#APSP2023 | Day 2 | Session 3B | Social Protection for Economic Inclusion: Stories of Piloting...

#APSP2023 | Day 2 | Parallel Session 3B | Social Protection for Economic Inclusion: Stories from Piloting and Scaling Up the Graduation Approach Social protection for economic inclusion (the graduation approach) reduces poverty and builds resilience. Robust empirical evidence confirms that holistic support for very poor and vulnerable people—through a combination of social assistance, psycho-social support, and economic empowerment interventions—helps them move out of extreme poverty. Benefiting from a combination of cash transfers, livelihood support, financial inclusion and connection to social services, each participant is mentored and supported with careful coaching for the duration of the program. Economic inclusion programs are designed to address both immediate needs and underlying causes of multidimensional poverty, and often build on existing social assistance programs. ADB is supporting more than a dozen such initiatives in seven countries in Asia and the Pacific, including in India Mongolia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka. In this session, participants heard from officials and technical experts supporting economic inclusion programs at different stages of implementation, from pilots to wider integration in national programs. Panelists: 1. Enkhtsetseg Tudev, Team Leader, Mongolia Graduation Pilot Project, Mongolian Red Cross Society 2. Ricardo Carlos V. Barba, Principal Safeguard Specialist and Mission Leader of Tamil Nadu Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Housing Project, Office of Safeguards, ADB 3. Florentino Y. Loyola Jr., Assistant Secretary for Specialized Programs under Operations Group and Concurrent Officer-in-Charge National Program Manager, Sustainable Livelihoods Program, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippines 4. H.D. Sudarshana A. Jayasundara, Senior Social Development Officer (Gender), Sri Lanka Resident Mission, South Asia Department, ADB Moderator : Karin Schelzig, Director, Human and Social Development Sector Office, Sectors Group, ADB _____________ The Asia-Pacific Social Protection Week (APSP) 2023 took place from 26-28 September in Manila, Philippines, and was organised by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with the support of the socialprotection.org platform and other partners. Access the conference's page for additional information and resources: https://socialprotection.org/asia-pac... _____________ About socialprotection.org Join our community of global social protection practitioners: https://bit.ly/BecomeMemberSP Subscribe to our mailing list to be updated on future webinars and the latest social protection content: https://socialprotection.org/subscrib... LinkedIn:   / socialprotection.org   X:   / sp_gateway   Instagram:   / socialprotectionorg   Facebook:   / socialprotectionorg