Ep. 21 | Looking Back at Social Protection in 2022

After 2 years of COVID-19-dominated headlines, record inflation rates, and climate events taking centre stage in the global debate, it comes as no surprise that social protection might be called on to respond to these multifaceted crises. But can we forecast what the future of social protection might hold based on its latest developments? 

For the final episode of the year, we invited Ugo Gentilini, Global Lead for Social Assistance at the World Bank, for a wide-ranging interview looking back at the main social protection themes in 2022. Among other topics, we talk about persisting myths, pathways for universality and the most interesting papers released over the year to help you catch up with that reading goal you might have set for yourself some months ago. 

To shake up our traditional format a bit, the interview was paired with contributions by other members of our Social Protection Community, drawing attention to the big highlights of 2022, and their resolutions for the coming year. This episode features contributions from: 

• Tomoo Okubo, Policy Specialist, UNICEF 
• Christina Dankmeyer, Social Protection and Climate Change Specialist, ILO 
• Vania Budianto, PhD Candidate, Australian National University 
• Dr. Safdar A. Sohail, Dean of the National School of Public Policy (NSPP), Pakistan 

Resources: 

• Weekly Social Protection Links: Ideas, evidence and practices from the world of social protection... by Ugo Gentilini 
• World Social Protection Report 2020-22: Social protection at the crossroads – in pursuit of a better future 
• Tracking Global Social Protection Responses to Price Shocks: Living Paper v.3 
• The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity
• The Politics of Distributing Social Transfers: State Capacity and Political Contestation in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
• How Effective Is (More) Money? Randomizing Unconditional Cash Transfer Amounts in the US