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Description |
Social protection is defined as a set of policies and programs to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting efficient labor markets, diminishing people's exposure to risks, and enhancing their capacity to protect themselves against hazards and interruption or loss of income. Globalization and rapid economic growth in Asia are helping to reduce income poverty, but ADB's regional member countries are facing new challenges in making socioeconomic growth more inclusive and equitable. They have raised concerns about (i) the rapidly ageing population the proportion of elderly in Asia's population is expected to triple between now and 2050 (ii) increased internal and trans border migration in China alone there are an estimated 120 million to 180 million internal and 500,000 international migrants (iii) urbanization that is growing by 5% annually by 2015 half of the population is expected to live in urban areas (iv) increasing costs of social services that are barely affordable for low income groups and (v) the rising exposure to natural disasters and economic crises. Traditional family community support systems are declining and can no longer protect the vulnerable against major life changes. Consequently Governments throughout the region are adjusting their social policies and increasingly emphasizing the need to strengthen or introduce formal, effective support systems such as social insurance, social assistance, and social safety nets to guarantee the security of their populations. Many Governments are particularly interested in learning from the experiences of other countries in Asia and elsewhere, as well as being exposed to emerging, new ideas. ADB should be prepared to meet this demand in line with its comparative advantages and mandate under the LTSF II, and in conformity with its regional cooperation and integration strategy. ERD's recently published Policy Brief recognizes the critical role of social protection in achieving inclusive growth in Asia and the Pacific. In 2001, ADB approved its social protection strategy. Operationalization of the strategy has been rather limited . Nonetheless, ADB has included social protection projects and programs in country partnership strategies, and social protection components have been included in selected public finance, health financing, education and rural and urban development loans. In addition, ADB has supported a series of knowledge products on social protection in the region. |
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Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy |
Governments throughout the region are adjusting their social policies and increasingly emphasizing the need to strengthen effective support systems such as social insurance, social assistance, and social safety nets to guarantee the security of their population. In the People s Republic of China Country Partnership Strategy, 2008 2010 it was recognized that finance and social services, including social protection are important in sustaining growth and these areas will be supported through technical assistance and knowledge inputs. In the Indonesia Country Strategy and Program (CSP), 2006 2009 it mentioned that the Government considered conditional cash transfer, a form of targeted social protection, as one of the cornerstones of poverty reduction. Moreover, ADB strategic priorities in Indonesia will include strengthening supervision of nonbank financial institutions, including insurance and pension fund industries. In Mongolia s CSP, 2006 2008, one of the concerns raised was the inability of the social security system to provide a reasonable living standard to the aged and the disabled. |
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Impact |
More inclusive economic growth in DMCs. |
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