Social Protection Podcast

In this episode of the Social Inclusion Series*, we explore how social protection systems can support greater inclusion for persons with disabilities across the Asia-Pacific region. Most of them face multiple and interconnected barriers, ranging from inaccessible environments and social stigma to the high costs of healthcare, assistive technologies, and care. When these needs go unmet, they can lead to increased risk of poverty, reduced participation in education and employment, and diminished well-being for individuals and their families.

This episode examines how governments and communities are working to address these challenges. We unpack “cash-plus” approaches that combine income support with health coverage, assistive devices, and care services, and look at how countries, especially in Southeast Asia, are designing more inclusive and responsive forms of support..

Meet our guests: 

Abner Manlapaz, Senior Associate of Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP)

Charles Knox-Vydmanov, Social Policy Specialist (Inclusive Social Protection – Disability), UNICEF

For our Quick Wins segment, we spoke with Sam Drummond, the host of the podcast ‘Building Inclusion’, a limited podcast series that highlights the voices shaping the future of disability inclusion in Australia.

*The Social Inclusion Series, produced by socialprotection.org in partnership with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), is a three-part series that explores how social protection systems can advance the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable populations across the Indo-Pacific, in line with GEDSI principles, addressing key themes such as gender equality, demographic shifts, and disability inclusion.

 

Resources:

Multimedia | Building Inclusion: Australia’s Disability Strategy

Publication | Global Disability Inclusion Report

Publication | Methodological Guidelines on Assessing Household Disability-Related Costs and Their Implication for Participation

Publication | Building an inclusive future: Social protection as a catalyst for disability empowerment in Viet Nam

Publication| Bridging the information gap towards inclusive governance

In this second episode of the Social Inclusion Series*, we explore how ageing populations are reshaping social protection needs and development across Asia and the Pacific. While demographic trends vary widely across the region, countries are increasingly facing issues on how to support income security, health, care, and dignity in later life.

The episode explores the links between ageing, pension systems, and the care economy, which has long relied on women’s unpaid labour, including how family-based care is coming under increasing pressure from migration, urbanisation, and changing social and economic conditions. Drawing on examples from the Asia-Pacific region, with a closer look at the experience of Fiji, our guests discuss how social protection can evolve to complement family and community support, reduce poverty, and strengthen resilience across the life course.

Meet our guests: 

Philip O’Keefe, Professor of Practice, Centre for Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), University of New South Wales

Jesse Doyle, Senior Social Protection Specialist (Economist), P4SP**

Ms Rozia Bi, National Coordinator - Social Protection Reforms, Fiji Ministry of Women, Children & Social Protection

For our Quick Wins segment, we spoke with Meghna Ranganathan, Associate Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who shared insights on how the impacts of social protection interventions on intimate partner violence and household dynamics evolve over time, and reflected on more inclusive approaches to research and evidence.

*The Social Inclusion Series, produced by socialprotection.org in partnership with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), is a three-part series that explores how social protection systems can advance the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable populations across the Indo-Pacific, in line with GEDSI principles, addressing key themes such as gender equality, demographic shifts, and disability inclusion.

**P4SP stands for Partnership for Social Protection and it is a program funded and supported by the Australian Government. More information here. 

Resources:

Publication | World social protection report 2024-26: Regional companion report for Asia and the Pacific

Publication | Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific 2024 - Protecting our Future Today: Social Protection in Asia and the Pacific

Publication | Toward a Resilient Care Ecosystem in Asia and the Pacific - Promising Practices, Lessons Learned, and Pathways for Action on Decent Care Work

Publication | Caring Societies, Inclusive, and Green Economies in Asia and the Pacific: Unveiling Data To Advance Women’s Empowerment Beyond GDP

Blog | Why Asia-Pacific should care about care: Care infrastructure is the next frontier development solution across the region

Blog | Ageing in the Global South: The challenge of social protection

Publication | Future demand for care in Indonesia, the Philippines & Vietnam

Website | Cash Transfer and IPV Research Collaborative

Publication | Evolution of intimate partner violence impacts from cash transfers, food transfers, and behaviour change communication: Mixed-method experimental evidence from a nine-year post-programme follow-up in Bangladesh

Publication | Decolonising implementation science: a call for methodological pluralism

In this first episode of the Social Inclusion Series*, we shine a spotlight on adolescent girls. Adolescence is a turning point—but one that often goes overlooked in social protection. These years are filled with major transitions, especially for girls, who often face greater challenges in staying in school, taking on care responsibilities, navigating sexual debut, and making decisions about their futures. These challenges are often driven by underlying gender inequalities and poverty, which shape and often constrain these pathways.  

In this episode, we explore how social protection can help shift that trajectory. Focusing on risks such as child marriage and early pregnancy, we unpack how well-designed programmes can support girls to stay in school, access essential services, and navigate this critical stage of life with greater security. It also discusses how crisis—from economic shocks to climate change—can deepen risks, making already fragile transitions even more uncertain for adolescent girls. 

Our guests dive into the evidence on what works providing some examples in Asia and worldwide and discuss why investing in adolescent girls is key to building more inclusive, resilient and climate-adaptive societies. 

Meet our guests: 

Kath Ford, Deputy Director, Young Lives Research Program, University of Oxford 

Dr. Nyasha Tirivayi, Social Policy Manager, UNICEF Office of Strategy and Evidence-Innocenti 

For our Quick Wins segment, we spoke with Eunice Tumwebaze, who is the Manager for Gender, Youth, and Children at the Kampala Capital City Authority in Uganda, who provided and overview of the Uganda's first urban social protection program for girls called “Girls Empowering Girls”. 

