evaluation approaches of over a dozen government-run cash transfer programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. 
 
Glossary

See definitions of social protection and related terms in our Glossary! For example, the World Bank Group and International Labour Organization (ILO)’s definitions of social protection. You can contribute your institution’s definitions by accessing the Glossary feature.
 
News

Take a look at our News section where you can find information on social protection progammes from around the world.

Ambassador Programme

This month’s featured Ambassadors are M. Thanga Darwin, who shared the publication Social protection programmes supporting women survivors of domestic violence and Emmanuel Asomba, who shared a new Learning tool on Effective Targeting for the Poor and Vulnerable.

You can find out more information about the Ambassador Programme here.

Top retweeter for this edition

Thank you to Development Pathways for being our top retweeter on socialprotection.org’s Twitter account!



See charts and figures, like the one below, highlighting our latest developments in our November 2015 Progress Report.