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* Atleast Project Title is Required.
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Project No. |
HRD 01 2011A
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Project Title |
Advancing Inclusive Growth through Social Protection
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Project Status |
Completed Project
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Publication (if any) |
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Fund Account |
APEC Support Fund
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Sub-fund |
ASF: General Fund
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Project Year |
2011
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Project Session |
Session 2
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APEC Funding |
198,500
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Co-funding Amount |
68,093
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Total Project Value |
266,593
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Sponsoring Forum |
Human Resource Development Working Group (HRDWG)
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Topics |
Human Resources Development
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Committee |
SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE)
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Other Fora Involved |
Not Applicable / Other
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Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved |
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Proposing Economy(ies) |
Philippines; United States
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Co-Sponsoring Economies |
Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; New Zealand; Russia; Chinese Taipei
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Expected Start Date |
08/07/2011
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Expected Completion Date |
31/12/2012
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Project Proponent Name 1 |
Chris Watson
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Job Title 1 |
Area Advisor for Asia and the Pacific and APEC Affairs
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Organization 1 |
US Department of Labor
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Postal Address 1 |
200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20210 USA
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Telephone 1 |
+1 202-693-4858
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Fax 1 |
+1 202-693-4860
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Email 1 |
Watson.Christopher@dol.gov
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Project Proponent Name 2 |
Not Applicable
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Job Title 2 |
Not Applicable
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Organization 2 |
Not Applicable
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Postal Address 2 |
Not Applicable
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Telephone 2 |
Not Applicable
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Fax 2 |
Not Applicable
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Email 2 |
Not Applicable
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Declaration |
Not Applicable
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Project Summary |
This project will focus on building capacity within APEC, especially in developing economies, to strengthen social safety nets. At project’s end, economies, particularly developing economies, will have at their disposal a set of best practices and recommendations for ensuring greater effectiveness and sustainability of social protection measures and systems. The project will build on past and current APEC projects on social protection.
The project addresses the core APEC goals of free and open trade and investment and inclusive and balanced growth. Strong social safety nets ensure that the economic benefits gained via globalization are broadly-shared, which increases public support for trade and investment. During times of economic downturn, social protection has important counter-cyclical effects at the household and macro-economic levels.
Project outputs include seminars in September 2011 in San Francisco, California, USA (during SOM III) and 2012 in the Philippines, case studies, surveys and findings, and a research paper. |
Relevance |
Social protection programs play a vital role in furthering APEC’s objective of free and open trade and investment by promoting economic security and advancing inclusive and balanced growth. Strong, sustainable social safety nets ensure that the economic benefits gained via globalization are broadly-shared. When economic gains are broadly-shared, people are much more likely to support an agenda of free and open trade and investment (Rank 1 funding priority). During times of economic downturn, social protection helps to stabilize household purchasing power, and works counter-cyclically at the macroeconomic level by supporting aggregate demand.
The project directly responds to the Yokohama Declaration, in which APEC Leaders state: “we will implement policies that will enable us to create more and better jobs, enhance education and training with equal opportunities for women, youth, the elderly, and all other sectors and improve social safety nets.” At project’s end, member economies, particularly developing economies, will have at their disposal a set of best practices and recommendations for how to ensure greater effectiveness of social protection measures and sustainability of systems. Particular attention will be paid to assisting vulnerable groups.
The timing of this project is critical. In addition to advancing a number of high-priority APEC objectives -- e.g., inclusive growth, balanced growth, and free and open trade and investment -- the project creates the opportunity to take stock, and begin to assess the impact of, social protection measures implemented in response to the global economic crisis. |
Objectives |
The purpose of this project is to further APEC’s understanding on how to strengthen the effectiveness and sustainability of social protection measures and systems, especially in developing economies. This will be achieved by meeting the following objectives: 1. Sharing promising practices and enhancing understanding of social
protection programs and policies within APEC economies. 2. Promoting best practices and developing recommendations to improve
social safety net programs and coverage. 3. Developing effective strategies to reach vulnerable populations.
Cross-cutting objectives will include identifying programs and practices that generate the greatest impact and how to increase cost-efficiency without sacrificing program effectiveness. |
Alignment |
This project is based on the 1995 Osaka Action Agenda, in which APEC Ministers recognized common policy concepts, joint activities and policy dialogues as the three elements to be taken into account in each specific area of APEC economic and technical cooperation. It also responds to the APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform-endorsed by leaders in Yokohama-which calls on HRDWG to lead work related to effective social safety net programs.
