Social protection policies and systems have the potential to play a critical role in transforming women’s and girls’ lives. They can do this by addressing lifecycle risks and transitions, recognising and valuing unpaid care and domestic work, increasing access to services and infrastructure and promoting women’s and girls’ voice and agency. Critically, social protection policies and systems must be designed and implemented to achieve these objectives. If not, they risk exacerbating gender inequalities and discrimination. The extent to which social protection is gender-responsive however, is as much a political decision as a technical one, and influenced by many factors including political regime type, the role of civil society, social structures and norms.
This webinar is one in a series organised by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and will bring together experts across the field of social protection and gender to explore the following key questions:
- What are the political economy barriers to promoting gender-responsive social protection?
- Who are the drivers and influencers of social protection policy and how gender-sensitive are they?
- What is the role of grassroots civil society in furthering a gender-responsive social protection agenda?
- How can the challenges be overcome to promote social protection which transforms women’s and girls’ lives in a politically smart way?
Speakers
- Laura Alfers, Director, Social Protection Programme, WIEGO @Laura_WIEGO
- Dr. Nicola Jones, Principal Research Fellow, Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) programme, ODI and GAGE Director @njonesODI @GAGE_Programme
- TBC
Chair
Rebecca Holmes, Research Associate, Social Protection and Social Policy Programme, ODI
