Regional Conference on Enhancing Social

Protection in Asia and the Pacific

Social Protection in ADB:

Challenges, Opportunities
and Next Steps
Sri Wening Handayani, Marife Principe, and Babken Babajanian
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
21 April 2010

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this paper/presentation are the views of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of
Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data
included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. Terminology used
may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.
Presentation Plan

{ Defining Social Protection in ADB

{ Overview of ADB’s past support for
Social Protection
{ Future of Social Protection in ADB
{ The Social Protection Index
Initiative

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 g
ADB’s Social Protection
Strategy (2001)
Social Protection is defined as the set of
“policies and programs designed to reduce
poverty & vulnerability by promoting efficient
labor markets, diminishing people’s exposure
to risks, and enhancing their capacity to
protect themselves against hazards and
interruption/loss of income.” (ADB 2001)

Five major components:

{ labor market
{ social insurance
{ social assistance and welfare
service
{ micro and area-based schemes
{ child protection
 Overview of ADB’s SP
Operations
Number of Lending Projects with Social Protection Focus
1996-2008
25 30%
27.7%

23
25%
20
20.3%
20%
15 16.9%
15
12.8% 15%
12.2% 12
11
10 11.9%
7.9% 8.8% 9
8.3% 10%
7
8.1% 6
7 7 4.6%
5
3.5% 5 5%
4.7%
3
3 4
0 0%
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

No. of Projects with SP Elements % Share

4
Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR)
Social Protection Grants, 2000-2008
12 90%
76.9%
10 80%
10
10 69.2%
70%

62.5% 9
8 60%

50.0% 6 6 50%
6
40.0% 40%
37.5%
33.3%
4 30%
3
4

20.0%
20%
11.1%
2
2
10%
1
0 0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

No. of SP Projects % Share of SP Projects

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 Technical Assistance Projects with Social
Protection Components, 1996-2008

50 20%
46
15.0%
40
38 15%
15.3%
30
23
10%
19
20
14 15 14
12 12
7.3%
6.1% 9 8 9 5%
10 5.7%
3 4.8% 4.7% 4.3%
3.8% 3.4%
2.9%
1.1% 2.6%
0 0%
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

No. of Projects with SP Elements % Share to Total TAs

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 ADB Social Protection
Assistance by Region, 1996-
2008

100

80

60

40

20

0
Central & West East Asia Pacific South Asia Southeast Asia

Technical Assistance JFPR Grants Loans

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ADB’s Social Protection
Operations:
Main Trends
{ ADB past assistance was mostly in
response to the crises.

{ Most ADB support was geared towards

social assistance in Southeast Asia to
mitigate the social impact of economic
shocks.

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Future of Social Protection in
ADB
{ The interest in SP is growing across the region –
implications for development agencies.

{ SP is central to ADB’s Inclusive Growth Agenda.

{ Work on ADB’s Social Protection Operational Plan

– to help better align and operationalize the 2001
SP Strategy.

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 Future of Social Protection in
ADB
{ Design and implementation of innovative
social assistance (e.g., conditional cash
transfers in Philippines).

{ Design and strengthen social protection

systems providing income support to the
ageing population (e.g., new analytical work
on Ageing and Social Protection).

{ Bottom-up approaches to service delivery and

improving channels of accountability (e.g.,
RSGS work on CDD).

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Future of Social Protection in
ADB
{ Social Protection Index (SPI) - work on
measuring the effectiveness and efficiency
of social protection measures in the region.

{ SPI has important practical/operational,

political, and conceptual utility.

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Social Protection Index
{Practical/operational

z Provides insights into a country’s SP activities

and helps identify ways to improve the level
and effectiveness of SP programs (Baulch et al
2006).
{ Provides data and indicators for appraisal
and setting benchmarks
{ Comparisons over time can help establish
systematic monitoring and evaluation

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Social Protection Index
{ Political
z The process of conducting the exercise can
help raise awareness of the importance of SP
(Baulch et al 2006).
z Cross-country comparisons help make a case
for SP?
{ Conceptual
z Better understanding - cross-country
comparisons can help classify and typologize
countries according to SP effectiveness and
help observe variation in systems and
provisions.

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 Thank You

http://www.adb.org/SocialProtection

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