The project furthers APEC’s free and open trade and investment objective (Rank 1 funding priority) by promoting social protection standards that advance inclusive and balanced growth, two of the five pillars of the Leaders’ Growth Strategy. The project also responds to the outcome of HRD Ministerial Meeting, held September 16-17, 2010, in Beijing. Concerned about persistent unemployment and underemployment, increasing numbers of discouraged workers, and widespread informal-sector employment, Ministers expressed the need to “take stock of and disseminate in a timely manner, innovative and successful social protection practices in our economies which effectively address unemployment.” Ministers furthermore agreed to “…improve [our] social safety nets through sound design and delivery…” (see Joint Ministerial Statement).
The project is in line with the priority actions included in the “Action Plan for Developing Human Resources, Vigorously Promoting Employment, and Achieving Inclusive Growth,” adopted at the 2010 Beijing HRD Ministerial Meeting, including: · sharing experiences and best practices on good design and delivery of social protection programs; · conducting research on effective measures to extend social safety nets, particularly to workers in the informal sector; and · expanding research on active social protection measures, with a particular focus on social security, social assistance and benefits provided to the most vulnerable groups to encourage their employment.
At the Working Group level, the project builds on key social protection themes (e.g., temporary job creation programs and cash transfer schemes) that emerged from discussions at the July 2010 HRD Experts Meeting in Jakarta on “Human Resource Impacts of the Global Economic Crisis” and supports all three objectives listed in the HRD WG Work Plan: 1) Develop 21st Century Knowledge and Skills for All; 2) Integrate HRD into the Global Economy; and 3) Address the Social Dimension of Globalization. |
TILF/ASF Justification |
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Beneficiaries and Outputs |
Intended beneficiaries of this project include government ministers, policymakers, researchers and academics in developing and developed economies. This project will inform policy and practice through in-depth discussion and research on effective social protection programs. Beneficiaries wll have access to project documents – i.e., reports, seminar findings, and research paper – which will be posted on APEC’s Knowledgebank Wiki for wider consumption.
Invitations to the seminars will be extended to government officials and representatives from business and civil society who are involved in strengthening social protection systems and/or promoting inclusive economic growth policies. Participation by interested groups from around the region will enable their perspectives to be reflected in discussions and outcomes. Representatives from civil society, for example, would enable a broader perspective on social protection issues to be addressed in discussions, while participation by interested international organizations would allow the outcomes from these seminars and APEC’s work on social protection to be more closely coordinated. |
Dissemination |
Project documents – i.e., reports, seminar findings, and research paper – will be posted on APEC’s Knowledgebank Wiki for participants and other interested parties to view, posted on the APEC Secretariat’s website and distributed to member economies via the HRDWG. Economies will be asked to take responsibility for disseminating the project outcomes within their own economies, including relevant national private organizations. Copies of the seminar output will also be distributed to relevant APEC fora.
Project updates will be provided to HRDWG members at the next annual meeting scheduled for February 2012 in Moscow, Russia. |
Gender |
Women will be actively involved in the planning, management, allocation of resources and implementation of the project. For the Philippines, the Project Overseer will be Florita R. Villar, Assistant Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Development and several women will serve on the Project Team. For the United States, Ms. Valkyrie Hanson, International Relations Analyst with the U.S. Department of Labor, will be directly involved in all aspects of project development and implementation.
In order for the project outputs to be socially or culturally acceptable and accessible to women, representatives from the Philippine Commission on Women and other women organizations shall be invited to be part of the project planning, implementation and evaluation. They will be mobilized in disseminating the project outputs to their respective local and international partners.
Having a woman as the co-project manager with several women as members of the Project Team will ensure equal participation of women and men throughout the completion of the project.
We are requesting active participation by women in the development of project activities, such as the development and completion of case study and survey, and in both seminars. This will ensure that the project considers issues unique to women and addresses challenges women face in overcoming obstacles. The case study template and survey will include seek information on how programs address the needs of women. |
Work Plan |
The project’s main components include two seminars, case studies and surveys -- which will serve as seminar inputs -- and seminar reports. Following the first seminar, a commissioned paper, project findings, seminar outputs, discussions with member economies, and possibly a follow-up survey will help determine the content of the second seminar. All project outputs will be posted on the APEC Knowledgebank Wiki in a timely manner. Activities will begin upon project approval and will occur as follows:
Stage 1: From May–September 2011, Project Managers will develop and distribute APEC economy-case study template and general survey questionnaire. A report summarizing completed case studies and survey responses will be prepared. [Note: While the general survey will be distributed during this stage, we are requesting that economies submit their completed questionnaire at the San Francisco seminar.]
