AFD and SOCIEUX+ hosting Lab Debate
Adaptive social protection in the development agenda
at European Development Days 2021

The French Development Agency and SOCIEUX+ are hosting a debate on the topic Adaptive social protection in the development agenda at European Development Days (EDD), Europe’s leading forum on international cooperation and development, organized by the European Commission. The session will take place on the 16th of June, from 11:50-12:35 (Brussels hour), and will be fully accessible on line at the EDDs platform.

Following this year’s EDD theme of The Green Deal for a Sustainable Future a panel of international speakers will discuss the concept of Adaptive Social Protection and its role in the development agenda, presenting examples and cases from Bangladesh, Haiti, Lebanon, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Sahel region. The debate will bring together experts and policy advisors to share their knowledge and recent experiences in this area.

Background

Adaptive social protection systems combine policies and techniques from social protection, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DDR). With this approach, social protection programs become more flexible, can quickly be extended to populations affected by shocks and reinforce households’ resilience. Yet adaptive social protection is not systematically included in development strategies, be it in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), social protection or DDR strategies.

Speakers at this session will debate how adaptive social protection can be put at the forefront of the policy agenda to help households and communities anticipate, absorb, and recover from climate shocks.

Speakers

• Koen Vleminckx, Knowledge Development Co-ordinator of SOCIEUX+, Director of Research and International Cooperation at the Belgian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, and Director of Belgian International Cooperation on Social Protection (BELINCOSOC). Koen Vleminckx will be the moderator of the session.
• Jean-Louis Lambeau, Social protection expert at the ILO, offers over 30 years of engagement in development and humanitarian projects in Latin America, in Africa and in Asia.
• Guillaume Bouveyron (AFD), Disaster Risk Reduction expert and global lead at Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
• Verhonica Zamudio (CISS), Researcher at the Interamerican Conference on Social Security (CISS), specialized in social risks linked to climate change, such as disasters due to threats of natural origin, as well as in the preparation and response of health services in case of emergencies and disasters. She is in charge of the disaster risk research line at the CISS. SOCIEUX+ and CISS have signed collaboration agreement to jointly promote cooperation activities.
• Carlos Soto Iguaran (AFD), Expert and Team Leader at Agence Française de Développement (AFD).