Protecting the Poor and Vulnerable through Social Protection
Begins:
Oct 30, 2008
Ends:
Oct 30, 2007
INFO
Food accounts for 40 to 60 percent of household consumption in low-income ECA countries and simulations based upon household surveys suggest that the impact on poverty of price increases could be significant. Safety nets provide an important response to rising food and energy prices by helping to forestall increases in poverty and inequality, contributing to ensuring access to food and energy while avoiding policies that would introduce other distortions.
This session will look at ways social safety nets can be used to cushion the effects of higher food prices:
What is the menu of safety net programs that can be used and how can safety nets be used to target benefits to those that really need them?
What emergency actions can be adopted in the short-run in response to the food and fuel crises? What actions should be undertaken for the medium-term?
Is the use of safety nets preferable to other policy actions such as subsidies and export limitations which tend to lower the price of food and energy?
The discussion will also touch on the effects and lessons learned of recent policy options adopted by different countries, and provide participants with the opportunity to question the experts as well as colleagues from participating countries.
Program Speakers
Panelists:
Ms. Ana Revenga, Director, Poverty Reduction and Development Effectiveness Group, World Bank
Mr. Kalanidhi Subbarao, Consultant in social protection issues and former World Bank staff
Mr. Emil Tesliuc, Senior Economist, Social Protection Team, Human Development Network, World Bank
Moderator:
Mr. Gary Fine, Sr. Private Sector Development Specialist, Europe and Central Asia Region, World Bank
AGENDA
7:00
Offline Workshop (before video conference)
All Sites(except Washington)
8:00
Greetings –start of video conference
Mr. Gary Fine
8:05
Rising food prices: household impacts, policy options and the social protection response
Ms. Ana Revenga
8:20
The role of social safety nets during a crisis: the examples of Argentina and South Korea
Mr. Kalanidhi Sabbarao
8:35
The experience of safety nets in the ECA region
Mr. Emil Tesliuc
8:50-10:00
Moderated discussion between panelists and participants at each site
U.S.: World Bank Headquarters GDLN Studio 2 (room MC-C2-123)
*Coordinated by the Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Development, GDLN affiliate, Kyiv, Ukraine
SPEAKERS’ BIOS
Ms. Ana Revenga is the director of the Poverty Reduction and Development Effectiveness Group at the World Bank. Previously she was lead economist for human development and manager for labor and social protection in the East Asia and the Pacific region. Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked in the research department of Central Bank of Spain and taught labor and international economics at the Centro de Estudios Monetarios and Financieros. Ms. Revenga has published extensively on poverty, labor and trade issues, and has worked across a broad spectrum of low, middle and high income countries throughout the world. She holds M.A. and Ph.D degrees in economics from Harvard University.
Mr. Kalanidhi Subbarao was unt
Mr. Emil Tesliuc is a senior economist with the World Bank’s Human Development Network focusing on poverty reduction, safety nets and social risk management. His current interests include targeting systems; benefits’ administration; monitoring and evaluation; control of error, fraud and corruption; and safety net systems in OECD countries, and is currently leading a comparative study of social assistance systems in transition economies. Mr. Tesliuc holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, and a master degree in public policy from Princeton University.
What are the ways in which rising food and fuel prices may negatively impact human development, and what role does social protection play in responding to these price rises?
What programs targeting the poor and vulnerable exist in your country today that can be expanded and made more effective in the short term to address the increased social protection demands of the food and fuel price crises? If a well targeted program does not exist in your country, what would you do?
Facilitators should also assist participants during the offline workshop to develop two questions that could be asked of participants from two other participating countries.
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