Stage 2: On September 12-13, 2011, USDOL will host a 1.5-day seminar in San Francisco (during SOM III) to examine how various social protection schemes, and broad social protection systems, promote inclusive growth. The objective of the seminar is to gain a better understanding of how social protection programs help move dislocated workers, unemployed workers, informal-sector workers and other at-risk workers into the formal sector. The discussion will address some of the key challenges economies have faced in the development and delivery of social protection. Potential topics for discussion include strategies to improve income security; the role of social assistance; strategies to reach the most vulnerable; and building comprehensiveness into social protection systems. Case studies from APEC economies on major social protection initiatives and a survey cataloging social protection systems in APEC economies will provide input for the discussions and assist in identifying speaking roles.
The seminar agenda will consist of an opening address, presentations by experts from developed and developing economies followed by interactive discussions, and a closing summation. Participating in the discussion will be government officials and representatives international organizations, academia, the private sector and civil society. Invited speakers will be selected on the basis of expertise, and will reflect as representative a group as possible.
Stage 3: From September–October 2011, a seminar report will be finalized and all materials generated will be posted on the APEC Knowledgebank Wiki. Doing so will enable broad accessibility to the material and provide a forum in which to continue the discussion post-seminar.
From October 2011 to Mid-2012, a research paper will be commissioned that could include, inter alia, a brief literature review on social protection, a description of innovative approaches in APEC economies, and recommendations to improve the efficiency, efficacy and coverage of social protection measures and systems. The paper will consider APEC economy case study papers, the general survey, and the San Francisco seminar report.
Stage 4: In the fall of 2012, the Philippines will host a seminar on strengthening social protection systems. The specific content of the seminar will be determined by prior project findings. The author of the commissioned research will present his/her paper. Other seminar participants will include APEC member economies and representatives from international organizations, academia, the private sector and civil society.
Stage 5: A seminar report, the publication of seminar findings and compendium of case studies illustrating effective social protection strategies will be finalized following the second seminar. All project materials will be posted on the APEC Knowledgebank Wiki to enable broad accessibility of the document and create a forum in which experts can continue to dialogue post-project.
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Risks |
This project sets out an extremely ambitious agenda and requires close consultation with APEC member economies. The successful implementation and completion of project activities will therefore require strict adherence to the timeline as defined under the work plan (see Question 5). We will work diligently to ensure that all inputs and outputs are completed on schedule. We will also identify the milestones that must be met and those which could be adjusted. As co-partners in the project, the U.S. and the Philippines will communicate with each other, and with the APEC Secretariat, on a regular basis to help ensure that all parties remain informed on progress and important developments.
Given the ambitious agenda, a potential risk is ensuring that project outputs are of the highest quality. Strict adherence to the timeline will ensure that we have sufficient time to thoroughly review project materials.
Another potential risk is the possibility that a low number of member economies will respond to the case study and questionnaire. To get as many responses as possible, we will identify points of contact in each economy and work in close consultation with them to encourage the completion of these materials on time. |
Monitoring and Evaluation |
Monitoring and evaluating substance: Project seminars will provide opportunities for APEC economies to share their perspectives and practices on social protection programs and systems. Given the diversity of APEC economies, these seminars create a unique venue for participants to learn from the experiences of both developed and developing economies and from a varied set of experts. To determine whether the seminars accomplish this objective, we will solicit feedback from economies through the dissemination of seminar evaluation forms and through ongoing communication throughout the life of the project.
Monitoring and evaluating milestones: Project Managers have created a timeline divided into five discrete stages to help better track progress and ensure that milestones are met. To gauge project effectiveness of each stage, we will solicit feedback from economies through the dissemination of seminar evaluation forms and through continuing communication throughout the life of the project. |
Linkages |
Based on the positive feedback received at the March HRD WG meeting, we anticipate broad participation of APEC members. To help ensure consideration of multiple perspectives on social protection throughout the life of the project, we will also solicit input from international organizations, academics, think tanks, the private sector and civil society.
To avoid duplicating efforts, the project will build on key social protection themes that emerged from discussions at the July 2010 HRD Experts Meeting in Jakarta (see Section 3) and will take into consideration other HRD WG activities on social protection, including Japan’s self-funded proposal on the “APEC Forum on Human Resources Development 2011 - Human Resources Development Measures to the Socially Vulnerable for Realizing “Inclusive Growth” and the work of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) on the impact of social safety nets on household saving. The project will also consider the outcome from the recent Asian Development Bank discussion on “Social Protection in the Asia Pacific Region from the Perspectives of Workers, the Youth, and the Aged.”
Representatives from the aforementioned organizations along with representatives from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Bank will be invited to attend the seminars in San Francisco and Manila and to share their extensive experience working on social protection and inclusive growth issues throughout the duration of the project.
