Social protection plays an essential role in reducing poverty and inequality and protecting vulnerable population groups against lifecycle risks. It may substantially increase social cohesion and decrease economic volatility through smoothing consumption across business cycles.

In recent years, many Arab countries devoted substantial efforts to reforming their social protection systems by extending the coverage, reducing fragmentation and improving sustainability of social insurance systems, introducing targeted social assistance schemes, improving access to basic health services, establishing integrated registries and information systems, etc.

The workshop is designed to enhance the capacities of ESCWA member countries to undertake reforms through peer-learning and discussions of recent and ongoing reforms of social insurance, social assistance and health care in the Arab region. It will also address the achievements and remaining challenges in those areas. The objective is to encourage a “system’s perspective” on social protection reform that enables Governments to better integrate the different parts of social insurance, assistance, health care, including through the establishment of integrated management information systems. Presentations and discussions during the workshop will also inform the first draft of the upcoming report “Social Protection Reform in the Arab Region”.

Participants of the workshop include Ministers and other government officials, experts from ESCWA Member states, as well as international experts from the World Bank, ILO and OECD.