*The Social Inclusion Series, produced by socialprotection.org in partnership with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), is a three-part series that explores how social protection systems can advance the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable populations across the Indo-Pacific, in line with GEDSI principles, addressing key themes such as gender equality, demographic shifts, and disability inclusion. 

 

Resources:

Publication | Unlocking Potential: How Social Protection Can Improve Disadvantaged Children’s Foundational Cognitive Skills 

Publication | Weathering the Storm: Climate Shocks Threaten Children’s Skills and Learning But Social Protection Can Mitigate Impact 

Publication | A Call to Action to expand social protection and care systems and promote decent work to address child poverty 

Publication | Non-contributory Social Protection and Adolescents in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review of Government Programming and Impacts 

Publication | Impacts and Design of Social Assistance for Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment and Well-Being in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: What Works for Adolescent Girls 

Publication | Systematic review of cash plus or bundled interventions targeting adolescents in Africa to reduce HIV risk 

News | DSWD's ProtecTEEN program to address adolescent pregnancy 

News | DSWD XI, CPD XI forge partnership on Social Protection and PopDev 

Technical Brief | The Investment Case for the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy and Child Marriage in South-East Asia  

Webinar | Global Evaluation of UNICEF work supporting expansion toward universal child benefits - cash plus programming strengthening adolescent and youth development, opportunities and empowerment In Good practices from Uganda and India 

Website | Gender-Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) project 

Publication | Towards Gender-Responsive Social Protection: Evidence on policymaking, programme implementation and impacts for women and girls 

Publication | A Cash Plus Model for Safe Transitions to a Healthy and Productive Adulthood: Round 4 Findings

Between 2015 and 2025, the number of displaced people worldwide nearly doubled. Today, more than 123 million people are forcibly displaced globally, including around 42 million refugees. Many of the countries that host refugees internationally are low- or middle-income, often lacking adequate social protection systems for their own citizens, let alone for displaced populations. As conflicts become increasingly protracted, displacement now lasts for years, or even decades, turning forced displacement from a short-term emergency into a long-term development challenge.

Given this background, the episode explores how perspectives on forced displacement have evolved, shifting from a primarily humanitarian concern to a broader development issue. It examines how social protection systems can be expanded to better include refugees, and discusses the opportunities and challenges of approaches that bridge humanitarian and development responses within social protection frameworks.

This month’s episode marks five years of the Social Protection Podcast. Over this time, the podcast has brought together voices from a wide range of institutions, countries, and perspectives to explore the evolving debates, policies, and practices shaping social protection worldwide. Since its launch, the podcast has released 70 episodes, including five special series, and reached thousands of listeners in over 180 countries. This milestone reflects the commitment of our guests and partners, as well as the dedicated work of the socialprotection.org team and its collaborators. And, of course, to you, the listener: thank you for being part of this journey!

  

Meet our guests:

 

Mattia Polvanesi, Senior Social Protection Officer, UNHCR

Pablo A. Acosta, Lead Economist for Social Protection and Global Lead for Migration, World Bank Group

Sarah Hague, Senior Advisor and Global Coordinator, Economic and Social Policy Global Practice, UNICEF

 

For our Quick Wins segment, we spoke with Lauren Whitehead, Lead on Inclusive Social Protection and Gender, UNICEF, who shared key outcomes and takeaways from the Gender-Responsive Social Protection Symposium.

 

 

Resources:

Website | 1951 Refugee Convention

Publication | 2018 Global Compact on Refugees

 Publication | Refugees and Social Assistance in Low- and middle-income Countries : A Review of Operational Experiences

Publication | Responsibility Sharing and the Economic Participation of Refugees in Chad

Publication | Leaving no one behind: Why social protection must include displaced people (not open access)

 Publication | IMF World Economic Outlook  - A Critical Juncture amid Policy Shifts

 Publication | The Global Cost of Refugee Inclusion in Host Countries’ Health Systems: A Joint World Bank-UNHCR Report

Publication | G20 Call to Action Towards Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Development through Universal Social Protection Systems

Publication | Tipsheets for applying the Common Principles for linking Humanitarian Assistance and Social Protection: Principle 9

Publication | Guiding Principles for Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Social Protection

The Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, launched under Brazil’s G20 Presidency in 2024, seeks to accelerate progress towards ending extreme poverty and hunger while tackling inequality. Bringing together over 200 members including governments, international organisations, and other partners, the Alliance aims to mobilise political commitment, align public and private financing, and promote evidence-based policy solutions that are country-led and centred on those most affected. 

In this episode, we unpack the Alliance’s mandate and early achievements, explore how it supports countries in identifying needs and scaling proven policy instruments, and discuss what lies ahead as the Global Alliance moves from coordination to large-scale implementation. 

Meet our guests: 

Renato Domith Godinho, Director, Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Support Mechanism 
Kevin Watkins, Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics

In our Quick Wins segment, we speak with Raphaël Duteau, Manager for AI and Data Ethics at Employment and Social Development Canada, about the opportunities Artificial Intelligence presents for social protection. He also shares insights on the AI Hub launched under the Digital Convergence Initiative. 

References: 

Resource | Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty 

Resource | AI Hub 

Webinar recording | The AI Hub for Social Protection - supporting responsible AI in social protection