The course is based on the latest World Bank knowledge including the long-standing Safety Net Primer Series, several new flagship publications, as well as a host of new information that emanated from the various responses to the recent food, fuel and financial crisis. These include:
The course adopts a mix of learning methods, including presentations, exercises and group work. The course is taught by experts from the World Bank, top academic and research institutions, and other leading agencies. This course comprises four interrelated and complementary topics:
Justification of social safety nets and their fit in the wider development policy;
Choice of instruments;
Implementation systems; and
How these vary by country settings and economic conditions.
This year's course was designed to help policymakers, development professionals, social partners, and academics grapple with key questions dealing not only with the design and implementation of individual safety net interventions but also policy implications including the making of an integrated safety net system, as well as new development in activation and graduation programs for safety nets beneficiaries. Just as a sampling, the course will consider:
What is the role of social safety nets in the broader policy agenda?
How can safety nets support growth? How can safety nets and social protection programs in general become productive?
What are the tools and methods used to undertake a solid diagnosis to assess the need for safety nets, their size, target groups, individual interventions, and program mix?
How to assess, using your country data, the extent to which social transfers provide immediate redistribution and poverty reduction? How to benchmark program performance, and monitor its improvement? How to assess the impact of planned programs?
How can safety nets enhance food security and help build more resilient livelihoods? What features of safety nets are necessary in disaster response situations?
What role did safety nets play during the recent crises and what types of interventions were most effective?
How much should countries spend on safety nets, how can they find the fiscal space and manage the challenges that arise when more than one level of government is involved in the finance and/or delivery of safety net programs?
What are key safety nets interventions and how do they apply in different country settings?
Under what circumstances to use Conditional Cash Transfer programs and what lessons we have learned from rigorous impact evaluations of these programs across the world? How well they performed during the recent crisis?
How to design and implement a cost effective and efficient targeting system? How to set the benefit level and establish the necessary supporting services?
Why do some countries integrate active labor market policies and safety nets?
How to set-up an effective monitoring system and how to control for fraud, error and corruption?
What are the tools and methods used to evaluate social programs?
What are the political demands on social safety nets and how to address the challenges of the political economy?
The following are quotes from previous Core Course participants:
“Comprehensive and diverse expert knowledge and country experiences presented by trainers.”
“The mix of theoretical and operational subjects combined with the exchange of experience with other country was wonderful”
“Drawing on rich experience from different speakers from across the world, country specific illustrations and references in addition to informative content added much value to the learning.”
“The approach in the presentations were provocative and challenging, and the discussions that resulted from undertaking the exercise was very helpful”
“I liked the fact that I can identify with the subject matter and place my country as an example in most parts of the presentations.”
“Learning to map the SSN programs at the macro level and learning the criteria of how to assess the effectiveness of a SSN.”
“Well organized, good support, skilled presenters.” “Great interaction between facilitation and the course participants.”
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