August 2013

sdpcop@adb.org Twitter: @ADBSocial

In this issue
Whats New? ....................................................................................... CoP in Action ....................................................................................... Calendar ....................................................................................... Announcements ....................................................................................... TA Project ....................................................................................... Knowledge Products ....................................................................................... Web Picks .......................................................................................

Whats New?
Update on the Mid-term Review of Strategy 2020 The concept paper for the review of Strategy 2020 is now available, containing the background, scope and process that will be undertaken for the review. Draft documents for the review will be periodically posted on the mid-term review website as they are prepared. See the concept note.

Asia Spending Too Little on the Poor Most Asian countries do not spend enough on social programs to help poor and vulnerable people, according to the ADB study, Social Protection Index: Assessing the results in Asia and the Pacific. The study notes that despite Asia's economic boom, governments have not channeled sufficient investment into social protection. The study also warns of a "missing middle" group of people live above the poverty line, but who are highly vulnerable to shocks.

Development Banks Support Post-2015 Agenda ADB and six other multi-lateral organizations issued a joint appeal for global support of the high level United Nations panel report calling for an end to extreme poverty and sustainable development beyond 2015, the target date of achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. See the joint appeal.

What Role can Social Protection Play in Realizing the Right to Food? Social protection contributes not only to securing adequate food for all, but also aims to provide people the stability and resources needed to develop capabilities and to make choices about their lives and futures. Olivier de Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has prepared reports and briefing notes on how to finance and facilitate social protection for all.

Chat Transcript Social Protection: A Key Instrument for Inclusive Growth This online chat with Sri Wening Handayani, Principal Social Development Specialist, and Michelle Domingo-Palacpac, Senior Social Development Officer, answers several questions, including: What is the current state of social protection systems and programs in Asia and the Pacific region? How can countries expand and strengthen social protection to cover its poor and vulnerable populations? Why are social protection programs important in times of disasters?

Social Protection Framework in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) GMS policy makers learned key concepts and improved skills in the design and implementation of national social protection systems at a workshop organized under the umbrella of the Phnom Penh Plan, 7-12 July, at Seoul National University. Participants shared experiences from GMS countries and the Republic of Korea on social security, social assistance, and social protection of migrants.

Social Protection and Food Security What Works? A study conducted by Overseas Development Institute for German Society of International Cooperation identifies which social protection tools are most suitable for establishing links to food security. Results show that cash transfers are most suitable for poverty reduction and food security, since cash is used both for good-quality food and for agricultural inputs. School feeding and other crop/ weather-based insurance schemes show limited success in ensuring food security.

New Global Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network Launched The Global Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network was recently launched to provide international support to policy makers engaged in constructing multidimensional poverty measures. The network enables early adopters of this measurement standard to share their experiences directly with policy makers in other countries who are exploring the possibility of, or implementing, such measures.

A Classrooms Worst Nightmare? Energy Poverty For many students and teachers in poor countries, energy poverty the lack of access to reliable energy sources is a challenge faced every day both at home and at school. For the students who go to schools that lack electricity, that means no fans, no evening classes, no computers or access to the Internet, and much more.

Study: CCTs Alone Cannot Solve Long-term Poverty This news broadcast reports findings of a study from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies that concludes that Philippine conditional cash transfer program is not sufficient to solve poverty in the long run. The study argues that the number of years allotted by the CCT program for children to attend school is not enough to build skills that will allow youth to enter the labor market for decent wages that, in turn, will allow them to move out of poverty.

