On 30 November, ESCWA and its partners organized the High-level Ministerial Forum on the Future of Social Protection in the Arab Region to reflect on and formulate a social protection vision and identify priority areas for support from the United Nations.
In her statement, ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti commended the countries’ responses to the pandemic that serve as a basis forward towards implementing more comprehensive and equitable social protection systems.
The Forum was preceded by a technical preparatory meeting on 21 October, attended by the members of the Expert Group on Social Protection in the Arab region to discuss social protection issues and reforms in the Arab region. The meeting showcased countries’ experiences, challenges, and priorities related to four key topics: coverage, shock-responsive social protection, financing, governance and coordination. It also highlighted lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and developments in the field of social protection in recent years. Discussions around these four topics resulted in key inputs to the declaration of principles adopted later at the Ministerial Forum.
The Forum, organized in collaboration with the Regional UN Issue Based Coalition for Social Protection, coordinated by UNICEF and ILO, and with the support of the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth and the socialprotection.org platform, concluded with a declaration of principles for the countries of the region in the post COVID-19 recovery phase.