APEC’s unique structure, shared goals, and economic diversity of its members present a key opportunity to exchange best practices on social protection programs. With the diversity of approaches to social protection across APEC, member economies will benefit from each other’s experiences in program development and implementation, and in particular, identifying obstacles and overcoming challenges. |
Sustainability |
Project outputs – which include seminar findings, case studies, surveys, and research -- will be available to stakeholders on the APEC Knowledgebank Wiki, which will enable beneficiaries to have continual access to the information generated through the project. Beneficiaries will also have the ongoing opportunity to engage in interactive dialogue through the website and will be encouraged to continue to make updates and add new information, even after the project has officially closed.
This multiple year project offers a benefit of a sustained focus on the challenges facing policymakers in APEC member economies and the multiple opportunities to target strategies for building capacity to strengthen social safety nets. The multiple year approach further supports efforts of member economies to implement good practices and recommendations generated through project outputs, such as seminar findings and survey results.
The project overseers expect to convene discussions during the project seminars on how to sustain project efforts and to include recommendations for future work in the final report.
Potential next steps include follow-up research addressing remaining gaps in social protection coverage identified but not addressed during the project. The project will strive to avoid duplication in any follow up research activities that seek to address gaps in social protection coverage through continual engagement with other multilateral organizations in the region. |
Project Overseers |
Mr. Chris Watson, Area Advisor for Asia and APEC Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor
Mr. Watson is the Area Advisor for Asia, the Pacific and APEC with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs. He is the U.S. representative to APEC’s Human Resource Development Working Group, serving as the Labor and Social Protection Network Coordinator from 2003 to 2008. He also represents the U.S. Government on the International Labor Organization (ILO) Governing Body Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings.
After joining the Labor Department as a Presidential Management Fellow, Mr. Watson served as a special assistant to the Assistant United States Trade Representative for Labor and then as Deputy Labor Attaché at the United States Embassy in Manila, Philippines. He received his law degree, with a focus on international and
comparative law, from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and his undergraduate degree with honors in Political Science and a minor in Speech Communication from Cal Poly Pomona.
Project Overseer for the Philippines
Ms. Florita R. Villar, Assistant Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Developmentr
Ms. Villar is the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs Group of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). She is the DSWD’s APEC Human Resource Development Working Group Focal Point. She also represents the Philippines as the Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) Focal Point in the ASEAN.
She has been awarded as the Most Outstanding Professional of the Year (1997) in the Field of Social Work by the Professional Regulation Commission and received Distinction Awards from the Philippine Christian University Alumni Association, Soroptimist International of Bataan, and Central Luzon Association of Regional Offices.
Her unquestionable integrity was proven throughout her career in public service, thus she was appointed Chairperson of the Integrity Development Committee (IDC) wherein the Department has ranked first among the national government agencies based on the assessment of the Philippine Anti-Graft Commission.
She received her Masters of Arts in Social Work at the Philippine Women’s University and her undergraduate degree of Bachelor of Science in Social Work at the Philippine Christian University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. Her fields of expertise are Social Work and Social Welfare, Human Resource Development, Child and Youth Welfare, Gender and Development, Early Childhood Care and Development, and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management. |
Cost Efficiency |
We have scheduled the fall 2011 seminar to run concurrently with the SOM III meetings in San Francisco, CA, which will allow us to utilize venue meeting space at significant cost savings to the project. Hosting the seminar at this time should encourage wide attendance by relevant stakeholders from both the private and public sectors.
During SOM III, there will be three distinct events that may prove to be of interest to participants of the other separate but related events. Chronologically, “Advancing Inclusive Growth through Social Protection” is tentatively planned to be the first event, followed by a high-level summit on Women and the Economy, and concluding with a symposium on “Human Capital Policies For Green Growth and Employment”. Due to the expected overlap of social development related-issues at each event, participants in one of the three events may benefit from participating in the other two related events at SOM III.
We will also be posting project outputs via the internet, which will help minimize printing costs and enable a much broader audience to access the material. |
Drawdown Timetable |
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Direct Labour |
The primary APEC-funded contract will be awarded to the key project consultant in charge of drafting the project survey, identifying keynote paper presenters, drafting the symposium agenda, performing the survey analysis, and completing the final report. The expected contractor level of effort is roughly 250 hours. The contractor will be identified shortly.
The remaining APEC-funded direct labor will go to experts to be determined at a later time. These experts will be conducting research to write key papers and will likely be from the academic and private sector. |
Waivers |
There will be two separate and distinct seminars to this project. The first seminar will be in San Francisco, USA in 2011 and the second seminar in Manila, Philippines in 2012.
The per diem in the budget table specifies three days for both seminars in San Francisco, USA and in Manila, Philippines even though both project seminars are scheduled to be only two days. This is because the seminars will start very early in the morning on the first day and project participants travelling to the seminars will need to stay at a nearby hotel the night prior to the start of the seminars.
This project requests a waiver to fund Government Officials’ travel expenses (airfare & per diem). |
Are there any supporting document attached? |
No
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Attachments
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