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CoP in Action
On 10 July, Hermann Waibel, Director of the Institute of Development and Agricultural Economics at Hannover University, presented the results of a longitudinal study on how shocks decreased the risk-taking behavior of households in Thailand and Viet Nam, implying that this decreased chances of taking opportunities to improve family life. On 25 July, Anil Deolalikar, Founding Dean of the UC Riverside School of Public Policy, and Shikha Jha, Principal Economist, ERMF, shared a policy report on empowerment prepared for ADBs 46th Annual Meeting. The speakers explained how some mechanisms of empowerment help improve the quantity and quality of public service delivery. They also emphasized that empowerment of citizens alone is not sufficient to improve social services. They noted that other steps are required, including: systemic government reforms, a strong private sector involved in service provision, and the use of ICT to improve the efficiency of and access to services. On 29 July, Demetrios Papademetriou, President and Co-Founder of the Migration Policy Institute, discussed how countries that receive migrants evaluate and accept talented workers, as well as how talented workers choose their destination country. Mr. Papademetriou emphasized that countries providing flexible opportunities for talented workers and families, as well as flexible residency arrangements, are best able to attract migrants who can help to address labor market needs. He also discussed how countries from which workers emigrate can encourage their migrants to return home. The seminar was co-sponsored by the CoP and ERDI. See the presentation.

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Calendar
Designing Impact Evaluation for a Poverty Alleviation Program 16 September, 2:00 p.m, venue TBA Aishwarya Ratan, Director, Global Financial Inclusion Initiative, Yale University, will share insights on measuring impact of an attributable innovation on the average person through field experiments. Yukiko Ito, 6606

Innovative Ways to Engage NGOs 26 September, 10 a.m., kHub Lainie Thomas, Social Development Specialist (Civil Society and Participation), SERD, will discuss less commonly utilized processes in the bank that may also be opportunities for engaging NGOs in the implementation of projects.

Insight Thursday: CSR Asia Summit 2013 3 October, 8:30 a.m., kHub Marzia Mongiorgi, Principal Portfolio Management Specialist, OSFMD, and SDP CoP Committee Member, will share highlights gathered from the Corporate Social Responsibility Asia Summit 2013, which will focus on how businesses can contribute to growth and innovation while addressing social and environmental challenges.

Training and Writeshop on Evidence-based Evaluation Training: 21-22 October, LRC1; Writeshop: 23-24 October, venue TBA A team from Harvard Universitys Evidence for Policy Design Center for International Development will conduct a training for CoP members on how to incorporate impact evaluation early into the project design. Resident Mission staff are also encouraged to participate. Contact Yukiko Ito, 6606 to signify interest.

Other non-CoP activities of interest Youth Dialogue: Social Innovation as a Catalyst for Change 12 August, 9:30-11:30, Auditorium A Park Won-Soon, Seoul mayor and 2006 Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service, will lead discussions on youth empowerment and innovations to address social problems. Staff and Philippine youth are participating in the event in support of UN International Youth Day. Book Launch: Ending Asian Deprivations: Compulsions for a Fair, Prosperous and Equitable Asia 12 August, 10 a.m. - 12 nn., Auditorium Annex 1 Staff are cordially invited to attend the launch of this book, which shows how determined, target-driven public action can help improve Asias deprived populations. Practical measures to tackle problems of hunger, unemployment, gender discrimination, ill health, lack of quality basic education, inadequate access to clean water and basic sanitation are discussed in the book. Poverty and Social Analysis (PSA) Training 14-16 August, Annex 1 and 2 RSDD is conducting this training for ADB staff, particularly those in operations involved in project design and implementation. The training which is offered three times a year - addresses poverty, social, gender, participation, and social risk aspects involved in preparing the IPSA and SPRSS as a part of project design. The next PSA training will take place at TRM in 13-15 November, and is being organized primarily for Resident Mission staff.

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Announcements
Start the Spark: Principles and Challenges of Social Innovation 14 August, 5-7 p.m., AIM Conference Center, Makati Jane Leu, Ashoka Fellow, Founder and CEO of Smarter Good and Upwardly Global, will discuss innovation that helps benefit people. Contact info@asiasociety.org.ph for more information.

