#APSP2023 | Day 2 | Session 4C | Effective Social Protection Responses in Conflict-Affected...

#APSP2023 | Day 2 | Parallel Session 4C | Effective Social Protection Responses in Conflict-Affected Situations and Other Fragile Situations

Globally research suggests that most social protection policies and programs pay limited attention to conflict until circumstances force them to do so. Policies and programming are prone to conflict-blindness. There is also limited ongoing contact between those responsible for social protection, peace and security, and disaster risk management. Commitments to state-building, national ownership and building national systems often ignore the dilemmas inherent in supporting states that are parties to ongoing conflicts and the political rather than technical challenges involved.

The session is led by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and examined how far approaches to social protection in the Asia Pacific are conflict-sensitive and displacement-inclusive. The session discussed emerging policies and programmatic practice regarding the use of social protection instruments to bridge humanitarian assistance and longer-term resilience-building in crisis-prone and fragile contexts. It explored the engagement modalities best suited to dynamic situations in often low-capacity environments. The discussion addressed current knowledge gaps on how these instruments are most effectively adapted to fragile contexts and how they can be made more responsive to hard-to-reach populations and intersecting vulnerabilities (including gender, climate change, and displacement).

Panelists:

1. Opening: Shantanu Mitra, Director’s Advisor (United Kingdom), Board of Directors, ADB
2. Lyca Therese M. Sarenas, Chief of Staff, Ministry of Social Services and Development, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Philippines
3. Jawad Aslam, Chief of Social Policy, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Afghanistan
4. Samir Wanmali, Deputy Regional Director, Asia Pacific (Operations), World Food Program (WFP)
5. Isvary Sivalingam, Southeast Asia Lead, Better Than Cash Alliance
6. Tristan Burnett, Chief of Mission in Philippines, International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Moderator: Rachel Slater, Independent Consultant, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, United Kingdom
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