Scaling-up Social Safety Programs: Lessons learned from COVID-19

Aseel Almahfoodh — Country Manager, MENA, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Public Sector Operations, OPEC Fund for International Development

--

Social protection programs have soared worldwide in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as governments work hard to galvanize their economies. Over the last three years, more than 3,800 labor and social protection measures were active in more than 180 countries, according to the World Bank. As this novel field expands beyond US$3 trillion in value, our event will share the latest insights with a view to helping countries roll out more efficient social safety nets.

The target audience for this session includes government representatives, public policy professionals, development partners and youth training and employment specialists. Our panelists include:

• Musab Alomar, Director MENA, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, OPEC Fund
• Iffath A. Sharif, Global Director, Social Protection and Jobs, World Bank
• H.E. Hisham Badr, Assistant Minister for Strategic Partnerships, Excellence, and Initiatives, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Egypt
• Jason Salgado, Founder, Climate Shares

A recent example of OPEC Fund work in this area is the Estidama project, which helped preserve 100,000 jobs and create another 14,500 across Jordan. The project was active in the ICT and health sectors, creating jobs for young nurses to help with the COVID-19 vaccine campaign. Tourism was another priority sector, in which youth were trained in heritage preservation of archaeological sites.