Call for Papers and Panel on Inequality IDS encourages the submission of abstracts for papers and/or the offer to organize panels that contribute to the understanding of the relationships between Inequality and Vulnerability and between Inequality and Poverty. Papers and panel will be presented at the Inequality, Poverty and Vulnerability Conference, 6-8 May 2014, at IDS, Brighton, UK. Email povertyandinequality@ids.ac.uk to submit proposals. The deadline for proposal for a panel is 27 September 2013, while the deadline for individual papers is 4 November 2013.

Global Social Business Summit 2013 79 November 2013, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The Global Social Business Summit aims to spread awareness of social business, foster discussion and collaboration between practitioners and stakeholders, as well as present and conceive best practices. The annual event is organized by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. Visit www.gsbs2013.com for more information.

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TA Project
Lessons from the Cambodian Technical Assistance Project on Income Restoration This successful-rated project was implemented between 2010 and 2012 to reduce poverty and vulnerability associated with involuntary resettlement along Cambodias National Road 1. This Technical Assistance Completion Report recommends that ADB ensure adequate and timely income restoration and financial literacy training are included in every resettlement plan given the prevalence of informal moneylenders, low financial literacy among the poor, and the risk of debt traps and resettlement plot loss in Cambodia.

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Knowledge Products
The Social Protection Index: Assessing Results for Asia and the Pacific Analyzes 2009 data on government social protection programs in 35 countries in Asia and the Pacific using the Social Protection Index. Helps assess the nature and effectiveness of these programs, as well as facilitate s cross-country comparisons. Concludes that, despite steep GDP gains in recent decades, the majority of countries in Asia and the Pacific particularly those that have graduated to middle-income statushave not correspondingly strengthened their systems of social protection. There is a need to scale up and broaden these systems.

Promoting Inclusive Social Protection in the Post-2015 Framework Argues that the Post-2015 development framework should promote Inclusive Social Protection, both to guarantee universal access to social protection and also to ensure that social protection and complementary programs address the structural causes of poverty and vulnerability, rather than merely responding to the symptoms.

Gender Equality and Food Security Recaps the multiple interlinking contributions that gender equality and the empowerment of women can make to food security in Asia and the Pacific. Provides evidence that improved education for girls and women can lead to: (i) improved feeding practices and lower rates of population growth; (ii) more economic opportunities for women on and off the farm; and (iii) greater economic independence and improved bargaining position of women within households, resulting in choices that are beneficial to the health, education and nutrition of children.

Social Protection, Growth and Employment: Evidence from India, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Peru and Tajikistan Takes an in-depth look at selected programs and their interaction with employment generation and growth in India, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Peru and Tajikistan. Focuses on poverty and aims to explore how social and economic policies can be better integrated to simultaneously advance social welfare, employment outcomes and inclusive growth.

The Social Protection of Temporary Migrant Workers: An Evolutionary Process Goes beyond the wages issue that shaped the situation of migrant workers over time and examines the need for social protection of temporary migrant workers as a human right. Stresses the right of temporary migrant workers to social security and to social protection. According to international human rights law, all temporary migrant workers travel with a bundle of human rights.

Eradicating Global Poverty: A Noble Goal, but How Do We Measure it? Collates proposals from several experts on how to measure poverty in a Post-2015 agreement, such as the use of higher international income poverty lines, national poverty lines, or income-based poverty metrics.

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Web picks
Website: High Level Panel on the Post 2015 Development Agenda Presents the background papers and final report of the 27-member panel appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to propose a framework to succeed the MDGs. On Twitter: CSI Social Impact Shares the latest research, events, and ideas on different social issues in Australia and around the world.

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Send your links and announcements for events, papers, articles and slides of best practices/ lessons learned related to social development and poverty reduction to sdpcop@adb.org. If you have colleagues who you think may be interested in joining the CoP, please forward this newsletter to them. The Social Development and Poverty CoP Newsletter is prepared by Kat Olivares for the CoP Secretariat.