Ep. 36 | Gender-Transformative Social Protection

In today's episode, we delve into a pressing topic: the evolving landscape of social protection systems and their critical role in addressing the unique needs of women and girls throughout their lives.

There's a growing recognition of the importance of tailoring social programmes to meet these specific needs, but we're also becoming more aware of how these programmes may inadvertently perpetuate gender norms, assuming women's roles in work and caregiving.

Can social protection systems be a catalyst for change? Can they challenge the very structures and norms that perpetuate gender inequalities?

As we commemorate International Women's Day this month, join us as we explore the concept of gender-transformative social protection. We'll examine how these programmes and systems have the potential to drive transformative change, paving the way for a more equitable future.

 

Meet our guests:

• Tara Cookson, Canada Research Chair in Gender Development and Global Public Policy, University of British Columbia.
• Maja Gavrilovic, Social Protection Consultant.
• Lauren Whitehead, Social Protection and Gender Lead, UNICEF HQ.

For our Quick Wins segment, we are joined by Tia Palermo, president at Policy Research Solutions—PRESTO, and associate professor at the University of Buffalo. She shared insights and highlights from several recent papers in the field.

 

Resources

• Publication | Promoting Gender-Transformative Change through Social Protection:
  An analytical approach
• Publication | Social protection systems and gender: A review of the evidence
• Publication | Changing rural women’s lives through gender transformative social protection: A paper on gender transformative social protection concepts, evidence and practice in the context of food security and nutrition.

 Quick Wins

• Publication | Mapping gender and social protection data
• Publication | Leveraging social protection to support women’s and girls’ climate resilience in low- and middle-income countries
• Publication | Unconditional cash transfers and safe transitions to adulthood in Malawi