Social Protection in South Asia
Growth, Equity, Security and Opportunities
Hilton Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka
May 17-19, 2006

Social protection is an integral component of the "equity and inclusion" focus of the World Bank's strategy in South Asia. The recent workshop, "Social Protection in South Asia: Growth with Equity, Security and Opportunity," took stock of progress countries in South Asia have made toward improving social protection programs and policies in recent years and discussed new challenges and opportunities.

The workshop gathered researchers, policy makers and practitioners from acrosss the region as well as from the World Bank and other development partners.

• strong economic growth but increasing inequality and vulnerability (health shocks, large natural disasters)
• performance of social protection policies and programs, such as safety nets, employment promotion/protection policies, and social security programs and their role in addressing these developments and fostering inclusive growth

Since the launch of the regional social protection report in Colombo in April 2003, the Bank has been engaging client countries in analytical work and advisory services designed to increase the knowledge base and lay the foundations for lending operations. As a result, comprehensive social protection strategies have been developed for a number of countries: reforms of safety nets, pensions, and employment protection are increasingly on the policy agenda, and the countries are considering expanding social security to the informal sector.

South Asian countries have a wide range of programs designed to address poverty and vulnerability. Among the social protection programs, safety nets attempt to help poor people cope but often have low coverage, inadequate benefits, and weak targeting. Beyond traditional social protection instruments, these countries also have considerable experience with interventions such as microfinance, livelihood support, and conditional cash transfers.