13:00-14:00 | Opening roundtable — The role of social protection in the fight against hunger and poverty: global perspectives

According to the 2024-26 World Social Protection Report, social protection coverage has increased for the first time to cover more than half of the global population (52.4%), up from 42.8% in 2015. However, coverage gaps remain wide between countries, with a particularly low rate in countries affected by weather-related crisis. Globally, 76% of children still have no effective social protection coverage. Initiatives like the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (USP2030), the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions and the G20’s Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty aim to intensify investment and country-level support for more integrated and coherent employment and social protection policies to achieve the SDGs. The roundtable discussion aims to understand how these initiatives can support country programmes and local initiatives to strengthen social protection systems.  

• Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Director of OECD Development Centre.
• Shahra Razavi, Director of the Social Protection Department, ILO.
• Iffath Sharif, Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs, World Bank.
• Céline Jurgensen, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in Rome.
• Álvaro Díaz Duque, General Directorate of Sustainable Development Policies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Co-operation, Spain.
• Renato Domith Godinho, Special Advisor for International Affairs, Ministry for Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, Brazil.

14:00-15:30 | Session 1 — Ending hunger and malnutrition: evidence from nutrition and food assistance programmes for children

The SDGs aim to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030, making sure all people – especially children – have sufficient and nutritious food all year. Malnutrition in children manifests in different ways. Undernutrition, a matter of poor diet, affects an estimated 340 million children under the age of 5 worldwide. Stunting and wasting are other forms of malnutrition, which delays growth, weakens immune systems and impairs brain development, hindering the ability to learn and contribute fully to society. The number of overweight children is also increasingly, especially in middle income countries. This session will review different social assistance programmes such as school meals, food stamps and cash transfers and their effects on nutrition and education outcomes on children, as well as on changes in consumption patterns of households. It will also discuss how local food systems can support the availability and affordability of nutrient-rich foods and what are the underlying drivers of the current nutrition challenges.  

Moderator: Céline Julia Felix, Social Protection Specialist, Unicef.

Country speakers

• Ghisbert Rivomanana, Director General of Solidarity, Ministry of Population and Solidarities, Madagascar.
• Lakshmi Somatunga, Additional Secretary Public Health Services “Suwasiripaya”, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka.
• Shelly Ann Edwards, Programme Director, Poverty Reduction Coordinating Unit, Planning Institute of Jamaica.

Discussants

• Paula Nolan, Development Specialist, Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland.
• Olivier Bruyeron, Head of Partnerships and Innovative Projects, GRET.

15:45-17:15 | Session 2 — Reaching the poor and food insecure: lessons from social registries

Data on household and individual incomes are indispensable in the implementation of social protection programmes. Yet, in developing countries, the large informal sector makes it difficult to identify beneficiaries based on income criteria. A social registry is a database that collects information on households that can be used to determine eligibility for poverty-targeted social protection programmes. In recent years, social registries have been widely used in low- and middle- income countries to implement targeted social programmes. One challenge with this method is the use of proxies for income and infrequently updated data that can lead to exclusion errors. On the other hand, social registries can play a critical role in the implementation of social programmes by identifying the poor and helping organise and interlink the delivery of national and local services. The session aims to clarify the concept around social registries and compare country experiences in using them as part of social programme implementation. It will discuss the effectiveness in terms of targeting, the financial cost to set up and update the database, the interoperability with other administrative databases and the impact on poverty reduction and food security.

Moderator: Juan de Laiglesia, Senior Economist, OECD Development Centre.

Country speakers

• Pak Maliki, Deputy Minister for Population and Manpower, Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS), Indonesia.
• Liomar Leite de Morais Lima, Director of Operation of the Single Registry (Cadastro Único), Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, Brazil.
• Matar Sene, General Delegate for Social Protection and Solidarity, Senegal.
• Khalid Alhesa, Secretary General Assistance for Projects and Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Jordan.
• Mauritius (TBD).

Discussants

• Valentina Barca, Social Protection Expert.
• Gunnel Axelsson Nycander, Policy Advisor, Act Church of Sweden, Member of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floor.

13:00-14:30 | Session 3 — Enhancing food security: social protection for smallholder farmers

Globally, some 600 million smallholder farmers – those working on two hectares of land or less – are estimated to produce about 30% of the food supply. The majority are low-income, informal workers. While some manage to diversify their income through non-farm activities, the poorest rely mostly on farming for their livelihoods. Increasing weather-related shocks make these farmers even more vulnerable to fall into poverty. The financing gap for adaptation and disaster risk reduction remains wide. Globally, less than 20% of smallholder farmers have agriculture insurance. This session will discuss the role of different schemes, such as cash transfers, cash-for-work programmes, and social insurance aimed at protecting incomes and productivity of smallholder farmers.  

Moderator: Céline Peyron Bista, Social Protection and Employment Policy Specialist, International Labour Organization.

Country speakers

• Claudine Nyinawagaga, Director General, Local Administrative Entities Development Agency, Rwanda.
• Liz Coronel, Manager of Economic Development, Ministry of Economy and Planning, Paraguay.
• Shahzad Nawaz Cheema, Joint Secretary of Planning and Development, Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Pakistan.

Discussants

• Ilère Ngongang, Continental Programme Officer West Africa, World Social Movements.
• Marco Knowles, Senior Social Policy Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
• Emily Wylde, Senior Social Policy Specialist, International Fund for Agricultural Development.

14:45-16:15 | Session 4 — Promoting resilience in crisis-affected communities: the humanitarian-development nexus.

Natural disasters and the effects of climate change, including droughts and floods, increasingly exacerbate the vulnerabilities of the poorest and create risks of pockets of hunger. Moreover, climate shocks often overlap with increased violence and state fragility, aggravating food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition. Globally, almost 60% of the extreme poor live in fragile situations where shocks due to weather variability and/or conflict erode their livelihoods. The World Food Programme estimates that more than 42.3 million people face emergency levels of hunger, while the number of acutely hungry people continues to increase. In this context, social protection can play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of natural disasters as well as compounded crises, both in the short term by channelling emergency relief, and in the long-term by strengthening resilience against future shocks. The session will look at a range of shock-responsive social protection programmes designed to alleviate the short-term and long-term effects of shocks, and will discuss their impact on promoting sustainable livelihoods and building resilience.

Moderator: Jonathan Marley, Policy Analyst, Crisis, Conflict and Fragility, Development Co-operation Directorate, OECD.

Country speakers

• Moulaye El Hacen Abdel Maleck, Coordinator of the National Programme Tekavoul, General Delegation for National Solidarity and the Fight Against Exclusion (TAAZOUR), Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
• Naomi Jeremiah, Permanent Secretary with responsibility for Social Development and Gender Affairs, Ministry of Social and Community Development, Housing, and Gender Affairs, Grenada.
• Stephen Musimba, Hunger Safety Net Programme, National Drought Management Authority, Kenya.

Discussants

• Christian Bodewig, Practice Manager for Social Protection & Jobs for Western and Central Africa, World Bank.
• Ermioni Sokou, Programme officer at the DG for International Partnerships, European Commission.
• Ana Ocampo, Regional Social Protection Advisor, World Food Programme.

16:15-17:15 | Closing session

• Renato Domith Godinho, Special Advisor for International Affairs, Ministry for Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, Brazil.
• USP2030 Secretariat.
• Alexandre Kolev, Head of Social Cohesion Unit, OECD Development Centre and PD-SPD Secretariat.